Wanderers Retreat

Delightful stay at Wanderer's Retreat for the weekend. Five minutes walk to gorgeous One Mile beach, the cute, clean cabin is nestled in the bush with loads of birds and wildlife. Loved sitting the outdoors hot spa at sunset! Antony is a very pleasant, relaxed and thoughtful host who attended to anything we needed. Will definitely visit again.

I looked forward to visiting and being in the rainforest to relax and see the wildlife which was the highlight of my stay, lots of birds and butterflies and possums who came up onto our balcony. But I do feel disappointed with our stay here. Upon arrival I found there to be a composting drop toilet that was not clearly advertised in the booking. We found an empty packet of chips in the compartment of the coffee table. The window sills were dusty and there were dead insects there. Underneath the bed was very dusty and my partner found cutlery that had been left there. I also found the bathroom mirror to have dirty marks. The cutlery and crockery had to be re washed as they had not been cleaned properly. This showed me that the cabin had not been properly cleaned since the previous guests, and that the cabin was not well maintained. I read on the information sheet on the fridge to "clean up after yourself and leave the place as you found it" So then I thought that the previous guests had most likely done the washing up and left their rubbish behind. Unfortunately when I walked around the retreat and when we arrived back from our outings there was a strong smell of what I thought was sewage, I also noticed this when sitting on the balcony occasionally. I feel mislead by the advertising of this place as being a Luxury Retreat. Very overpriced for what I experienced. I expected better service for the price we paid, and a clean and comfortable environment. If the accommodation was more transparently advertised and price appropriate there would be less reason for disappointment.

Great location - only 10 minutes drive from the Nelson Bay shops, cafes and marina. Close to other attractions such as Anna Bay's camel rides through the sand dunes. Koala Place is a pretty cul de sac and a short walk to One Mile Beach. Our host, Antony, had directed our attention to a tree mounted Koala drinking station near the end of the beach path. This was attached to a mature Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus Robusta), one of the Koalas favourite foods. We met the owner, Antony at the quaint Reception mini cottage on his bicycle - very Eco orientated. He delivered us to our chosen accomodation a Bush Spa & Hot Tub Cottage. We found it well appointed, tastefully presented and welcoming with complementary Port and Bubbly (pity we recently gave up alcohol). All three rooms and the deck were comfortably furnished with ample kitchen utensils and a large Webber BBQ ready to cook the fish we would soon catch during the charter we had booked. The Retreat's gardens were well designed, providing privacy and seclusion. We came to envy the guests in the Tree Houses as we walked to the pool - maybe next time! Our favourite memories, other than the many interesting conversations with Antony are relaxing in the outside Hot Tub looking up at the Tree Canopy or being caressed by the inside spa while admiring the view from the bathroom. We enjoyed our 3 night stay and would recommend it to all who love nature and the Australian relaxed bush lifestyle.

Wanderers Retreat, is more of a night mare than a retreat. I paid $724.86, for two nights which was expensive considering all the other options available, but thought I’d give this place a try as the images advertised were amazing online, but I was fooled. As soon as I walked into the cottage we were welcomed with cockroaches, spiders, fruit flys that were in the kitchen, bathroom, living room and even the bedrooms. The owner is well aware of what was going on, as he told us there was fly spray and personal repellent under the kitchen sink that we could use as needed. To my discovery I realised the fruit flys, were lingering, from the hole in the floor from the toilet pit (not your normal flushing toilet) that’s filled with toilet paper and fecal matter and that it had not been rotated (I shined a torch down the pit to see what was going on) nor advertised when we booked the property, which is false advertising and also explained the smell of the sewerage as soon as you parked near the cottage. The shower curtain was hang by a chain and when your showered the bathroom floor water was spread across the entire bathroom. The spa bath had hair caught in the jets and super un clean as threads were being released when turnt on. The bedrooms and ceilings were filled with spider webs and there was a thick coating of dust behind and near the beds. The room was tiny with a double bed and not queen, as advertised. The couches were absolutely filthy and seatings need to be cleaned and there was crumbs under the sofa seating. The cottage smelt musty. The outdoor furniture is horrible and rusty and you might require a tetanus shot if you accidentally cut yourself on the metal chairs or the screws fixed over the wood paneling across the porch. The bbq needed a clean and I was too disgusted to use it. The gardens are over grown and not maintained at all. I was looking forward to a rainforest, but this is not the case. Just a overgrown shrub and bush land that is not maintained. There were no kangaroos or koalas either. The owner Antony, is a micro manager who wanders around the property at all hours of the night and even came out one night with a torch and told my sister and her partner that no visitors were allowed, when they came past to drop off some water bottles and they won’t allowed to park where they were. You can barley see anything when walking at night and I felt unsafe. The property also mentions that there is privacy and this is not the case either. I could see other properties, from where I was situated. My daughters are highly sensitive to irritants (which the place was full of) and when I asked Antony if I could use the washing machine for another combined load the second day (which I was really appreciative of and thanked him), he asked me why I had so much clothes to wash (one load) and that he was not ok with letting me use it again. When I explained that I had to wash my kids clothes due to sensitivity and literally beg him, he then allowed m

We took a hastily organised trip to Port Stephens in September (literally booked accommodation a few days before we went there). We had trouble finding anything not already booked and then stumbled across this gem and called them. We got the last available accommodation onsite for the time period we were going, which was the Eco Cottage with spa bath. Would have loved one of the cottages with hot tub, but that just shows this place is in high demand. From the moment we arrived, we felt welcomed. We were both stressed out and exhausted but quickly found ourselves relaxing in the very comfortable cottage and taking swift advantage of the spa bath! The cottage itself was very clean and had everything we needed. The bathroom was probably my favourite feature, even if the composting toilet did take a bit of getting used to! It's quiet onsite too - the noisiest things were the possum who visited at night and the kookaburra who usually turned up in the mornings. One Mile beach is a short walk from the site - you follow a little track and then cross a main road and you're almost there. It's also a convenient distance from Boat Harbour (walking and whale watching), Salamander Bay (shops and public pool for lap swimming) and Nelson Bay and Shoal Bay. We had such a good time and hope to go back some other time and maybe book ourselves a cottage with a hot tub. Highly recommend this place.

After 36 countries we have stayed in a myriad of different styles of accommodation. This means we are generally not surprised but that was not the case here. Our 6 nights in the treehouse was sublimely fantastic. Waking up and looking out the windows to see such beautiful trees was a daily treat. The room was cosy and comfortable. The kitchenette was more than adequate for our needs. Having both a tree-change and sea-change experience so close at hand is a rare thing and so enjoyable. Would stay here again gladly. Highly recommend.