Bayview Boathouse

We visited in winter, and the fireplace and spa were lovely touches. It was a clean, comfortable place for my husband and me to get away. I can imagine summer being lovely too, with a glass of wine by the lake.

I feel others should know about this unacceptable experience. We rented the whole house with our family for a long-awaited holiday, drawn by the advertised privacy and seclusion and the chance to fish and kayak. The house itself is nice and sits by the lake, and with significant repairs it could offer nice facilities, but there were too many other issues. It is reached by a long dirt road and is in the middle of nowhere, so you need a car. We hadn't realised the host lived just 10m away on the same property. People, including the hosts and dogs, walked in front of the house, the hosts used the jetty, spa and tennis courts, and one morning the host mowed the lawn by the cottage, then came up and peered in our bedroom window. It felt like staying on someone's property, more like a B&B than the private, secluded house we expected. The spa stank. There were no house rules or even basic information in the cottage. After we left, we were charged an $80 day visitor fee for a visitor who had been there for four hours. It felt like they watched us and used that to add costs. On the way there, we contacted the host because of the bushfires. The news media advised against travelling to Bairnsdale, but she assured us there was no issue. She asked how old our children were, and that's when I realised we'd booked for four people rather than five. Since we'd rented the whole house, I didn't think one extra guest would be a problem. She said she'd made up all the beds, so it was fine, and we went on with our holiday. On the third day, Airbnb emailed to say the hosts wanted to charge $200 for the extra guest. We didn't know what that amount covered, so we replied that we'd been unable to sleep the first night because of excessive noise from a chimney air vent, which the host fixed the next day, and asked how they'd arrived at the charge. We emailed Airbnb and carried on with our holiday, expecting to sort it out through them. We didn't know the host was very upset, perhaps because the email had been taken out of context secondhand. We were just trying to relax and enjoy ourselves. Then, at 10pm one evening, the host came to our supposedly private house and threw our things from the veranda into the bushes. When we went to see what had happened, he jumped out of the bushes and ambushed my 18-year-old son. He verbally abused me, called me an arrogant city person and told me to f*** off home. He said we had to leave the next morning, without giving a reason. Afterwards he drove back and forth in front of our house, shining his headlights into our bedrooms. We barely slept, worried about our children and belongings. In the morning we tried again to find out what the issue was, but he verbally abused us again, so we left with little choice. The bushfires had been scary, but this man seemed unhinged. He sent us into the surrounding fires without alternative accommodation, then warned us to be careful of the fires as we left. No one should spend hard-earned money on a holiday and be abused. This was unacceptable, and we're concerned other guests could face the same treatment if they question a charge on their bill.

The privacy and security gates were especially important to us, and we loved the views of the water from the lounge. The cottage was clean and comfy, and the hosts were great. We stayed at Bayview Boathouse 166 Bayview Road Broadlands four months ago. We've told all our friends and our group is booking again before Xmas.

Really clean, with good views and wonderful spa and BBQ facilities. It's a great spot to relax, fish or go boating.