Sebel Reef House, Palm Cove
 

I recently spent two weeks in Sydney, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock and Palm Cove, and it was an incredible vacation. Palm Cove was beautiful, but this hotel was a huge disappointment. It's billed as a five-star property, but my room was in a state of disrepair, which I found inexcusable. Tiles in the bathroom and kitchenette were chipped and moldy. The wood frame around the main mirror in the room was loose, and they did not fix it during my stay. Also, the wood desk was chipped. When I complained to the front desk and manager, they sent the head housekeeper to my room and she said she was "embarrassed." But this was not a housekeeping issue; the tiles and desk needed to be replaced and the mirror frame fixed. We went back down to the front desk, and the manager looked for a new room. There wasn't one.
What really bothered me, though, was what happened -- or didn't happen -- next: Nothing. The manager did absolutely nothing to appease me at that point, when she should have offered a discount or to pay for a tour (of Great Barrier Reef or the Kuranda Skyrail/train). At the very least, she should have offered free dinner at the restaurant. None of that happened.
I tried to find a room at another hotel along the beach. The Outrigger and Angsarra were booked. One place had a room, but I didn't like it. When I returned and informed the manager I was staying, I said, "At least you can offer me dinner." A few minutes later, she calls to say that I could either an appetizer and main course or main course and dessert. I didn't say anything, but the more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became. When I went to dinner, I told the concierge I should get an appetizer, main course AND dessert. He started to go on about how the plan was for dessert or the appetizer. At that point, I cut him off and reminded him that we wouldn't be having this discussion if the hotel had given me a decent room. He gave in, perhaps not wanting to tick off further someone who stands 6-foot-8.
I understand that even the best restaurants and hotels aren't perfect, that occasionally there are problems with the food or the room. It's entirely possible that every other room there is perfect, that I got the bad one of the bunch. But to me, one mark of a great hotel or restaurant is how the staff handles problems. In this case, the Sebel Reef House failed miserably. The staff could have easily appeased me, but didn't. Heck, getting a full dinner was a battle, and it shouldn't have been. The grounds are beautiful, the restaurant is terrific, but I wish I had stayed at the Angsarra or the Outrigger Palm Cover, instead.

Well said, Alan, you beat me to it.

Thanks, Pat.... Good God, what if he had turned up at your place???!!!! Better check that mirror in the john!

No, Pat, I take that back.... I wish he HAD chosen to stay with you. You would have known exactly what to do with his complaints, wouldn't you? You would have served up his dessert with your usual sweet smile, while the dog in the kennel down the back said, "Hey, where's my plate gone?"

Hi Alan - from friends in the restaurant trade any my own waitressing experience in long-ago youth, I know that kitchen and waiting staff do have their sweet revenge on difficult customers. The opportunities are indeed vast and often too tempting to miss!

I'm sure those who wish you'd stayed at Angsarra or Outrigger the most were the gracious people at Sebel Reef. Had they been even minutely as obnoxious as you, you would have (and should have) been evicted.
They owed you nothing more than the room and the opportunity to go elsewhere. Too bad you didn't......say about 7,500 miles.
The scope of your delusion of superiority is exceeded only by the depth of your ignorant and boorish behavior.
You are an embarrasement to your hosts, the traveling public in general, and your countrymen in particular.
Go back to Vancouver, Washington, and please stay there!

Oh my God!!! A chipped desk! What on earth is the world coming to? I think your comment about the fact that one of the other hotels you mentioned actually had a room to offer you "but you didn't like it" says it all!! If your room at Sebel Reef House was so bad that you'd consider moving surely this other must have been worth moving to. Let's face facts andrews98682 you didn't really just want a free 3 course dinner, or discounted tour tickets, you really wanted all of the above AND the room for free didn't you! Go on admit it. By the way do you feel proud being so threatening toward a hotel concierge with your 6 foot 8 stature?

I have to say, I was resisting entering a comment as I find the pig headed attitude of andrews98682 quite pathetic.
However, Alan has pretty much summed it up for all of us.
I would like to add if I may, Palm Cove is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been privelidged to visit and all the accomodation is of a very high standard indeed.
Things do go wrong and things do get broken and damaged, its called wear and tear, however if these trivial things are your biggest problem then you really don't have any problems at all.
And if you allowed this triviality to overshadow a stay at one of the most beautiful places on earth then you really are a sad shallow creature indeed, I suggest in future you stay in your no doubt perfect home and wallow in your own self pity.

