Aurora Cottages

The house is nice and largish! Kitchen was excellent – that included the appliances that are in the kitchen. Everything in there was really clean – glasses, cutlery, crockery and even the oven. Benchtops absolutely beautiful as were the cabinets, in both - the kitchen and bathrooms. Plenty of coffee pods with a really good Nespresso machine. Toiletries were also OK. The towels and bed linen and spa were good. The ‘welcome’ bottle of wine and 2 x bottles of spring water were an added bonus – very thoughtful and a nice touch! Fire wood was well stacked right near the fireplace. Plenty of wildlife right at our door – Kangaroos, Deer and Birds – lovely ‘wildlife experience’! It is set far back off the road in a very quiet location and therefore really tranquil! Unfortunately, that is where it ends! Would be a nice place to stay if everything was as expected. The web page reads: “Bellfield House is part of the exclusive Aurora Cottages property…….. architecturally-designed cottage....... The house offers the ultimate in luxurious indulgence. Bedroom 1 with King Bed and large two person SPA bath. Bedroom 2 has a queen bed and Bedroom 3 has two single beds.” What we would like to know is WHOSE IDEA of luxurious indulgence – MOST CERTAINLY NOT OURS! I do believe the owner/caretaker are deluding themselves if they believe the house is luxurious!! 1. COBWEBS ON THE CEILING/WALL CORNERS WITH DEAD SPIDERS AND DEAD BUGS EVERYWHERE ON THE FLOOR! A SQUASHED FLY ON THE ROLLER BLIND IN BEDROOM 3! The house was probably pest controlled, BUT WHY WAS IT NOT CLEANED AFTER THAT? 2. King room was OK. Tiny lamp there that did not work! BEDROOM 2 – QUEEN BED WITH SLATS LAYING ON THE FLOOR – UNDER THE BED RATHER THAN ON THE BASE! No choice but to use a single bed with an uncomfortable mattress! When I sat on the queen bed (not realising there were slats missing) even more slats fell on the floor! (see pics)! Bedroom 3 looked like an old kitchen & is uncomfortable. Had to use a dining chair as bedside table! 3. WORST ISSUE - 2 hard wired smoke detectors, - only holders – NO SMOKE DETECTORS FITTED! MAJOR SAFETY issue! From my $683 initial payment, $75 was a CLEANING FEE! For what? BEFORE we arrived or AFTER we left? What happened to the $75 paid by previous guests for cleaning? We DID NOT get a CLEAN HOUSE! I sent a text (with photos) to the caretaker (very short time after arrival) and was offered part refund. Will be exceedingly interesting to see how much refund – I believe it should be between $75 – $100 for the inconvenience + DEFINITELY the $75 for the cleaning – totalling between $150 – $200! The ‘Handyman’ who visited the day after I complained, was going to return after we checked out to fix the issues – but if you book make sure you double check everything on arrival! Got back a miserable $100!!!