Guest reviews Anchorage Port Stephens

by davenstacey Warners Bay, Australia

Still Fantastic

Our first visit here was some 21 years ago, so I was expecting it to be a bit tired. Thankfully I could not have been more wrong. The hotel is in mint condition, the facilities were great and I thought the two pools were like new. One pool is adults only, and very luxurious. Our room (104) was in the block adjacent to the Adults pool and was an “Anchorage Room”, very quiet deluxe accommodation which included a full hot and cold Sparkling breakfast, which was delicious (we stopped at two glasses of Champagne). The bed was supremely comfortable, lovely pillows, and ducted A/C. Happy hour at their well stocked bar was between 4 and 6PM, see if you can be there when Ellis is on. As he is a top notch cocktail Batman, and can make pretty much anything. To work off all the Champagne perhaps do the 5klm walk along the foreshore into Nelson Bay, highly recommended. Well won’t be waiting another 21 years that’s for sure, see you there.

by Kmagedman Melbourne, Australia

Overpriced and disappointing

We are only 1 night in of a 3 night stay, but wanted to post in the event I could help someone avoid a very disappointing experience. We are in room 323 and the room smells of mildew. It took getting a maintenance person in to discover mould in the a/c vent. He was very sympathetic, but the girls at reception were polite but uncaring. The property is very nice, but other shortcomings are there are no drawers in the room so we are living put of suitcases. The king bed is two mattresses pushed together so there is a hard ridge in the middle of the bed so we cannot sleep next to one another. So much for a romantic getaway Our $658 a night room comes with breakfast, but the food quality is so bad we have already made bookings at restaurants; rather good food than free food. We will most likely cancel our dinner booking at The Galley as well since the pizza at Moby’s was so bad and breakfast so disappointing that I would rather eat off site Overall very disappointing and will not be returning The property could benefit from an outdoor spa for adults to enjoy.

by JanelleQ Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Pretence no substance

The true exellence of a property is revealed when a problem occurs. This hotel failed on every level. Small things to begin, all but one coat hanger broken, pealed and cracked paint on bathroom door, offer of free “bubbles” on arrival a joke. Who wants to “skull” a drink standing in a foyer( no seating but one small-lounge) while your partner sits in the car waiting? Linens are nice but house keeping took our used linen bag on the first day. It took 4 days to get a call to say it had been found and would be posted. A week later I called,result no return call. Next day I called again it hadn’t been posted till my first call. But the worst was NO hot water on the Sunday morning. The staff were so offhanded just “ Sorry not in our control” no offer of solution or compensation. Hot water in the bathroom is a minimum you would expect for $500 a night. I emailed the manager and asked by phone to speak with him both requests were ignored. Would we ever return would we recommend certainly not. This hotels does lots of weddings and may survive on this but not on service Stay somewhere else but certainly visit the restaurant which was fabulous. The staff at breakfast were lovely even though they got one order wrong. But overall substandard.

by SydneyTraveller2007 Sydney

Healed the flooded, detoured 13 hour road trip trauma!!

We made the mistake of road tripping from Sydney to Byron Bay for a wedding in the week of the flooding rains in March. Besides the beautiful, almost sunny wedding at Byron View Farm and the close encounter with a Hemsworth , the highlights of our trip were the stops on the way up (1 night in a Loft Suite) and way back (2 nights in a Captain's Suite) at The Anchorage. It's like stepping into another world and being enveloped in a luxurious blanket! Highlights at the Anchorage : sitting on the verandah in the evening and watching the boats; the excellent table-service breakfasts and dinner at the Gallery Kitchen (and the wonderful staff who go out of their way to make you feel welcome); the Long Island ice teas and Scrabble in cosy Moby's bar at cocktail hour; the spacious suites and the comfy beds. Rain, what rain? Thank you Anchorage - we'll be back!

by febenine Kincumber, Australia

LPerfect break in a difficult year for all!!!!

This was another of the wonderful Luxury Escapes! We were greeted warmly, and early, as we don't live too far away, and we were able to move into our room early, much appreciated! I was a little disappointed when our view was of a tall hedge overlooking the new swimming pool. THEN I realised that we had noted that we were elderly plus on booking and it was the perfect one for us. We think this was really great hospitality! Stairs here would have been a little difficult and we settled in to two days of perfect holiday! Parking great as well! Both breakfasts were perfect now we can't have buffets and loved being greeted by a warm and funny headwaiter each day. Dinner at The Wild Herring could not be faulted!!!!! Sorry I have left it so long to review. Just loved Anchorage and it has been on our bucket list for some years, though we have often eaten in the restaurant when visiting Port Stephens. Thanks Anchorage, and thanks Luxury Escapes!