Bay of Palms Resort — Hotel in Gold Coast City

Lack of communication. Rang in the morning to confirm the booking that we booked in Oct/21. Notified us a SMS or email will be sent us to us but none. Arrived at 2.45pm@ 26/12. Used the after hours service phone to rang them but they couldn't find our record from the booking. Apparently they sent access code to the wrong number that's why we didn't receive it. At the end they rang onsite resident to open the safe and passed the key to us. In the envelope which had the key comes with an out dated letter given us wrong opening hours of the reception so the next day instead of able to go out around 8.35am, spent another half an hour to wait for reception to open and settled the payment. Dirty accommodation - Bathroom in our room is dirty and smell bad. Air conditioning pipe is drained to the bathroom sink. We found out this the next day earlier morning because i almost fell from the soaking floor. Imagine if an elderly or pregnant lady slipped and injured from the floor cause by the water drained from air conditioner. This is crearly a hazard. Cook stove is all rusty, so we didn't use and not using their oven too. No dish washer machine. kettle smells bad and have water and sendiments inside. We are local, so we went home and brought our own kettle. We raised our concerns regarding leaking pipe and dirty kettle to receptionist, we were given two extra towels and floor towel without surcharge to dry the floor. Still a solution. Swimming pool seems well maintained. But when we got up from the pool after almost 1 hour staying in pool, our hair got extremely dry and sticky to touch. Even after two washes still extremely dry. This has never happened to us and our kids goes to swimming classes too. So I hope the pool doesn't contain too much of chroline which can cause health problem. Location is nice as it is close to shop. Not many attractions nearby - only currumbin wildlife. Perhaps, it could be a difference room experience if you got one of the rooms ( looks modern and a lot nicer in their website), overseeing the lake. Our room is located at 1st floor, overseeing the pool (last available room when I booked through booking. com), surrounded by many trees and plants, it is still a good view and plants/trees filtered air. But my hubby spotted all dead fishes (looks dead for weeks) under the small bridge next to swimming pool. Receptionist mentioned fishes shouldn't be there. Facilities - you can rent a canoe for as little as $10/hr (wish we could have time to do it). Laundry room is clean, however only one washing machine and one dryer...

I've been holidaying at Bay of Palms with family and friends most years for many years, and I can confidently say that the resort is currently in the worst state that it's been in during this time. The units have become dated and largely neglected, and we've had multiple issues with them over recent years.

The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of the issues we had in our unit on our most recent stay alone: The oven didn't work The DVD player didn't work The room was inadequately cleaned The air conditioning condensate bizarrely drained straight into the bathroom sink At one point, while we were out, the cleaners decided to pressure clean the outside glass of the unit which left puddles of water on the floor inside upon our return (we'd left the glass door and windows closed)

But the biggest issue that we've had during our two most recent stays is the behaviour of the permanent residents. There are multiple residents who smoke right outside their own units multiple times per day, resulting in an ever-present stench of carcinogen-laden cigarette smoke every time we stepped outside. Given that we've raised this issue with the management on several occasions, and that it has been an unchanged issue for two years running, it's clear that the management either don't care or have no control over these residents. Either way, this is inexcusable for a public family resort. These same residents have also taken to storing their personal possessions beneath and around the public outdoor stairs. I often felt as though I was walking through someone else's untidy back yard. Also, on one of the nights during our stay, the residents next to us had a full on domestic screaming match with each other, during which we could hear what sounded like glass bottles being smashed against a wall. I was actually starting to become a little concerned for our safety within the resort.

Positive features of Bay of Palms include a nice pool area, a nice view of the canal, and relatively cheap accommodation. This is why I'm giving 2 stars instead of 1 star.

Bay of Palms is far past its prime and, given recent experience, I have little hope of it returning to a respectable standard any time soon. Despite many years of good times and good memories, we very well may never stay here again. For anyone who has never stayed here before, I would recommend...

Inadequate room, unable to complete stay, refusing to refund. Withholding $371 (approx)

I had a booking which had to be rescheduled due to COVID and they were provided with a week + notice. They advised they were happy to hold the amount of $565.79 in credit and we can reschedule, we booked for May.

The room was not fit enough for our stay to have been completed. The window/door coverings had over a meter that was not able to be covered which resulted in not having privacy from the main walkway/balcony and it allowed an excessive and intolerable amount of light into the room which resulted in us not being able to sleep.

The next morning after talking to reception I asked if we could have a refund as we would not be able to stay and no other rooms were suitable/available. She advised their policy is credit as they do not offer refunds however she would put a note on my file we needed a room with an extra 'bedroom' to assist with the amount of light and privacy as all the rooms were the same.

I contacted them in September to arrange to use the credit less the other two parties who were on the original booking and was declined, I was told they had a room available and could offer me it a cheaper price. When I questioned why, Donna advised she would get back to me. A week later I had no response from Donna so I sent an email advising how upset I was with the customer service received.

I was told they would honour the credit however not on weekends or school holidays. I then requested a refund on the 13th of September and stated as per As per the Australian Consumer Law, Accommodation " Your guests also have certain rights in the form of consumer guarantees under the ACL. Essentially, accommodation must be fit for any purpose specified by the customer. If it is not, the guest may be able to cancel the booking and obtain a refund (less any amount for any services already provided)

I have been ignore by Bay of Palms despite sending numerous emails and request. Today I contacted WOTIF as I originally booked through them and they tried to assist me to be told Bay of Palms are refusing to refund as "It was a last minute cancellation on the original booking and the reservation has been charged already"

Absolutely disgusting, frankly 1 star...