Muck

HI Andrews98682,

Well I think you have managed to ruffle a few feathers here.

Are you by any chance an insurance assessor? If you are you really should leave the job behind when you go on holidays you will have a much better time.

Well that's a relief Alan, you ARE human after all ;-)

If anybody fancies running a 'FoBOREite of the Month' competition I guess we've got our first nomination. Can't wait for the end of the month: "And the winner is...".

I recall having a fit once when checking into a room at a hotel in the US and discovering that it did not have a door into the hallway (it had been taken down for repairs.) They did help us find a room elsewhere, but no free meal. I guess you have to be 6'8".

:o

just charming...I can see why Alan was so dis-spirited!

I did complain to Pat and Mike about the 2 room suite they upgraded us to. I thought it was an unnecessary kindness and thought they should have saved it for people like andrews98682. They argued with me and made us stay in the upgraded room and forced us to have supper at Phoebe's fabulous Garden Room twice and wake up in the morning and have extra portions of tropical fruit and doubles on pastry

Why are we assuming that 98682 is andrews (American) zip code. Couldn't it just be his small town telephone number in rural France, or the amount of money in his pension fund, or the number of times he's been to Stuart's Well to see Dinky?

We had an ungracious guest once, who was whining to all our other guests. We said we'd give her money back if she'd leave, rebooked her into our fictional sister property, resold the room to the next walk-in and turned off the lights in case she came back.

We never heard from her again but I wondered if she was the out of control drunk who assaulted a bicycle cop that evening on the Plaza and ended up in the police report in the next morning's paper. Who wants to speculate on which country she came from?

Yours in hospitality,

AndrewDavid

PS this thread could easily exceed Michi's record breaking " Non tourist things to do in Sydney....."

I'm afraid, AndrewDavid, that I am guilty of making an assumption about andrew98682's nationality, but the postcode idea never occurred to me; it's just that I can only think of one country which sends tourists to Australia where the people stand six-foot-eight. In most countries, including our own, they stand 202cm.

Maybe, andrews98682, if you're still reading this thread, you can enlighten us on this one. We wouldn't want to unfairly tag the wrong people!

you should be a detective! i was wondering the very same thing....excellent deduction.

as a former new yorker, i would be willing to bet he comes from the tri state area, as well. that's where they teach us to be rude and demanding. seriously.

i can tell you right now that if you posted this exchange on a new york-centric web site, the 15 responses would be from people writing things like "the nerve, JUST dessert and NO coffee?"

a wise man who runs a nice hotel in samoa explained that this is a guest "type" and that he is "reaching" for this level of property and expects a lot for "all the money."

a wise man, he.

Alan,

He could be a chinese basketball player who was adopted by english missionaries and assumed their surname

A/D

Anyway it looks like andrews98682 has crawled his 6 foot 8 frame under a rock and is too scared to come out and face his accusers. One can only hope that he has learned from these comments and that he realises that people do not really care for those who throw their weight around and use standover tactics.

Good on you Andrew, you've given me the best laugh of the day. I think you'd better come back swiftly - Phoebe's extended her menu - last night it was deep fried soft shell crabs, better than those that I tried in Vietnman. by the way, she does remember you and sends her love.

Funnily enough, AndrewDavid, I heard from someone (maybe Pat) that YOU were actually a Chinese basketball player who was adopted by English missionaries, etc. Is "98682" the postcode for Santa Fe, and do you write for this forum under two pseudonyms? (I have a feeling, from our brief meeting, that you don't stand 6'8".... but then, I'd hazard a guess, neither does andrews98682.... I think he chooses to add his appendage size to his height to give himself something to brag about).

