Hello,

We are travelling to Tasmania and will spend some time in the Huon Valley going to my brother's wedding in February. I was thinking about staying close to the wedding at Matilda's but LizzyF left a review about Matilda's having new owners and that there has been lots of changes some of which aren't good. Can LizzyF tell me what she means and does anyone have any other suggestions about accommodation close to Home Hill Winery, within a couple of miles would be good.

Thanks, Shaun

Bumped up for Liz F

This may not seem to be LizF but as I could not remember what my password was I decided to sign in as the above. I am in the Middle East at present so am not on my home computer.
Yes I would give Matilda's a miss Shaun but there are other nice places to stay at. However 2 of these are on the main road and so I feel they would be somewhat noisy. You could try to google Crabtree Cottages to see if they are still in operation or perhaps Donalea B&B which is in Castle Forbes Bay, about 15 klms south along the river. That could still be a tad noisy as well due to the closeness of the road and the timber trucks which tend to wake the dead.
If you have a car then perhaps you would not mind staying a bit further away and have peace and quiet. There are some nice quiet places around Cygnet and then on the Channel side of the Huon you can get some really quiet places.
If you can wait till I get home on 27th I can answer you better with some email or web addresses.

so what are you doing over that way Lizzy - they get an old Prisoners cast together to entertain the troops?.

Keep your head down and hands in pockets which ever it may be and stay safe.

Well someone just had to help Kylie out with the opening of the Dubai " you beaut" hotel, didn't they. That gig followed the one at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi with the Skeik for the performance of the disabled Chinese troup - who were fantastic by the way. No problems in this country Bushy AND the banks have their doors well and truely open.

Thanks for the responses, I thought I'd get notifications to my email inbox if anybody responded but it was only when I came back in to check that I saw the replies.

Have booked Walton House, which is on the highway but well rated on several other websites and the owner was very helpful on the phone even though I called him at midnight!

Can't wait for February, cheers, Shaun

Hi again everyone, I have been away from here and haven't checked in for a while. Is it possible to get some elaboration on the "not-so-good" changes at Matildas? This comes as a suprise and isn't the first time it has been mentioned by LizzyF (it also runs contrary to what I have heard elsewhere). LizzyF, is this negativity only because the previous owner of Matildas is a good friend of yours or do you have genuine reasons for this? Just wondering.

Mind your own business Blackjack, I have no intention of answering your questions because whatever I say, you will make a contrary reply because that is your want. In fact I wonder why you bother to even post on this site because its only when someone says something that you don't agree with that you bother to come up with anything at all.

Forgive me LizzyF, but I was under the impression that this was a public forum where people ask questions and get answers. You are quick to tell people not to stay somewhere but won't say why - is that because you have no genuine reason and you are just trying to play expert yet again? The truth of the matter is I would bet money you know nothing about the people who now live at Matildas, have probably never met them or spoken to them and have likely never heard anything negative expect from your friend who used to own the place, if at all.
You are quite right, I do often make contrary comments in response to yours since having read your comments on here for so long, now and again one of them just has me shaking my head so much I have to clarify it for other people who may think some of your statements are actually true. I read far more than I say but sometimes just can't help myself. I also have far less time on my hands than you it would seem.
If you are going to post on a public forum telling people not to stay somewhere because of negative changes to an establishment that you profess to know all about, you should at least have the gumption to back it up.
As for telling me to mind my own business - tourism and tourist establishments in the Huon Valley IS my business (but then I thought your knew that?). I have it on very good authority that Matildas is friendlier than it has ever been,the people there are contstantly busy and have added a life to the place that it previously lacked. Despite the fact that they never intended to run the B&B when they purchased the house (there was a minor panic in the area that Matildas would close) they are very popular and guests respond very well to them. They are nothing like the previous owner and this has been to their advantage.
Any comments you make to the contrary are nasty and without merit unless you can back them up. Shame on you.

To each his own Blackjack. However seeing it was myself who brought Matilda's to Fodor's attention in the first place I think I am entitled to have a say about it when I see fit. You are not the only one that hears things about establishments in the Huon and therefore you might like to tell people just what your connections are with the present owners of Matilda's and to justify why you say that the establishment is run better now than it was by the previous owner and why this should be to the present owner's advantage. Further and in light of what you have just inferred about the previous owner I would take it then that you accept that your comments are just as "nasty" as mine ( your words) and without the same amount of merit. The fact that the original poster has most probably been and gone shows that you have a hard time leaving well enough alone. Sure this is a public forum and because of that people have the right to respond, or not, to whoever they want. By the way, have you actually stayed at Matilda's when the previous owner had it and since it has been sold to the present owners? If not then you are not on the same wave-length as myself.

