Contessa Holiday Apartments

This is our fourth time holidaying at The Contessa. Each time seems to get better and better. The location is fantastic: just a short walk to so many wonderful eateries, light rail and buses. The Contessa holiday apartments are amazing. The complex has a huge outdoor water pool and a large spa and magnificent gardens: great spot for the kids to play as well as a tennis court. There is also an indoor pool and spa downstairs inside the complex. Next to those facilities is a timber deck overlooking the inland waterways and a lovely spot for a picnic close to home. The gym is right there too. The beach is only a stroll away. We love apartment 263, it is especially homely with some lovely touches and well equipped. There are panoramic water views to help relax and unwind. The building manager William is on site for your questions and always keen to assist. Simply magic. We will be returning in2025.

Great location and apartments are large. However, the on-site manager is very unfriendly. Two phone calls for assistance resulted in no help whatsoever. Refused to listen to request and after being told to be quiet and shushed he proceeded to yell when I was speaking. This happened on both phone calls. We booked two units. Told they were the best appartments. One unit had a broken toilet in the ensuite. $295 a night for a broken toilet, a door that wouldn’t open and a tv that didn’t work. With an on-site manager who refuses to help when it is after hours! After being guests here for the past four years we will no longer bother. Very disappointing.

This was a very disappointing experience but what was worse was the response of the gentleman I spoke with, William, about the whole experience. Below is the email that I received from William when he asked me what could be done to rectify the situation and I asked for one nights accommodation refund. I asked him if he was willing to offer anything and he stated no. Hi Ellie, I believe you checked in early on Friday the 11th of November around 11am – generally check in time is around 2pm and you entertained a large group of friends ( awesome ) The Pool Roof and carpark signage is Body Corporate responsibility ( something that can’t be compensated for ) The Bed being hard is an opinion that we can’t do much about as this is a guest opinion that will vary from guest to guest – the quilt is something we could fix on the day if not on Saturday morning You chose to leave early which is 100% your choice – so unable to offer any compensation as this is really not a compensation most holiday business would entertain Reviews are not something that threatens us – we have been in the industry for over 6 years and people will always have their own opinions Sorry we can’t help you Kind regards William Wetere Manager Was told that William would check the security camera to make sure that was correct as his staff had obviously informed him incorrectly. The review below is the letter I sent to the Contessa, and was told that most of it was Body Corporate issues. I asked for one night's refund due to the mattress being extremely uncomfortable. 1. The bed/s. The mattresses were extremely firm and non flexible, like sleeping on a rock. I tried the single bed so that my partner may have been more comfortable but without avail. We arose in the morning feeling extremely tired and sore. 2. The bedding:- I tried to pile the quilts onto the mattress and noticed that two of the quilts appeared either dirty or moldy and had an offensive smell. We spent Saturday trying to find a mattress topper but with no luck as it would have set us back nearly $200. 3. The pool: As discussed, a part of the ceiling had collapsed with no warning signs around or beneath the area. There were children in the indoor pool on both Friday and Saturday, the pool area had been hosed down on Saturday morning but all the debris had been left there. 4. Parking arrangements: As discussed, the swipe in and swipe out system left us very frustrated as we couldn't locate the swiping system. There was no signs to indicate where they were, the sign for the exit door for leaving is hard to spot, as discussed. Samantha, I have not left a review as yet as I would like to give the Contessa the opportunity to rectify our poor experience. We were attending a 60th birthday party for a very dear friend of mine, which had been planned for several months, but because we were so exhausted we had to leave early and decided to not stay overnight on Saturday night and

Rooms are spacious but very dated. Aircon only in living room, fan in bedrooms. Bathrooms are very old & not cleaned properly (lot of mould in shower & fixtures broken) key needed to go anywhere in hotel which is good for security. Alot of people permanently live In building. Parking is very tight, but undercover.