As someone rightly pointed out previously andrews98682 would live in Vancouver, Washington, USA. if you used his name as a USA zip code. I notice that he did have another post where he said that he was a 31 yr old single gent. Therefore we can assume that he is not widely travelled and therefore we can assume that to him a mouldy tile would equate to at least a reduction of 2 stars in rating.
I mean it was like when I went to Washington DC, went up the the White House, the disappointment and sense of hurt that I felt when Bill and Hillary did not come out to meet me was totally overwhelming. At least Monica could have come and waved and given me some tea and scones but no! nothing! This rejection has hurt me to the very core and I can tell you that I will never go there again! So Andy could be feeling the same as me. Therefore Al, cut him some rope and be the understanding man that I know you to be!

You know what everyone's going to think, don't you, Liz? They're going to think this whole thing is a put-on, and that you and I are behind it. You see what's happened now.... you and I have suddenly changed places! I am the one suddenly using intemperate language and calling a spade a bloody shovel, in the best LizF style (I quote from a previous LizF post: "you can all just get stuffed!") and YOU are the one pouring oil and urging tolerance and good-will to all men (even ones that stand 6 foot eight)! This must be especially confusing to the Welshmen in our ranks, who, as you know, are simple souls who don't handle metal gear changes too smoothly, if you know what I mean.

I guess I'm so "down" on andrews98682 because I am convinced I have run into him before, and I never quite got over the experience. It was in a tiny cafe out the back of Rome in 1982. We used to go there every night, as it was a family-run affair and they had a three-year-old playing around the tables, and we had a four-year-old with us. No one spoke a word of English, but they were lovely to us... Mum waiting on the tables, Dad cooking, Grandma cleaning up, toddler playing around our legs. Well, one day, while we were eating, in walked andrews98682 with his three friends. He did all the ordering. "I want a hamburger," he demanded. Mum didn't know what he was talking about, and held up the blackboarded menu which showed the day's fare. He wasn't having any of this. "No, no. no, a hamburger. Hamburger! Don't you know what a hamburger is?" His voice is now strident and pitched as if explaining something to a mental defective. More pointing to the blackboard. "Look, let me explain. A hamburger. It's ground beef, see? Ground beef. It has onion in it. It's made into a patty. Like this (demonstrating with his hands). A patty. See?"

Suddenly a bolt of understanding from hapless Mum. The magic word: patti. The menu listed "prima patti" and "secundo patti". She eagerly pointed to "secundo patti", which was, I think, crumbed veal that night. "Oh, good, at last!" replied andrews98682, turning to his friends with an air of someone who has scored a great victory. "You see, you just have to make these people understand what you want." Mum retreated into the kitchen to serve up the veal, or whatever. andrews98682, eager to show that he was still on top of the situation, then turned to his friends and said, "If she brings that without ketchup on it, I'm sending it right back!" My wife restrained me from throwing my plate, and we left. I never did find out if he got ketchup on his veal.

That was twenty-two years ago, but I'm convinced that it was the same guy, as that one stood exactly six-foot-eight, with appendage.

I guess I have to toss a dispursion toward Alan. Alan, you must be loosing your mind: If you can confuse me , at 5'-7" w/ a 6'-8' anglo chinese gentleman, esp. after we had a drink in Mt Victoria, something's not hitting on all cylinders.

Would someone send him up to Lilybank for some much needed R&R.

Pat, please send my best to Phoebe and ask her if she can deliver that soft shell crab to 87505


A/D

I love this. Alan - you're hysterical (I mean hysterical funny) and you're giving me a good laugh while I'm sitting at my desk. Your story about the Rome restaurant reminds me of a similar scenario in Nepal. We were eating a restaurant called KC's in Kathmandu. The restaurant was very busy and meals were just arriving at tables as they were ready, so I might get my entree course well before my partner got his. Nobody was minding this, not the Germans or the Brits or the Swedes or the Israelies or anyone else until a couple of andrews98682 arrived. The male ordered his meal in a very loud voice as if speaking to partly deaf person and then did the same for his companion "she'll have the yak steak" or whatever. They then proceeded to have a conversation that tne entire restaurant had to listen to whether they liked it or not, most of it complaining about everything there was to do with Nepal. When, as had been the situation all evening, his meal arrived before his partners, he said "where's hers?" The waiter explained that "hers" would be ready in 10 minutes. Well, that's not good enough, you'll just take mine back. No no said the waiter, please eat. No, he said, you'll take this back and when "hers" is ready you can heat mine in the microwave, don't think to bring it to the table cold. The poor waiter tried to explain that he had no such thing as a microwave. Well then you can take this one back and make me another when "hers" is ready. The great thing about this was at that moment one of the Brits actually went over to that American's table and said. "You know mate, I don't know why you even bother to travel. Why don't you just stay in your own country and save us all the pain of having to listen to you". Everyone else in the restaurant clapped him. The Andrews98682 got up and walked out.

