The Henry Parkes Motel Tenterfield — Restaurant in Tenterfield

Firstly I’d like to say I have never left a 1 star review and I feel bad doing it and I may be doing so because of overwhelming tiredness. We stayed in the king executive suite, the most expensive rooms they offer. The room was very large with a spa, laundry facilities and kitchenette. Unfortunately there were a few things that made our stay unpleasant. Firstly when we arrived the smell in the room was completely overwhelming. The cleaners had used some air or fabric freshener that was so overpowering it gave me a headache. I had to leave the doors and windows open for 2 hours for it to be bearable (mind it was 12 degrees outside so this wasn’t a pleasant thing to have to do) and even after this you could still smell it strongly. I think maybe a guest before us had smoked in the room and they were trying to fix that as when I turned the heater on you could smell smoke in the heater?? Bit it could also be a Covid protocol? Maybe it’s an germ killer they use? Either way it sucked . The place was not they cleanest, it was dusty, the mirror, back of the couch, under the bed needed a good dust and the spa was stained and needed a good hard scrub. I possibly would have overlooked these faults but the final straw was in the morning when the hot water system from neighboring rooms was used it woke both me and my daughter up. The person in the next room obviously needed to hit the road early so at 5.30 am started to turn on and off the hot taps and every time it was so loud you literally were jolted awake. We were unable to get any sleep after 5.30 as guests in other rooms woke up and the problem continued. Not great when we had planned to sleep till 7.30 with a big day of driving ahead. The hotel advertised these king suits as their quietest rooms because they are set back from the road and it is true that they were quiet at night but unless you plan to get up super early then I would not recommend you book...

We booked a table for dinner, were seated with menus, no drink menu, no water. There were less than 20 people in the restaurant, most had eaten as we arrived just prior to 7pm. The wait staff were eager plate retrievers from all the other tables, however at no stage acknowledged that they had seated us (table of two) and another table of 3. After 15 minutes of trying to gain the attention of staff that had no interest in hospitality, we were tempted to go to the bar or kitchen to remind them we were there. We patiently waited a total of 20 minutes with no water, no service & decided that this place did not deserve the $34 main prices they were going to charge us. We would have handed over an easy $150, but instead walked out & went elsewhere. Sadly, we are locals that have an accommodation business where we often recommend our guests on places in town to eat..let’s just say this place is...

Would not recommend. Tried to phone direct 5 times to book when the phone call hung up on me and was unable to leave a message. I had no option but to book through another website which l never use. Usually l would book through the motel direct. On arrival found no microwave in my room as advertised nor is there room service for breakfast anymore as advertised and the restaurant is closed. My money was direct debit out of my account on booking. The owner refused to give a refund for the 2 nights so l could go elsewhere. I find this is false advertisement and totally unacceptable. I have stayed here many times before and was very happy with the service. However, l have since found out there are new owners and there is a problem when they do not know what is advertised for their own motel. I will add this is the first review I have ever made, but I felt it necessary to let people know this...