Valentines trip away 2011

The few days away together was lovely but I would not go back to Novotel Twin Waters again after this stay.

For a four star resort I was surpised at a few things.  On arrival nothing was organised for us, it was a package which included breakfast & dinners and various other things and we had to go back to reception 3 times to get all the bits & pieces we needed for the stay as no one knew what was included in the package.  We asked what to do with our luggage and we were told we could take care of it ourselves. We were given a map to the room (the rooms are in groups like town houses) and a map.  To get us off to a good start the girl circled the wrong complex on the map so we had to go back to reception again as we could not find our room. Still no one offered to take us to the room. I have never stayed at any resort where somone has not accompanied you to the room, helped with your bags and done a quick room show (except dodgy motels you stay in for a night on road trips).

OK once settled we decided we would unwind with the champagne & chocolates on arrival that was part of the package but you guessed it they were not there.  We called reception and they advised they would bring them over so in the meantime we went to the spa as Leigh had arranged a surprise of a couples massage & champagne spa which was lovely and relaxing.

While getting ready to go to dinner I nearly had a bad fall in the bathroom on a puddle of water which I discovered was coming from a leak in the air con.  So we called up reception again to get them to come & fix it.  Dinner that night was at Noueau which is a buffet restaurant, I am not a big buffet fan but I usally enjoy the seafood.  Unfortunately tonight was roast night and they had every red meat under the sun but no chicken or turkey (I am not a vegetarian I just do not like Lamb, beef, pork etc...)  I was just going to have the roast veg but Leigh spoke to someone and they very kindly offered to grill me some barramundi which was divine.

On valentines day I pulled the curtians back to discover it was poruing rain and there was a Mum & bub kangaroo under our balcony.

Leigh surprised me with the full set of new Harajuku Lovers Wicked perfumes and the packaging is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

This gift of a retro tin lunch box came with the set

Buffet breakfast was very nice but the rain did not ease so we stayed in our room, soaked inthe spa and jsut hung out with each other.  We went and ordered from the take away service for lunch and there was a 15 minute wait while it was cooked. I ordered the seafood basket as being on the sunshine coast I though the produce would be fab and it was $22 so I was expecting it to be delicious. We got the food back to our room and Leigh's butter chicken tiffin that we waited 15 mins for was ice cold (thank god there was a microwave in the room).  I dove into the seafood to discover the calamari was as tough as old tyres and the rest of the basket was made up of imitation seafood like bits of fake crab seafood extender, horrible seafood bites and a seafood stick - the sort of thing you might expect if you ordered seafood at a roadside diner somewhere but not at a resort on the sunshine coast.  I did not eat mine but that was ok as I was looking forward to dinner in the fine dining restaurant Lily's on the lagoon that night.

We arrived at Lily's for our reservation and handed them our vouchers and we were told to wait. The manager came back and told us very curtly we would not be dining there tonight as they were not accepting the couples package vouchers on Valentines day due to it being a special menu.  Leigh told her he checked this with the hotel when we made the reservation and to double check he actually rang the restaurant and spoke with someone who confirmed there was no problem using the couples package couchers on Valentines.  Again she rudely told us no and that we would have to leave.  I felt so embarrassed by the way she was speaking to us. Leigh asked her to check the reservation which she did in a huff and came back and said - I see a note here you spoke to someone and they have told you the wrong thing so I have no choice but to let you dine here tonight.  Great start to a romantic dinner.

The restaurant itself was lovely and when shown to the table there was long stem rose and a gift pack of body scrub and lotion by the fijian company that makes the spa's products. For the guys there was a bottle opener!  The 5 course dinner started with an Amuse which I did not like. For entree I had the panko crumbed soft shell crab and Leigh had the twice baked gorgonzola & goats cheese souffle.(sorry there are no photos of the food but it was not the sort of place you could whip your iphone out if you know what I mean!!)  He does not eat seafood and I do not eat cheese so we had to take each others word that the entrees were to die for.  After some watermelon sorbet I had the grilled barramundi with fennel & pink eye potato puree & moreton bay bug & prawn salad while Leigh had the grain fed beef tenderloin with blue cheese & parmesan potato gallette.  For dessert Leigh had the dark chocolate truffle tart with chilli creme fraiche and I had the white couveture chocolate mousse. The food and the service from the wait staff was 5 star.  When we received our bill for the drinks - you guessed it we had been charged for everything so poor Leigh had to go back to the charming manager and go through that whole ordeal again.

Overall we had a nice time together away from all our stresses for awhile, we were just disappointed with the bad service. I certainly will not be telling anyone to stay there.