Pier One

I booked the unit for two weeks back in April 2024, but could only secure five nights at the time. The owner, Margie Robinson, told me to call when I wanted the other nine nights. I did, but she has never answered my calls or emails. She still has the $3150 and won't refund it or let us have those nine nights. I call that stealing.

After a week of travelling, this was the first bed our backs found comfortable. The rooms were spacious, clean and well appointed, with a fantastic view. Management were helpful, friendly and down to earth. With two small children, I really appreciated finding continental breakfast waiting in the fridge. Staying here was a pleasure. I highly recommend it and would love to return for longer sometime.

At Unit 14 Pier One, hosted by Margie as listed on VRBO, visitors aren't allowed without careful attention to the rules. We had a great three days at Pier One, but the experience turned very negative afterwards and we'll never return. We paid $350 a day outside school holidays. The view was awesome, but you can find one elsewhere. The VRBO rules say “NO VISITORS”. Other sites such as Wotif and RentbyOwner don't mention either that policy or a visitor fee. When you go from those listings to book, they take you to VRBO, so read the rules again on the booking page. We hadn't seen the policy when booking. We only noticed it when the host texted other information on arrival day, saying, “No non paying guests are permitted at the property without our knowledge”. We messaged back to tell her family would visit the next day. The host gave permission for our family to visit. But residents who were Body Corporate members appeared to monitor how often visitors entered and left with us, and report it to the host. They must have been counting or taking notes over the three days we were there. If you take visitors out for breakfast, come back, leave again for lunch, return, go out for dinner and come back, then they leave at 9pm, someone is watching each entry and exit. If friends or family want to see the apartment, use the loo, or have a coffee, you'll have to say no. The host wrote that they “do think it’s unfair that visitors arrive and use a Hosts’ facilities at the Host’s expense”. Our visitors were our adult children and their wives. The host charged us $320 for them. Her note said there was no damage reported, but visitors are charged $80 per person, and since we'd admitted to having visitors over two days, that made $160 for each day, or $320. The charge was automatically taken from the credit card used to pay. We later found through TripAdvisor that the host had done something similar with other guests. There's a camera outside the unit, so she may be watching your movements. We'd never had trouble before at holiday accommodation over day visitors, who weren't staying overnight but came and went during the day and slept at their own homes locally. We were told that permission had been granted, yet were charged anyway. We would have recommended this place before, but after this, no, no, no. We won't return. When we checked the VRBO/Stayz page after the extra charge message, it said, “No Visitors, pets or extra guests allowed during your stay. A penalty of $250 applies if breached plus $80 per guest per night”. After I told her that no day visitor fee had been stated, it was changed to “$80 per guest”. Check any property rules and policies hosted by her: she has six properties in Hervey Bay, and at least one other has a no visitor rule.

We’ve stayed at Pier One many times, and it’s still our first choice. The view is perfect, management are extremely friendly, and continental breakfast and private parking are included. You can walk along the pier, swim in the pool or out the front, and there are cafes for every taste, all within easy reach. It’s a really relaxing place, with some of the best units in the bay. If Pier One is full, management book us into Oaks Resort. It’s good, but our second choice.