The Family Retreat

We had a great two-night stay for our team retreat and will absolutely bring the team back. There were plenty of comfortable beds and places to relax, plus a great kitchen for preparing meals, coffee pods for the machines, a projector and screen, and a table tennis setup. The hosts were extremely accommodating, and we had no problems at all. Thank you!

The main house was well equipped for a big group and clean and tidy when we arrived. We booked it for five days for our daughter’s wedding, but the lack of privacy and communication made the stay very disappointing. The house had 11 children in our group, and people kept coming and going through the laundry inside our rental to collect cleaning supplies for the smaller chalets further down. Up to four to six cars would turn up, with nobody announcing themselves, and the visitors never cleaned our place. The laundry door could be locked from inside the laundry, but we couldn’t lock it from inside the house. It seemed to have been turned into a cleaners’ room, so we had no way to do laundry, while the smaller chalets had washing machines. On the morning of the wedding, while the girls were getting ready with a hairdresser and makeup artist, a man walked past our bedroom window, went into the laundry, took three rolls of toilet paper, then walked past the window again. Another car arrived, and a man and his young son got out while his partner went for supplies. I asked who he was as he walked around the house past our windows. He said he was there with his partner, a cleaner. I told him we had rented the property for a wedding and there seemed to be no respect for our privacy. He apologized. I also told his partner it wasn’t acceptable for people to arrive and take things from the laundry. She said she’d get the manager to speak with me, but we’d already tried to contact them about one of the refrigerators not working for our 17 guests and had received no reply. There had also been a white van parked about 10 metres from the front door, with a man sleeping in a bed in the back. I asked if he worked there, and he said no. The business felt unprofessional and like a backyard setup.

At $266 a night, I expected more care to have gone into the place. The cooking equipment was hodgepodge, and although there was a modem, we couldn’t access wifi, which is a standard feature these days. The floors hadn’t been cleaned properly, and the sliding door track off the living area was absolutely filthy. Its wire screen kept coming off the track and wouldn’t close against the other door, letting bugs in. There was mould in the bathroom, and the hodgepodge curtains didn’t block the light, so I was awake as soon as it got light. We were very disappointed with what was offered for the price. I hate leaving a negative review, but it wasn’t worth what we paid, not by a long shot.

We had a large group stay for our wedding and nobody had a complaint. K and M were happy to help with everything, answered hours of questions, let us pop in to check on things, and followed up with me several times on the day to make sure it all went to plan. Thanks again!