Sunrise Cove 12

We’ve stayed here for years, but the units don’t seem well maintained and the prices keep going up. Ours was called a supreme, though I’m not sure why. It only had a small double bed. The TV remote worked intermittently, perhaps because of all the sticky tape around it, and the shower door handle was missing, making it hard to open. There were plenty of other little things needing attention, too. The owner needs to spend some time tidying the place up. It took four calls to get someone to take my booking. I left messages and nobody called back, so I nearly gave up. With no onsite managers now, you have to collect and return keys at Paradiso, where there’s no parking. The location is great, but Salt down the road might be better value.

The location was great, the units were clean, and the beds comfortable. We had three families in three units. Number 8 had the nicest furniture, while 14 and 16 were older and less appealing. The kitchens were well equipped, but what was supplied varied: one unit had an iron and the others didn’t; one had two hairdryers while the rest had none. Having a proper garage for parking was handy. Phone reception with Optus and Telstra was very patchy, and we had no internet on our phones, which made it hard to contact the other family members. It worked okay on the balcony. The Wi-Fi was terrible and, when it appeared, kept dropping out. There’s no air-conditioning. The ceiling fans in most bedrooms were fine, but the first day was hot and muggy. We cooled off in the pool and it got cooler at night, though it would be very hot in summer.

The balcony view is amazing, which makes it sad to see unit 16 in this condition. We stayed over Christmas and paid top dollar, but the unit was filthy. There were dirty dishes left in the dishwasher, stained and dirty carpet throughout, old dirty furniture, thick dust on the flyscreens and mould throughout. Holes in the front flyscreen meant we couldn’t leave the door open for fresh air.

We enjoyed Kingscliffe and the surrounding area, and the location is great. But I can’t recommend these units. There’s no air-conditioning or fan in the main living area. In unit 22, the washing machine barely worked, if at all, and the dishwasher died after one use. The place needed a very thorough clean. We left the owner a list of things needing attention and never got a response.