Kookaburra Hideaway Hunter Valley

It was wonderful hosting Betina and her family / friends for Christmas. Great guests and they left the house spotless :). Thankyou … Val and Andrew :)

Thank you so much for your generous review Mark. It was a pleasure having you stay. at Kookaburra Hideaway. You would be welcome back any time :-)

Thankyou Erwin … it was lovely having you stay. Glad you had a good break :)

And it was wonderful having you stay. You are definitely very welcome to return, we look forward to it :)

Thanks Mitchel. We really enjoyed having you stay and are glad you all had a good time :)

We would love to host you again. Thankyou :)

Thankyou for your review. I remember you well from previous email feedback sent personally to me. I suspect that a lot of your comments have to do with the fact that it was raining all weekend and you and your friends didn't venture out of the house much or use the (undercover) outdoor facililites. Such a shame as it would have been a lovely barbecue experience even with what appeared to be a very basic grill... which is actually what most barbecues are. I was also on property that weekend and the beautiful smell of (the most welcome and needed) fresh rainwater and the sound of it on the tin roof was wonderful. With regard to lack of a shower in one of our four bathrooms, that is because the bath in question is one of our two heavenly spa baths that is there for the enjoyment of the lucky guest occupying that room, or any other of the friends staying with them, with 3 other showers in the house, a house that is built for good friends and family sharing. I believe from your email to me that you also had a problem with the fact that one of the bathrooms is designed for disabled people, which is sad as we see it as a great contribution to enabling those less fortunate than others to enjoy our house and we have gone to a great deal of trouble and expense to ensure that our facilities meet all standards without ostricising. With regard to bins and towel rails... every bathroom has a swing bin in it and every bathroom has a towelrail or a hook... I don't see that as being a big problem, but if it takes away from the "luxury" then we will of course remedy it very easily and inexpensively. Luxury is subjective of course, however we define luxury as a pleasure that is obtained rarely, such as relaxing with good friends, enjoying abundant nature and wildlife in a stunning house, surrounded by acres and acres of land, with cows, kangaroos, kookaburras and great Hunter Valley food and Wine. Fortunately, as you can see from all of our excellent reviews, the vast majority of our guests totally enjoy the many fantastic and wonderful features of our property, I can see however that you were probably looking for something more akin to a 5 star luxury city hotel, which is not at all what we offer. Thankyou again for your feedback. We have certainly learned from it.