I have popped in quickly - but seriously LizzyF. I would never proclaim to be on the same wavelength as yourself (God forbid). But for the record, I have visited the property when the previous owner had it - but also before and since.
Yes, we all know you stayed at Matildas way back when the previous owner had it and I would also hazard a guess that you have NOT been there since the property changed hands, hence my guess that you know very little about the place now which does not put you in a position to advise people about it. (Please correct me if I am wrong about this) How is it that you feel the fact that you mentioned a place on a forum gives you the right to discredit it without cause or reason?
Matildas-the-building has been known throughout the region for many years, way before it was even called Matildas-the-B&B. For you to claim some sort of monopoly over the place is laughable.
It is not my intention to paint a nasty picture of the previous owner - she has left and gone and is in no way involved with the property now to my knowledge. I did NOT say the B&B was better run now, I said I had it on good authority that it was friendlier - and if you had met both owners you would know instantly what I meant, which indicates to me further still you have never met the family who are there now. This is among the feedback I have received - and yes, from people who have stayed there. I wasn't trying to say it was "better", I was trying to point out that your comments telling people not to stay there are unfair and without validity. There are many approaches to things and there will always be people who like things done "this way" rather than "that way" and a good many who may prefer the previous owners approach over the current - which is why I asked the valid question of what exactly you considered to be the negative changes there, but you would rather drop the statement and end the topic without the need to explain.
Leaving well enough alone is a good point. Shaun found himself some good accommodation and all is well - I trust the wedding went well
Connections? Gosh LizzyF, I have connections to various accommodation providers in the Huon Valley - but then, you knew that didn't you?

Well bully for you Blackjack. I guess you know that Steve ( one of the owners of Matilda's) is very busy at present building a house on the Eastern Shore from Hobart while Sonja (Steve's wife) struggles to keep up with the work at the B&B now that the previous cleaner has left because she has added work giving the children home-schooling. I guess you like the new structural changes to the B&B and the proposed ones that sound interesting as well.
When you say "visited" you mean visited as an invited person in the tourism industry so that you could familiarize yourself with the property - right? Not actually stayed there!
If you wish to waste your time continuing to talk about this then you will be doing it on your own as I have no intention of acknowledging you in future on whatever subject that you bring up.

LizzyF you are SUCH a fraud. Please, please don't respond or acknowledge this, because you get yourself in deeper each time. But while you are reading, let us play a little game of clarification:

*There have been NO structural changes to the B&B at Matildas unless you count the old office outside being converted to a cottage. No changes to the interior B&B rooms other than furniture. None. Not one.
*By the proposed changes you must mean the new (seperate) cottage - it is not proposed, it is approved and up in the parkland area and it looks amazing. The Oast house restoration is also approved - it was on display at council and half the town has seen it.
*You have NEVER met these people (correct me if I am wrong), even though you refer to them by name as if you know them.
*You have NOT stayed at Matildas since your friend sold
the place, or even been there (correct me if I am wrong)despite inferring that you have
*The new housekeeper at Matildas was employed before the old one left, so her leaving has had absolutely NO effect on the running of things at all. You should check your scources.
*Why you would deliberately try and make out that the owners are struggling boggles the mind - you don't even know them! It is laughable to imagine Sonia "struggling" with anything, she manages everything she does without a problem and has always schooled her children. Running the B&B is a choice they made - they don't take it too seriously.
*The reason you know about Steve and his building is once again your relationship with the previous owner and her housekeeper, who's husband works for him. Why don't you mention that?
*Matildas are constantly busy and well booked. I have also seen some of the guest books and people rave about both the house and the family who own it.
*You are incorrect about my capacity in visiting Matildas when the previous owner was there.
*The previous owner of Matildas referred to her guests collectively as "the peasants" behind their back and many intimate details of guests found their way into public gossip - from the above it seems the gossip circle continues, except now the owners are copping it instead of the guests.

To me, this sounds like some personal thing you have LizzyF. For everyone reading, I am truly sorry this has gone a little off track - but this has been unfair to the greatest degree. LizzyF has plugged Matildas because her friend owned it and once her friend didn't own it anymore she advises people not to stay there. She has claimed there have been significant changes to Matildas she will not elaborate on (despite being asked by more than one person), she has given advice she will not clarify and refuses now to speak about it more. She has NO IDEA what she is talking about and she is just flat out WRONG.
I can only advise you to find out for yourselves. Those of us who live in the area can see her coming, but you all might make the mistake of taking what she says at face value.
I think LizzyF has a touch of the green eyed monster - if one compares her occupancy rates with those of Matildas, it is easy to see why.
In the meantime Shaun is thanking his lucky stars he stayed at Walton House!!

I don't have a dog in this fight, but the previous owner of Matilda's is a friend of mine as well and one I'll be visiting this fall. I asked HER about the changes with the new owners and she said they had made some great decisions on remodel, is thrilled about their care for the property, and believes they are doing just fine. The personal p-ssing contest between you two is tiresome and inappropriate for this board. And Blackjack, you're coming perilously close to libelous behavior here against someone who is unaware of your smears. Neither of you has made me want to stay at Matilda's again, ever, and I don't the current owners would appreciate any of the truck being posted here.

I am genuinely sorry to have offended.
When people have known something a certain way for a while they cannot conceive it differently - lies such as those recently do not help this and it was impossible not to bite. Deliberately mentioning names and personal aspects of the lives of people you have never met in an effort to pretend you know them is just off the wall.
I am not sure about the libelous part, and I haven't said anything that isn't true - many in the area could tell you the same thing and that is just the truth of it. If the point is made that "one-owner-was-better-than-another" then it is fair game to challenge it. I used an example to make a point. I am sorry if you felt your friend was being unfairly painted; I suppose what goes around comes around.
One thing - regardless of what any previous owners have said - there have been no structural changes or remodelling to the B&B, and all work has been outside. I mention this only because it seems to be an issue and a lot of people read these messages - phones have run hot in the valley this week.