The Manor House Daylesford

The house itself is beautifully decorated, set on lovely grounds, and stayed warm even in chilly Autumn weather. It was a good size for our group, with social areas separate from the bedrooms so people could be up without disturbing others. The heart of Daylesford is a 10 min walk away, and closer by are delicious Beppe and The Farmer's Arms for dining, plus charming Cliffy's Emporium for coffee and treats. We enjoyed the house overall and would stay again, but would plan to bring or budget for nearly everything, from hand wash to salt. For the price, I expected better equipment and supplies. We were warned about a $200 charge if we left without cleaning appliances and the BBQ and taking out rubbish, yet only dish soap was supplied for cleaning. I had shopped before arriving, but if I'd known how sparse things were, I could have prepared better. Instead we made several trips to the shops for essentials and even a deck of cards. The kitchen wasn't well equipped or stocked. The oven door wouldn't close properly, so the night we tried to cook a roast, we didn't eat until after 9pm. There was a pod machine but no pods, no milk frother, and only budget tea and coffee, milk, a little olive oil, and salt and pepper shakers with pepper in the salt one. We also found broken glassware in the cupboard and had to wash many things before using them because they had been put away dirty. There were three bathrooms, one useless hair dryer, and no hand soap pumps. There were individual soaps in the bedrooms, but with many people staying, three guests would have had to give up body soap to put their bars by the basins. Some towels were stained, though no doubt clean, and didn't feel luxurious. The advertised games amounted to very few options, and one box was empty. Several maintenance issues mentioned in earlier reviews still seemed unresolved. Rainwater leaked into the main hallway, and radiators leaked too, leaving slip hazards that should be a priority to fix. Bedroom 6 has an internal window looking into the main bathroom, so that guest was often woken at night and in the early hours. It's a room for heavy sleepers. Its door also jammed once, and the guest had to call someone to help open it. The smaller bathroom has a frosted internal window facing the kitchen, but one guest embarrassingly found that people could see in unless the blind was fully down, even with the light off.