Hello All,

It seems some of the regulars on this Board had the same reaction as I did!

First off, I was shocked to read such a bad review of a property that I love...egads, I thought, can it have gone downhill so fast? And, I've met various members of the staff, including the manager who were more than helpful in my opinion.

Then as I read further I thought...."oh nooooo, I've had this type of client before"! Reminded me of a woman I had years ago on a cruise and I had other clients 4 staterooms away from hers; she came back and complained about EVERYTHING...her cabin was noisy, food was terrible, etc; while the other couple had a lovely time. Hmmm...she was the sort of person who isn't happy unless they're complaining about something! You could almost feel sorry for them as they must never enjoy anything.

Then I read everyone else's post and wondered why Alan hadn't included me in his list of "nice posters" to the board. I probably won't be able to sleep tonight...:)

And lastly, I wondered if this is a legitimate post or one of those people who routinely post something outrageous to get a rise out of people! But then, I probably just thought that because I'm "only" 5'4" and am obviously suffering from some sort of vertically challenged envy.

Regards,

Melodie

Yes Alan, but you know that under all the blust and blather lies just another smiling, quiet, kind but vertically challanged little old lady!

Hi everyone,
I am not sure exactly what Alan means by
"This must be especially confusing to the Welshmen in our ranks, who, as you know, are simple souls who don't handle metal gear changes too smoothly, if you know what I mean".
Now as far as I know I speak English reasonably well,I even know one or two Welsh words ( mostly swear words) (and I am 6ft tall) but I cannot for the life of me figure out what he is suggesting ;-)
However it was whilst watching a trailer for a documentary on TV this week that said that the Welsh were the instigators of making America what it is today. That I began to realise Andrews98682 problem.
The very early leaders and in fact several Presidents of America were Welsh.

Once I had seen this It was clear immediately that the manner and attitude of andrews98682 is my fault.
Well not specifically mine personally but my forefathers fault, apparently they created the America that we know today.

I then began to consider all the bad and good that the Welsh have given the world, firstly and unknown to me America, Tom Jones and his stage full of womens nickers, Shirley Bassey and her quivering bottom lip, Bob Hope, Zeta Jones and her great bicycle stand. Even the great Elvis had roots here. A desperately sad rugby side an equally bad soccer side, a great cricket team in Glamorgan, (who incidently have won the one day league title, almost promoted in the championship we will see Friday and semi finalists in the 20 20 game.)
All this success and only 2 players making it in to the England side ! (which is a contradiction in terms too.)
Even Kylie has roots here !
Regarding the English language,
I don't know for sure but I guess that the mother tongue went to Australia with Englands finest, and subsequently it got a bit distorted over the years.

Which probably explains why the more I read this thread the more confused I get.
So Alan you are spot on.

I am off to learn a few more Welsh words to confuse me even more.
Please continue Andrews98682 bashing, as he probably deserves it.
;-)

Muck

Melodie (by the way, how is Aussie Assist?), Mucky, Danielle, Liz.... you are all making my day. This thread is now the most entertaining 'read' in town.... leaves the Readers' Digest for dead! I'm tempted now to tell you all the story of my encounter with andrews98682 in the tourist office opposite the main rail station in Amsterdam, and his irate set of questions to the lovely young thing behind the counter there, the opener of which was "How do I get to Holland?".... but I am really starting to feel just a little sorry for andrews98682, as he must be aghast, if he's still reading this (and I'll bet he is!) at the hornet's nest he has unwittingly stirred up. Really, we all owe him a vote of thanks; nothing brings people closer together than the opportunity to unite against a common foe. And andrews98682 is about as common a foe as you could find on a forum of "travel-amateurs" (I threw that bit in just for Melodie). So, andrews98682, be of good cheer... you've done us all a service and brought us a little closer together.

