Beachfront Bicheno Hotel — Hotel in Tasmania

We came here 2 nights in a row. The first night we turned up and were told they were fully booked. Fair enough, though I noted the pub was empty and we could have just sat in there. We made a reservation for the following night.

The following night.

We arrived at 7pm and waited 5 minutes while the 3 staff members argued about what which table was table 5 and what they had ordered. Finally they finished arguing and the main lady walked straight past us and another group waiting to go serve a table (or appease them) without acknowledging any of us.

7:10pm - can I help you. Yes we have a reservation. Arg! I don’t have a table for you you will have to wait while I clean one. Again, the pub was empty apart from one table eating, and we noted there was a clean table, but were told that was for another reservation, I assume at 7:30 since they are nowhere to be seen. We say it’s fine we can grab a drink at the bar while you sort out your tables, the party of 4 which arrived when we did also did the same thing.

7:25 - Still no word, another couple have come in and been ignored by 2 staff members, after being shewed by the bar man to the dining area.

7:30 - This new couple have just walked out the door. Good idea. Let me call the Pizza place to see if they can make a pizza so we can have dinner.

Great they can!

7:35 - we leave and decide to buy a a beer to have with our dinner. We go to the bottle shop at Beachfront Bicheno. Again, mistake I have to walk in and out of the bottle shop door 3 times before someone comes to process my order (I should have just walked out with my 6 pack as payment for the wasted time).

DO...

Pretty good experience for our large group overall with terrific highs and other mediocre aspects:

HIGH: - Breakfast and staff for breakfast at the room near reception - fantastic in every way! Beds are very comfortable and the plumbing/shower work a treat. Meals in the pub are generally quite acceptable and enjoyable.

MEDIOCRE: - Meals in the pub are generally quite acceptable and enjoyable, however the smokers on the balcony leave the door open ALL OF THE TIME meaning they generously share their swill with those dining. This is to the detriment of the hotel as many of our group just went to our rooms early to get away from the smoke. The hotel obviously loses ongoing food/bar sales because of this!! The excessive noise in the eating area of the pub is terrible making conversation for all a real difficulty. The rooms with 2 beds really require a small table and just 2 chairs as there is nowhere to sit down apart from the toilet. I know there is not a huge amount of room, but have seen similar rooms around Australia with a small table/chairs.

SUGGESTIONS: - Look at enlisting the services of some automatic electric door installers to sort out where the smokers are. Look at enlisting the help of some architectural acoustic specialists to hopefully inexpensively tame the noise in the pub dining area. Look at some small table chair options for some of the...

Room was great, had a beautiful view of the water and a cute balcony. Unfortunately the food at the bistro and ambiance brings the place down a heap. Playing loud rnb, 90s and pop music is usually right up my ally but it made the whole place have a tacky feel and was not relaxing to listen to while trying to eat. The cutlery we had was dirty we had to ask for a new set. Seafood chowder (even though a little thin) was actually beautiful in flavour once we got the mussels open to enjoy. I had the cauliflower dish which would have been perfect if not for the large quantity of sweet sultanas riddled through the dish, which is overpowering considering there's already burnt honey in it, was overly sweet for a main dish unfortunately. My partner had a chicken parm where the crumbing was soggy and the salad was bland and boring. I've been in hospo for 15 years and would never clear a table with large amounts of food uneaten without asking if everything was OK which is unfortunately what happened, which is a shame because the staff were lovely. Also please ensure the mains are being brought out half was through customers enjoying their entres. We had half a roast potato and decided that was enough from out roast potato side dish. Way underseasoned and burnt with vegan aioli drizzled on top was just awful. I really hope the kitchen steps it up because it was a...