Whoever wrote this review certainly knows how to stab someone in the heart. The tone of the review is condescending, disrespectful and it is inaccurate. To suggest that we, the owners, couldn’t be bothered to look after the property?? And so, they had decided to make us accountable by going public. That is so insulting and uncalled for. Especially as we have a track record of 5 star reviews from very happy groups of guests, leading up to and beyond Angela’s booking. Wouldn’t it have been better to tell us immediately if there was a problem so that we could investigate and deal with it? The Hunter Valley has had the toughest 2 years this century, with loss of business through Covid and more recently storms and flooding which caused a great deal of damage, requiring multiple clean-ups and repairs and huge disruption to our bush environment and wildlife. We have worked ourselves into the ground to keep our business going and fortunately, as anyone reading this will see, we have consistent 5 star reviews and lovely guests who have had some great times at Kookaburra Hideaway and we have loved hosting them. We knew nothing of “Angela’s” problems with bush rats and insects, until we read their review after their stay. The only thing that was communicated during their stay, via someone who was not the lead guest, was their unfounded anxiety about the risk of running out of water or gas and comparisons with what they were used to in their city abode, vs our bush setting. We also communicated with those same persons about one of our air conditioners that regrettably failed, even though it had been fixed the week before and had to be replaced. Fortunately the weather cooled down after it failed, so was not as crucial to their stay. At no time during those communications was there any mention of them having any problems Bush rats or anything else they mentioned in their review… We were very unhappy with these guests and the way they conducted themselves and their lack of empathy for the Australian bush environment. Having said that, our opinion of all the guests was very much based on the communications and highhanded approach of the persons who had appointed themselves as spokespersons, it would be wrong of us to put all the guests in the same category as them. I had always dealt with Angela as she was the lead guest and the person we had the accommodation booking contract with and responsibility was with her to be first to arrive and communicate with other guests.. She seemed very nice when I dealt with her and that is why we accepted her booking. The reality is that this group should not have booked themselves a property in the Australian Bush if they were so scared of wildlife and insects. We were very upset when we discovered that they had, without our permission (which would never have been given), spread Ant killer around the property, which was poisonous to children and pets. The half-used container was found in an unlocked cupboard under the kitchen sink, easily accessible by the children in their group. How dangerous… and disrespectful And who knows what else they did to our flora, fauna, and avifauna, whilst they were there. I feel sick thinking about it. I have listed other behaviour and damage that we were unhappy with at the end of this reply. In the meantime, here is our response to what they have said about us and their experience. And outlined the very different and wonderful experiences other recent guests have enjoyed. During the Christmas and New Year’s period we have hosted 6 bookings and a large Wedding at Kookaburra Hideaway. It is a very busy time for us. Average size of guest groups staying was 12, with a mixture of adults and children. 3 bookings were through VRBO and all gave us 5 star reviews. We also had 2 group bookings through another well-known Third Party booking site, all of those bookings received 5 stars and said what a great time they had. And the same with our direct booking bride and groom on January 6th 2023. So that is 5 consecutive bookings with 5 star reviews and very happy guests prior to Angela’s group staying. And then on 29 January 2023, our weekend group of guests (through VRBO/Stayz) checked out after a what they described as a great weekend, also giving us 5 star review and no bushrats spotted. So why then, in between all those bookings and hosting very happy guests who have given us 5 star reviews, did Angela and her group have such a different experience apparently? The answer is “Cause and Effect” and I suspect, in my opinion, that not all guests embraced the country experience, particularly the person or persons who we believe wrote the review, because it doesn’t sound like Angela’s words or style. Angela was the lead guest for this booking for 12 guests and we communicated with her leading up to their stay. Our contract was with her and she should have been the first guest to check in at the property as she was the person whose ID had been verified. All check in details and information had been sent to for her to distribute to her group and if there were any special requirements, they should have been communicated to us by her prior to arrival. There were none advised. Angela told us that her arrival would be 3pm, which is our official check in time, and we timed our prearrival house checks accordingly as we normally do a walk around and final check of property at least 30 minutes before arrival as the property had been cleaned the previous day and a lot can change in a day. At 2.20pm, 40 minutes prior to check in time and without notification from lead guest Angela, a couple from her group arrived wanting to check in and they entered the house with their children. It was completely unexpected. This not only contravenes our requirements for lead guest to check in first, but also sent our pre check in procedures into disarray as the early check in guests not only took possession of the house, but also monopolised my husband Andrew with barrage of questions and anxious commands Including moving around Sofa beds, requests for extra linen, Wi-Fi access and questions about spiders and cockroaches that their children were terrified of apparently… Had we known that this furore was going to occur, we would have asked them to leave and come back at check in time once Angela had arrived to co-ordinate them. All the property information, including Wi-Fi access code etc had been sent Angela as lead guest, that should have been passed on. We had not been given any special instructions for extra linen, we were happy to supply it, but did not appreciate these premature guests implying that we should