York On Lilydale — Restaurant in Melbourne

This was written in an email, but I received no response from the management team clearly the customer service is lacking in “the collective” I would give lower than 1 star if I could.

I would like to share an experience we had at your establishment on Saturday, thought it was important to share with you first, before sharing on the internet as a review.

Our friends are home shopping in the area, we did the same last year and ended up buying on the mountain and are very happy, we wanted the same experience for them, so after a long first day looking, we suggested they come to your pub for a meal, just as we did every Saturday after looking and we could together discuss what they saw and what they liked.

They where there before us and sat at a table with no reservation, we arrived about 1/2 hour after and joined them, (around 4) we talked for a bit and then ordered meals and drinks, they took some time to come out and the food was great.

We were 1/2 way through our meal, when an employee approached, he asked if we where beths table? If any of us where Lim? We explained we where not… he stated really bluntly… “ this table is reserved now for Beth’s group, and they will be here any min as their reservation was at 5” he placed a reserved marker on the table and said we will need to leave ( I note it was 5.05pm when this happened) We continued to finish our meals, we where then approached 2 minutes later by an awkward employee who said… you need to leave this table is reserved..

I explained that it is something they should have warned us about in the 1.5 hours we had been there. We knew because the rude employee had already told us to leave 2 mins ago, and we where 1/2 way through meals we had paid for in full… without warning that we where on a schedule…

She suggested we move to table 7… which was not reserved for another 1/2 hour…. Why didn’t they just Beth’s table there? And given us a chance to eat?

We finished what we could quickly and left.

This is really poor treatment of patrons…. Your staffs’ lack of organisation is not a reason we should be rushed or told to leave! This could have been handled 100 different ways but here we are. So given we only were allowed to eat 1/2 the food… had to finish our drinks outside… should we have only been charged half the cost? We had ordered 6 meals!

In future at the very least you should...

Absolutely Disgusting Experience – Avoid at All Costs

If I could give zero stars, I would. Our experience at York on Lilydale was nothing short of appalling. We were stalked, intimidated, and repeatedly harassed by their overzealous and completely inappropriate security team—for doing absolutely nothing wrong.

We were constantly told off for simply standing or sitting near a fire pit. Not allowed to put wood on it after asking multiple times for it to be done ( it was 5 degrees winter time) Not misbehaving. Weren’t allowed to smoke or vape ( no signage and we were outside next to a fire for goodness sake ) Literally just existing in the vicinity of the fire. If no one is allowed near a fire, don’t have one. One security guard stood within 2 metres of us, glaring and gawking for over half an hour like we were criminals. We were stalked and followed out of the collective as we decided we didn’t want to be gawked at any longer to walk down to the pokies for a final game before leaving to try end on a better note. We were met by two security guards who were obviously radioed while we were walking over by the other guard. The attitude and harassment straight up was all appalling and one sided and without a chance to explain we were just harassed by his other security mate we were rudely kicked out

The next night, we came back to see a show we’d bought tickets for months prior, only to be met with the same disgusting attitude and told we weren’t allowed in because of “an incident” the night before—an incident that was not our fault. We were asked to leave the premises immediately. I asked to speak with a manager four separate times and was told the manager was “too busy” to speak with us.

We were promised a refund if we called the next day. I followed up immediately—and it still took over five days, several calls and messages, and me pushing repeatedly just to get a response and a refund.

Worst of all, one of my friends, who is autistic, was directly targeted and bullied by security. It was genuinely upsetting and unacceptable.

This venue clearly doesn’t care about the wellbeing of its guests. The way we were treated was completely uncalled for, and no one should have to put up with this kind of behavior—especially from staff.

We will never be back. Ever. Do better, York...

We booked 2 nights in a Q spa & 1 nite in a Q twin thru Last Minute with room service. Discovered RS wasnt offered for breaky even tho yr ad states it is. Was told RS was offered only for lunch and dinner. At the Bistro I ordered steak with mushroon gravy. 1 hr later our meal arrived with 2 pieces of mushroom & cold pepper sauce. I sent mine back, the rest of the family had finished when I received mine. Nxt day wanted RS, had no recept number. Went down & was told I had to book through reception. Had to call landline as no reception number avail. I was told there was no room service avail at all. Had to insist they check with management. No apology given even when proved wrong. Later we wanted to book a 3rd night because the surroundings are so peaceful. Their business card says cheapest price guarentee but staff said they wldnt match price. Was told I wld hv to change room, even tho other spa rooms were avail & rm 31 hadnt been asked for. Woman spoke over me & said she cldnt do anything about it. I booked thru LM & we stayed in the same room.

Very dissapointed in managements ability to live up to their own advertisement and treatment of guests. Also their ability to communicate effectively with their own staff is obviously lacking as is their professionalism. The surroundings are superb and the room clean and lovely. The pool too was clean and relaxing.

Unfortunately as previously stated the was no information in the room about the area, what places to explore, where the closest medical centre is or any information even on how to call reception. Very dissapointing and unprofessional.

The cleaners and resturant staff are brilliant, kind, and professional and the meal in the the resturant, 'The Collective', was excellent. Management and reception should learn from their other staff.

Yr management and reception staff need to be aware of what is being advertised, how to speak to guests and how to communicate information to their staff. You have an excellent and beautiful area, great staff but you need to have information in the rooms about the are and advertise other...