트리 엘 리트리트

We have stayed at Tree Elle several times in the past 13 years. This year will be our last. We stayed in July after some really heavy rainfall. We have always been able to drive up to the barn house to unpack the cars and park there. There was a sign asking for cars not to drive on the grass, so we went around the back to the bamboo forest to get to the house. We had no prior communication that we weren’t supposed to drive close to the house. It seems we were expected to park cars in a mud pit then walk the heavy luggage and my elderly mum with her walker through sodden muddy and slippery grass. This seemed pretty unreasonable and dangerous to be honest. We carefully backed up our car to the house to unpack, mindful not to cause undue damage to the heavily wet grass. A month after our stay I found a $500 damage bill for tyre marks in the grass has been charged to my credit card, without any consultation or communication prior to it. How can we be liable for damage to grass caused by the weather conditions when there is no alternative access to the property. I would not have stayed there with my frail mum if we were informed beforehand we couldn’t park near the house and had to walk through slippery mud and grass each time we came and went from the house. I’m really disappointed, and we won’t be going back.

At first entry into the lofthouse we were impressed. It looked nice. Further into our stay it became apparent that the house is very dated & in need of some investment-aka: TLC. The feeling is that everything is functional but mediocre. Some basic things were noticeably amiss. *There is nowhere to place any personal items in the bathroom, as in-no sink space, no shelf: nothing. This was quite unacceptable. *Breakfast supplies were generously left including eggs, butter, milk, oats & cereal, plus a freshly baked loaf & extra bread making packets for the following days which was appreciated. A couple of extra personal touches to the breakfast would have gone a long way such as some juice, jam, cheese perhaps? The breakfast cereal boxes were just before their use by date & were stale. *The teflon in the bread maker pan was heavily scratched. *The bed was very comfortable & we slept well. A bedhead would have added a huge amount of comfort when trying to sit up to read. *It was difficult to watch tv due to the poor sound quality of the tv. *Accomodation is very close to the highway, therefore traffic noise is imminent. *Sleeping upstairs, you awake with first light as you are exposed to glass windows that have no blinds. This basic kind of accommodation is perfect for families with children, especially given the large grassy areas to play on. But as a couple we felt it lacked anything special including zero personal touch or charm. Guests should be aware that you are on the clock when using the spa. We used the spa twice late in the day before closing time & were invited by the owner to take our time, not to worry as no-one will be using it after us. We did not realise that she charged us for every minute over the advertised 30 minute use. We certainly would not have hung about talking together for 15 minutes while we cooled down! We complained but never did see the small refund she offered to pay back. Kim was very nice & helpful with recommendations, but business is the name of the game. Her website policy clearly states an amendment fee of $50 for any changes to number of guests. We were disappointed that she refused to honour this when our group dropped from 4 to 2 guests. She justified with explanations of a minimum 4 guest price policy (fortnight out from Christmas) but from our perspective, that policy was not yet in place for the dates we were there. In general, communication about her policies were not upfront when they needed to be. We appreciated her trying to rebook the chalet so that we could cancel, but it did not happen so we came as one couple nevertheless & did manage to enjoy ourselves in the wonderful location of Walpole. The events garden is very lovely & we enjoyed taking a walk around there. It’s safe to say that we vacated from our getaway in the Tree-Elle Retreat with a balanced mix of positive & negative feelings.