Pier 33 — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

We had our wedding in May this year, afterwards the venue reached out for feedback, out of compassion and consideration I provided a large amount of constructive feedback via email opposed to sharing in a google review. Unfortunately the venue didn’t respond to any of the feedback, so to ensure that those considering using the venue for a wedding are well informed of the highly causal and unprofessional nature I am sharing my review.

We had a rehearsal was scheduled / planned for 1:30 day prior however the area was booked out at 2pm which impacted access to space and also ability to trial sound system. sound system was very quiet on the evening which meant first dance song couldn’t be heard, we appreciate that this was resolved with an alternate speaker however, this was after the first dance and maybe could have been prevented if access to trial at the rehearsal. grass/turf was in very poor condition with sections of no grass which is assumed to be post construction of the bar. all spare picnic tables were simply moved to the side and placed in a pile, which looked highly disorganised, and meant we were unable to use it for lawn games as planned. I was advised on multiple occasions prior they would be removed from the area. Duarte requirements were clearly communicated to the venue months prior and confirmed on multiple occasions however this was unclear on the evening. bar tab, I had email conversations where it was communicated that I could pay the bar tab on the night, opposed to pre paying, the grooms dad was approached for a credit card to allow a tab to be open, this was highly inappropriate and not his responsibility, should a credit card have been required this should have been highlight in the prior email communication. guests other than those with allocated access were able to add drinks to the bar tab. There was specific information in written communication about who had access to the tab prior. microphone system, was flatly cutting in/out vendors were not offered their meals, I had to request this - the schedule clearly stated their start finish times to support this. in communication upon booking it was agreed that there would be access to free standing gas heaters, however one week prior I was advised that they were not available until June when I followed them up. music was turned off at 10:30 pm, when schedule shared with the clearly indicated final dance at 10:45 with a finish time of 11pm, as per hire arrangement of the venue. Turning off of the music was not communicated with us at all. We had a final song planned for this 10:45 time, which we didn’t have the opportunity to have, it was only after guests communicate this with yourselves that it was resolved, this meant a large number of guests had left the venue and were unable to be part of it and the ending of the night was highly disjointed. overall there was nil communication from the venue that formalised conversations about inclusions / exclusions and I was responsible to formalise this in emails to monitor the same. Items such as deposit payed, drinks package, canapés package, room layout ect were not documented or tracked and required me to monitor and communications form yourselves regarding this was inconsistent.

Overall the venue was not responsive to feedback at the time or prior and was highly unprofessional. The poor communication and lack of organisation placed additional stress on the bridal party. I would not recommend this venue for a wedding unless you are after a highly causal and flexible...

Letter Written to Pier 33 management. They did not reply. So now im putting this here so they may see it.

Dear Pier 33 Management,

My family and I attended the Mother's Day Breakfast event at your venue today. We are local residents and are very familiar with Pier 33, having enjoyed a long lunch, our son's wedding celebration, and many other lovely meals there over time. We have always appreciated the venue's ambiance. Unfortunately, our experience today was underwhelming.

Upon arrival at the car park, we noticed Mercedes vehicles being promoted, which was acceptable; however, they were parked in the designated disabled parking area. As a person with a disability, that was frustrating and not acceptable

We were seated upstairs, and with the inclement weather ( to no fault of yours) requiring the doors to be closed, the atmosphere felt like a bland school dining hall. There was no music playing, and our table lacked even a simple sprig of flowers. While live music might not be expected at this price point, some light background music played from a simple portable speaker could have enhanced the experience. There was a single, small floral arrangement on the upstairs buffet table, but overall, there was a lack of a special atmosphere befitting Mother's Day. Our tables weren't waited on.

The breakfast itself included a delicious bacon and egg burger, along with fruits, yoghurt cups, muffins, and croissants. While the food was satisfactory, we were surprised to find that coffee and tea were not included and had to be purchased separately. At $40 per person, it seems reasonable to expect at least tea and instant coffee to be included, perhaps with an option to purchase barista-made coffee. When my son did order and pay for a coffee, it came to the table in a take away cup. This is not what I would expect from a venue such as yours.

We also learned that a pancake station was available downstairs, which was not communicated to guests seated upstairs. When I inquired with who I believe was the Manager / owner about the pancakes, I was informed in a rather gruff manner that they were located downstairs. I then asked if waitstaff could bring some upstairs for the large number of guests seated upstairs. Subsequently, some cold & dry pancakes were added to the upstairs buffet, and the Manager did bring some to our table in the end.

Finally, the advertisement displayed when we booked (as attached) clearly stated "Mothers Day Breakfast Buffet with Chandon." We were quite disappointed that Chandon was not offered as part of the breakfast as advertised. My husband did actually purchase some Champagne at breakfast and paid for it as he didnt realise it should have been included in our ticket (because our kids had organised this event for us) So overall, we all left very disappointed in our experience.

I had hoped this feedback would be taken constructively. We valued Pier 33 as a local venue and hope that future events could better meet the expectations set, especially for special occasions like Mother's Day. In saying that, they haven't even bothered to reply to our email or to explain why we never...

Hired out of the rooms for an engagement party. Paid extra to have grass area as well.

Leading up to event, event organiser was thorough and did a great job to ensure all was good to go.

However, the night of the event didn't go so well. To have a private event but guests then have to go to an understaff busy main bar and wait ages for drinks is unacceptable. To further the staff issues, the bartender of the night yelled at one of my guests after he made a comment that men could be served as well (rather than pretty young girls). The bartender then cut my guest off as he was "too intoxicated" (he had 3 beers as the event was only about an 2 hours or so in) and wasn't intoxicated but rather frustrated with the service.

The bartender then follows my guest through our private event to the picnic tables outside and proceeds to yell and swear at him in front of a good handful of other guests, when my guest asks the bartender to step aside and talk to him calmly, bartender refuses and continues to yell at him and state to other guests "if anyone gives him alcohol I will kick you all out".

The security and owner now come to find out what's going on, I explain I understand the rules of a bartender wanting to cut guests' off if needed but the way he handled that was very unprofessional and unnecessary.

My guest was allowed to stay but owner couldnt "override" bartender decision - which we took on and let it go.

An hour or so later, my guests goes to talk with the staff to explain he really didn't do anything wrong - after about 45 minutes back and forth. The owner buys my guest a beer and apologises for the issues. Although, to keep the peace he will send a waitress over to serve him so he doesn't go back to the bar - where the aggravated employee is still working.

No communication was had with my fiancé or myself about anything or checked in on closer to the end of event.

Security and staff continued to create another issue at the end of night, playing a silly "one of your guests may be making fun of the bartender".

The entire night kind of turned into a mess /nightmare.

I was severely let down by all staff, including management and owner that night with the way things were handled.

Food was excellent (wasn't enough for the number of guests as guided by planner), so had to Order more the night of. Such a shame, beautiful spot and beautiful food. But staff and service were just not ready or capable to serve a restaurant and an...