have known about it and it should all be in place ready for them? At no time did Angela communicate a need for sofa beds to be moved around and any extra linen requirements. We are only as good as the information we are given. All these special requirements that the early check in guests required unfortunately meant that other than putting 2 lovely bottles of wine on the kitchen counter for them, we were not able do our final sweep of the property and fluffing that we do prior to check in as the early bird guests had already moved in, unpacked and ensconced themselves. Sorry to say, this did not bode well as a good start and neither did the panic-stricken phone call on the first evening from the husband of the “early arrivals” because he had seen our “please use water sparingly” advisory (because we are a rural property that runs off tank water) and he thought that meant he was going to run out of water?? And, also because the gas on the hob wasn’t as fast as his “Sydney gas” (we’re on LPG – no town gas in the country) he thought the gas was going to run out…?? Even though we assured him that both gas bottles were full as was the water tank and we had back up. Our property in the Hunter Valley is known as Kookaburra Hideaway for a reason. It is tucked away in the middle of hundreds of acres of private land with nothing around except 50 head or so of grazing cattle and our lovely Australian wildlife and the Brokenback Range of mountains to keep us company. This is how our property is described on our websites. KOOKABURRA HIDEAWAY - FABULOUS COUNTRY SETTING OVERLOOKING HUNTER VALLEY. SURROUNDED BY PADDOCKS, ROAMING CATTLE, KANGAROOS AND BROKENBACK MOUNTAINS. We acknowledge the Wonnarua People as the Traditional Custodians of the Land within The Hunter Valley. We pay respect to all Aboriginal Elders past, present and future with a spiritual connection to these lands. I think that makes it very obvious, as does the location, that we are surrounded by wildlife and all creatures great and small and that we have respect for our land and all its inhabitants. We especially love and honour our wildlife and everything that makes up our eco system… and the majority of our guests embrace that, that why they come to the Australian bush, especially if they have children with them as it is a great way to introduce them to nature. We are the only source of human life and protection for all our creatures that surround us, whether they be burly cattle or tiny ants. They are all part of our eco system. We are proud to be home to wild birds including kookaburras; kangaroos, wallabies, cattle, horses, goanna’s (3),sugar sliders, ducks, swamp hens, chickens, rabbits, possums, bush rats, blue tongue lizards, foxes, turtles and more- including 2-3 species of snakes and because they are what makes our eco infrastructure work, we also have ants, spiders (nothing poisonous), mosquitos and hornets (not wasps). We don’t have cockroaches. We are a rural country property, set in the midst of the Hunter Valley which as well as being wine country, is surrounded by Coal Fields and coal trains closeby…. Hence a combination of flora, fauna and … sorry to say … coal dust… That is something we deal with every day.. in the same way we deal with spider’s webs and hornets nest forming in minutes… We will never not have dust in the house…. And it’s the same for all other rural properties… sorry. With regard to bush rats… The reviewer has used an alarmist headline which infers we have disease spreading rats akin to sewer rats and the term “serious rat infestation” is totally inappropriate and ridiculous. Infestation involves very large numbers and complete out of control takeover of a property. Not a little family of Bush Rats and a couple of possums living in their own bush environment where we built our guest house 13 years ago. Despite numerous texts and conversations with the co-owner Andrew, about all kinds of things, the man who was doing all the communication (the early arrival guest) made NO mention of any problem with Bush rats or droppings whilst they were actually staying at Kookaburra Hideaway. The first we had heard of any problems with bush rats was when we read their review after checkout. If they had told us during their stay we could have investigated and given them a solution. If the situation was so bad, then why wouldn’t they have told us? Why “suffer” for a whole week, when we are only 300 metres away from them and on the end of a phone? We advise all guests not to leave food on countertops… standard practice in the country. Yes of course we know we have Bush Rats; we are in the Bush, the Bush is where they live. They were there first. Bush rats are native to Australia, they are a protected species and aren’t considered dangerous pests. They are just trying to live their life we don’t hear or see them unless they are very, very hungry or need shelter. If we had known the “Bushies” were coming inside the guest house, it’s very simple to keep them out of the house. Put some food (bread will do) for them outside and away from the house in a covered area….. they are very hungry at times, especially when we have changeable weather and a lot of rain so they come inside seeking shelter and looking for food.. Also, moving garbage bins off the veranda would have helped. Also, if we had known they had made a mess, we could have sent the cleaners in to do a clean-up. With regards to the Air Conditioning. We had all our Air Conditioners serviced prior to Christmas by our regular technician. The reviewer seems to be indicating that none of our Air conditioners were working… That is not correct. Just to be clear. We have 2 Air Conditioners, both working, with ceiling fans in the main lounge room… the perfect respite for everyone to stay cool. We also have a lovely cool swimming pool immediately adjacent to the house. We have a reverse cycle air conditioner in the main bedroom… as well as a ceiling fan and a pedestal fan for back up. The main bedroom aircon normally works perfectly, however the booking prior to your stay, reported a problem with the Air conditioner and we immediately got on to our Air Con Technician out to fix. A fix was actioned and on check of Angela’s group the Air Conditioner was working, but unfortunately the fault returned and although temporary fix was made during stay, it didn’t last. Since then, a brand-new Air-conditioning unit costing $2600 has been installed on Monday after guest checkout… Too late for Angela’s stay due to Christmas trading and delivery restrictions, but an indication that we are not in the slightest bit slack with