Just thought that I would pass this info in. I just got off the frommers sight and andrew also posted this same message on their site. As of today knowone has responded to his rants.

No don't thank Andrew (victor meldrew) just yet, that is so final.
There is plenty more mileage here I am sure.
I am really glad he didn't stay at the Oasis in Palm cove, we actually had insects on our balcony and a few of the perishers got inside. Andrew would surely have insisted on something for free as compensation. And David (who ran the place ) would probably have compensated him with a loud p*** off you miserable git.

lol


Muck

Andrews98682 is really Andrew Seligman and as O'brien says he has posted on the Frommers site BUT the poor b.....d has got all of our replies cut and pasted to his rant as I have just been there and done that! Yuk! yuk! yuk!
Now I am going to hunt him down and see if Mr Big does live in Vancouver Washington USA. I will return!

I just checked the Frommer's Board, after reading O'Brien641's comment above, but before I read all these replies from Liz. Imagine the shock I got when I saw EVERYONE'S comments underneath andrews98682's tirade against the Sebel Reef! Liz, you are such a devil, even if you're not six-foot-eight!

Actually, andrews98682 has posted several tirades, sometimes in response to questions, against the Sebel Reef on the Frommer's Board. That chipped desk must have really hurt his feelings... he just can't leave it alone! He also didn't have anything nice to say about Cairns.... but he did enjoy the Darling Harbour Hotel he stayed in in Sydney, so I guess the holiday wasn't a total loss.

I think it's time now for a droll joke.... everyone here today has to ring Pat Woolford and book a room with her, and when she asks for our names, we should all identify ourselves as Andrew Seligman. OK? Get going!

I notice that one of Liz's posts has been deleted.... same thing happened to me with the very FIRST post I wrote on this thread, so I rewrote it and "toned it down" a little bit (but not much!). I have forgotten what Liz put in the offending post, but maybe the administrator can enlighten us on what gets deleted and what doesn't.

They took off Andy's identifying information I think Alan and perhaps something else as well. Ok so I am a bad person!

Permit me to inject another note, folks. OK, andrews90201 (or whoever) may have come across as a pain in the nether regions, but I think we should be careful not to send a message that intending visitors to these fair shores are allowed to express glowing praise about any and all things Australian. This is starting to sound reminiscent of the fate of an unwary Canadian poster who wrote a good trip report but made one fatal mistake - she included a few faintly negative notes, and was beaten to a pulp within minutes for her trouble.

andrewszipcode may have been working hard to confirm everybody's worst ugly-American prejudices, but he's entitled to put the boot into what he saw as substandard service, surely.

For my money his only mistake was to book into a 5-star hotel, which is a crass thing to do in and of itself and almost guaranteed to result in grief and tears of frustration. Sensible people pass on the stupid frills that add that extra star or two, pay a lot less and, if the place doesn't come up to scratch, can at least comfort themselves with the thought that that they're not paying the equivalent of a Wal-Mart clerk's weekly wage. (Did I use the word "crass"?)

Hi Neil,
There is no problem with complaining if you have a problem.
The severity of problems are naturally subjective as we have seen here with andrews49341.However there is certainly a correct manner for putting those complaints forward to the appropriate people.
It would appear that the manner used in this particular case may not have been appropriate.
Also the mere fact that a free meal (inluding a desert) would make it all acceptable really makes me want to puke.

I suspect he alianated himself from the staff and there was probably no way that they were going to help him from that point on.
I guess being an alian is not the best way to be helped.

Muck

No problem with that, Mucky, and I agree that this guy comes across as someone you'd probably cross the road to avoid, 202 cm tall or not. All I'm saying is that we need to watch that we don't get hypersensitive to criticism and fall back into that old Australian chip-on-the-shoulder mentality.

BTW, I left out a word in a previous sentence and inserted an unnecessary one - it should have read "...we should be careful not to send a message that visitors to these fair shores are ONLY allowed to express glowing praise about any and all things Australian".

So does that mean andrews24670.5 is not on your christmas card list any longer?
I took him off mine.

Muck