The family and i attended the bartley hotel last week as a part of a group that hosted a private function there and over all i was not overly impressed.
We were told the function didn't start until 6 pm. Upon arrival we paid $35 dollars a head for adults to attend. we had mentioned we had a child with us but could not be told as to what it would cost for her because nobody knew what the cost of kids was.
We had three options for main meals, none of which were dietary or autism/sensory friendly and there were adults that ended up ordering from the kids bistro menu because of this. There was no pre-put together kids menu or options on the set menu for children. when food orders were being taken and we mentioned this to staff working the function. we were given a normal bistro menu AFTER everyone elses order had been taken and was told to order food for kids at the bar, not long after a second staff member came back and attempted to take the kids food orders and had to be told that we had already organised the kids meals while ordering drinks at the bar.
The food came out late, it was mediocre and again staff had issues communicating whose meals were who's and making sure everyone had their meals. This also happened with dessert later in the evening.
At one point in the night my kid needed to go to the bathroom. I had taken her to the female toilets by the main dining area to discover a "please use toilets in the gaming room" sign by the door. We walked to the gaming room door and i stuck my head inside to inquire about toilets where a very rude gaming attendee who was behind the bar shouted across the room "oi, you cant be in here, it says no minors". I attempted to explain that whilst i get that, my kid needed to use the toilet to which i received the response of "well you've just walked past some". I then attempted to tell the attendant about the sign by the door only to be told "doesn't matter, you can't use these ones, just use the one behind you". We walked into the female toilets to find one stall clogged and overflowing, the smell was unbearable and another patron complaining about it to someone else who was waiting to use the bathroom.
My partner at one stage went to buy drinks at the bar and mid transaction the attendant walked away and he was left waiting for 5 minutes before anyone asked if he needed a hand.
Later that evening kiddo needed to use the bathroom again, i took her back to the bathroom we used on the first trip only to find an "out of order, use toilets in gaming room" sign on the door and it took us another 5 minutes to find a staff member that could point us in the direction of a toilet that she could use since shes a minor and cant walk through the gaming room.
Over all the experience wasn't great and if we weren't visiting during a function, i probably wouldn't bother to bring the family here again.
Whilst our experience wasn't great we did have this beautiful male server with bright red hair and black earrings that was absolutely amazing. No ask was too big or too small. He even helped clear a path for me to walk through during dinner service because he noticed my walking aid and asked if i wanted him to grab me anything. We swapped a few hospitality stories during service (because i also work in hospitality and understand the stress), we had a chuckle and he was incredibly sweet to our table the entire night. Unfortunately I didn't grab his name before we left but he was absolutely amazing! This man needs a raise. without him his kindness, understanding and patience the whole night would have been absolutely...
Read more
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
