Wyndham Surfers Paradise

Check-in was meant to be at 2 pm, but we got our room an hour and a half late. Nobody followed up, so I had to keep chasing reception after being told they'd let me know when it was ready. One woman was genuinely kind and seemed ashamed of what was happening, but the other staff had appalling customer service. The receptionist offered only a 30-minute late checkout because of the delay. When the nice woman asked him to give us a voucher, he challenged her about why and then arrogantly said he'd give me $50. The next morning, at 10:25, I went to the cafe for coffee and asked to charge it to the room voucher. They said reception had already checked me out. They were fine with checking us in late, but couldn't wait to check us out before the proper time. The woman at the till apologised, but when I said I wouldn't return, another woman making coffee smirked and laughed. After all that, they seemed more interested in selling membership than making an effort. The lifts are extremely slow, the keys often don't work, and the facilities are dated. Disgusting place for the money, take your business elsewhere.

The toothpick on the sofa was the part that really worried us. When we raised it, reception said housekeeping had used it while cleaning and that the room had been cleaned. That explanation only made it harder to understand why it was left on the furniture, and we felt there was barely any acknowledgment or apology. We’d booked for three, but the room was set up for two: two sets of towels and amenities, and an unmade sofa bed. We had to go back to reception for another towel and to ask for the bed to be prepared. The stay left us doubting the hotel’s attention to detail and housekeeping.

I think they’re crooks. Don’t stay here. They push the Club Wyndham package, which is just a timeshare, and gloss over the annual fee of more than $3,600 that comes with buying points. If you ask about it, they tell you not to worry. From what I’ve read from people who went ahead with it, the fee does rise. It took me about five minutes to find out it could reach around $5,000 a year or more. People online also complain they can’t get accommodation when they need it. And forget the claim that flights take 60 minutes, it’s closer to two and a half hours. The salespeople are pushy and, in my view, blatantly lie to your face. They say everything is held in a trust, and their main pitch is that it will all be sold off and money will appear in your account in 2083. But you can’t access the trust, and the person holding it doesn’t have to give you your money back then. Apparently, that’s not how trusts work. As I understand it, there’s no obligation for the people who set it up to sell everything or hold it for as long as they claim. When you put money into a trust, the bank asks whether you know the person and understand it might be a scam, because once the money is in there, it belongs to them and won’t come back unless the other party agrees. They say your name is on the trust, but can you access those funds whenever you want? As for the hotel itself, they held onto our deposit for as long as possible. I called three times and was told the delay was the bank or Visa. I called my bank, which checked with Visa and confirmed the hotel was holding our money. When I called back with that information and said the bank was emailing me a lot of details, they suddenly managed to refund it while I was still on the phone. ING told me this happens a lot with Wyndham, and they often blame the bank. The bank has no reason to hold up its own customers’ money.

The pool was great, and they supply towels for both the pool and beach, so there’s no need to bring your own. The location was exactly what we wanted, near the beach and just outside central Surfers, but still an easy walk in. We really enjoyed the stay. The room could use an update, though. The carpets looked tired, and the beds were okay but could be better. I hadn’t realised it was a timeshare hotel, so the salesman was a bit pushy at first.