our responses and obligations. In the other 3 bedrooms we do not have any Air Conditioners (the reviewer seems to be trying to indicate that there were air conditioners in the bedrooms but none were working – that is incorrect and misleading). We have ceiling fans, pedestal fans and portable air coolers. If they weren’t having the desired effect, then they weren’t being used properly. Water or ice needs to be added to the Air Cooler, as explained by co-owner Andrew. With regard to hornet nests. As mentioned previously we don’t have wasps on the property, they are not indigenous to our area. However we do have hornets’ nests in the bush at certain times, usually in January/February. Several egg incubation mounds were located and removed before guest check in, by pressure washing, however they appear again within hours, so it is hard to keep on top of them. In 30 years I’ve never been stung by a hornet. They only sting when they are threatened or angry, I’m sorry to hear that someone was stung… had we been alerted we could have assisted… but we weren’t alerted. Regarding doonas. What has said is misleading. They are covered, with a sheet back and front. We use a 3 sheet bed making system which is common practice in hotels. Our bedding is washed and pressed by a professional laundry including blankets. The bed making procedure is bottom sheet on mattress, next sheet is over body, then doona and then final striped satin sheet as top sheet, the 2nd and 3rd sheet form an “envelope” around the doona that can then be tucked in rather than hanging loose. We have tried to replicate your claim that bathroom doors open with a breath of air but cannot. Again, nothing was said about this during the guest’s stay.. We are very unhappy about the disruption that the early arrival guests caused and the fact that the lead guest was not first to check in to organise her group. It meant that we were unable to complete our final preparations for the property because of the attention needed by these guests and the fact that they just didn’t embrace the wildlife and country setting at all, in fact, it seemed that they feared it. We are also unhappy that they didn’t talk to us about the bush rat situation, as we could have solved that easily with our recommended actions. We were horrified to find that these guests had, without our permission, put down Ant Killer that they had purchased, around the property…which was poisonous and dangerous to children and pets… we found it in cupboard in the kitchen after they left. That is strictly forbidden and very dangerous and disrespectful. The sofa bed that they had us put in their bedroom was broken when we checked the property post check out… it was not broken when it was put there. We suspect this was due to children jumping on it.. The skimmer box on the pool was broken by during their stay…. Replaced and reported by guest, but how he broke it, Lord knows. I could go on, but I believe I have made my point. With all of our 5 star reviews and happy guests either side of Angela’s booking and in the past, there was clearly something that made this guest experience different. Our take on this is that possibly not all the group were on the same page with regard to being in a bush setting, hence the anxiety and tension we were feeling. Also, 7 days is a long time to spend with a group of 12 persons in the same property, especially if they do not all enjoy the same locations and experiences. I don’t know. It is not my place to speculate. So, in conclusion. We have addressed the Air Conditioner problem by buying a new one. Andrew did notice when called up to the property on a couple of occasions that air conditioners were on with all doors open… that isn’t very effective or eco-friendly. The bush rat situation was very exaggerated and could have been averted if it had been reported to us. Also, our new carpet wouldn’t have had a hole chewed in it. We have checked for entry points for the Bush rats and made some reinforcements, however the guest that checked out yesterday saw no rats or possums in the house. The Doona’s were covered, we just use a different method by making an envelope with sheets, rather than trying to stuff a doona into a large “pillowcase”. The Doona’s themselves have been sent to the laundry, so I couldn’t check them. I also couldn’t find any “stinky blankets” because they had all gone off to the laundry as well. Again, if this had been reported prior to check out and before review published, I could have verified. That’s all we have to say on the subject. Was your group suffering all the supposed problems for a week, so that you could publish a public review about your experience and make the owner accountable, such a good idea? Especially given that we could have easily solved the situation if you had communicated with us. What was the point? It was almost like you didn’t want to enjoy yourselves. So, the end result is that you have written your disparaging review about our property and given us a very bad score. I have responded with my thoughts and given you a very bad score as guests, I wish I had scored you lower, based on your lack of proper communication, but I didn’t know the contents of your review at that point. My reviews are 5 star mostly, so it won’t affect us much, however it has been very upsetting and time consuming dealing with this. Some honest communication would have sorted this out very quickly and ensure you had a much more enjoyable stay. Very disappointing.

Thanks Fiona. It was great having you ave thanks so much for your review. Come back and stay anytime. You are welcome :)

Thankyou for your lovely comments Zena. It was a great pleasure having you and your family stay and enjoy Kookaburra Hideaway and enjoy the property. We would love to have you stay again. :). X

Aww—- Thankyou so much Daniel. It was an absolute pleasure having you stay :)

And we would love to have you come and say again :)

Hi Julie. Thankyou for your lovely review. Bit was wonderful having you back again. Andrew told me that the last time you came we didn’t have the pool, so that certainly is a long time back :). Glad you were able to enjoy it this time :)

Hi Bernard .. Thankyou for your review however we are disappointed that you didn’t contact us as requested regarding dishwashing tablets and cutlery especially as we were 2 minutes away and had face to face contact with you as well. I am pleased that you had a lovely stay.

Wonderful. That is great that you all had everything you needed to have a relaxed family break with your four legged friend. Thanks so much for your feedback. Come again :)