雪地橡樹(Snowy Gums Smiggins)

We visited Snowy Gums mid week in late July 2022. The property was in a bit of a disheveled state, dirty, and the communal lounge populated with friendly but shabby staff. Cigarette smoke wafted up to the lounge from the entrance where staff gathered to smoke and the lounge itself had loud music pumping over the stereo system most of the day. The large stereo speakers also happened to be rigged up (with cables everywhere) in the middle of the lounge and took up prime seats right in front of the window blocking the otherwise nice view. Breakfast buffet was average. Bar didn't have any decent wine, but plenty of cans of mixers. For the money we paid, it was not good value and certainly not a family friendly vibe. More like a mid range backpackers at 100x the price! Better tailored to the staff than the paying guests. Snowy Gums used to be a great chalet. I understand the business sold before the start of last season. The lack of positive reviews for last season is in line with our experience . What went wrong? Maybe the new owners got off to a bad start. Any indication the current owners are making a commitment to return this chalet to a clean, family friendly place to stay? A small amount of effort toward better management would make a big difference for guests and probably attract better reviews!

We selected Snowy Gums for the location and availability. When booking I asked about room facilities which was told there weren’t any, so we organised alternative solutions for outside breakfast hours which started at 7am (we are early risers!). On arrival staff are very friendly and advise us that our door gets a bit stuck (you have to slam the door to shut it). Our room was a good size for 2, warm, clean and did have tea/coffee, jug small table and chairs and microwave placed on top of a small fridge. Driving from Qld knowing this would have been good to know before I got here. The bed was set up as 2 x singles, but staff were quick to check in and change for us. The power point behind the bed was hanging out from the wall and exposed wires, but staff also quickly fixed that. The walls are quite thin and we heard people next door and their conversations at times. We could also hear conversations in the hallway very clearly. To reduce our eavesdropping on others we tried to watch TV which was advertised as an inclusion. Staff were helpful to assist us with trying to get it working, however the setup on the TV is difficult to use, the 3 free to air channels were not working, and could not access anything else so it was deemed useless. We were advised that there were allocated areas for each unit in the drying room for boots and equipment, however the accommodation must have been fully booked as it was a free for all and people were just putting their stuff everywhere and it was a fight to get your own stuff out. Food: Our first night we ate in and selected the chicken schnitzel (we had been advised that the pasta was not good). The chicken looked and tasted like it had been reheated several times and was not very pleasant. That was the last time we had dinner there. Breakfast was included for each morning. This was basic as expected with a variety of cereals, breads - white, wholemeal, raisin. Hot food included eggs, bacon, baked beans, hash browns, and either fried tomato or mushrooms. First morning was scrambled eggs, but each morning after was hard boiled eggs. Pineapple or apple juice was on offer as well as vanilla yoghurt and tinned fruit. There was a variety of jams and peanut butter and instead of butter nuttelex was provided. The cleanliness of plates and crockery were highly questionable and had to scan through to get clean ones. It felt like a camp not accommodation we paid for as when we finished breakfast we had to clean off our own plates into various buckets on a table and stack our plates. It appeared that the food was progressively becoming less fresh as the week went on culminating in our 2nd last day saw mouldy bread, no butter/nuttelex, eggs that looked and tasted like they had been recycled all week and bacon so hard and crispy from being recooked. That was the last straw for us and ended up leaving a day early. The staff were friendly and helpful, but could only work with what they had.

Expensive, run down, poorly staffed and lousy restaurant food. Shower door would not slide shut. Poor room maintenance in general. Run down but pricey. Unsafe stairs to upper floor attic/bedroom. Part time reception, so if you have my issues good luck. The only thing going for it is location, thus the absolute gouge on price.

We had a great stay in the last week of June. Took a gamble on Snowy Gums this year based on the parent company's (OzSnow) assurances that management/service would be improved this year. And it was. The new manager was fantastic, friendly and workwd hard to keep everything running smoothly. Happy to say the lodge had a family friendly vibe, nice view from the renovated lounge/dining area and the food was alright. Rooms were clean and the sauna was working again! No spa though - that seems to be being used as a tech room presently - be nice if they got that going again. The location is great, we could ski from the front door as there had been a big dump the week we arrived. Would definitely stay again based on this.

- Staff completely uninterested with no pride in their work. It maybe the business has been sold and they’re understaffed…but step up and respect the fee paying guests please…you should not be playing on a phone when people want a drink! - Dining area still had dirty tables as breakfast was starting and things weren’t getting wiped down - The toilets downstairs were blocked at one point and made me go green - Room was cold and no extra blankets were in the room - Advertised they have a spa…but it’s now been drained and is being used to store old ski equipment - Menu very limited - Couldn’t get ice for drinks and the staff just shrugged their shoulders Definitely don’t recommend

The staff did not care; all about taking cash rather than the experience. Staff partied into all hours of the morning. The building needs to be reviewed by the local council as there are various non-compliances relating to fire safety and the fire systems identified. The evacuation plans identify exits that have been blocked by storage. If you like to put your life at risk stay at this location.

I have just returned from Snowy Gums from a bucket list family holiday. I feel I have to warn other people not to waste their hard earned money on this once lovely lodge. I have read the reviews from this year & they are all 100% on the money. I booked this trip 3 years ago & due to Covid we finally got there this year. OzSnow told me when booking that the only thing that changed under new ownership was you had to pay for your dinner although the price was the same. I paid for my extended family of 18 people for a total cost of $13,000 for 3 nights!! It is the greatest ripoff of all time!! One of the new co-owners was there at the time & said the lodge was now not interested in the former clientele & is now interested in the backpacker type market. This was obvious as it rained one day, we were stuck in the place & 40 random young bus people crowded in for a buffet lunch?? The place is filthy & run down, food limited & awful.

Where do I begin. We stayed here from 5th to 12th August this year. I had booked pre Oz snow taking over then was told I had to re-book with them. As it was too late to book anywhere else I had to agree with paying an extra $2,000. We had a family of 5 and I specified to Oz Snow that I had booked a family room with separate rooms as I was sharing with Daughter, Son in law and Grandchildren and wanted the same room. When I got there it was one small room with two long lounges ?? not sure what they were put together to make a double bed. and 2 lots of double bunks. I was ropable as this is not what I asked for and I think it was Alicia had called head office in Bondi (Abi) and I could tell by her body language that they just did not care and wanted to just get rid of me. I could see some eye rolling and was handed the phone. Abi mentioned both Kieran and Ben who I dealt with had left the company and couldn't help me (how clever of them, Hope you went to a company that cares). Abi mentioned that she would look at past emails as I asked for some sort of compensation. And I never heard from her again. Not even to say hey sorry but I could not help you. And why would they help us??? Once they have the money that's all that matters. No power points near the beds, one on wall near tiny table with 2 chairs and one in bathroom. No kettle, no communal fridge as told by previous owners. No nothing. I had to call my Daughter every time I had a shower as the shower door rail was broken and you needed two people to open the shower door. Beds had a fitted sheet and a quilt on top. I had to wonder if the cups were dirty and everyone had their hands in the bread, were the quilts ever washed????? Yuk??? Especially with COVID hanging about. As mentioned by Samantha on 14th August. Everything she said was spot on so I will not repeat all of that just some of it. You either got eggs for breakfast or you didn't or you got something that kind of looked like eggs but weren't. Half menu missing. Spot on Samantha. Forget hygiene. With COVID in it's peak. It was lets put out the three loaves of stale bread that was probably in the freezer and let every man fend for themselves. So every man and his dog had their hands in the bread packet. Cups were dirty. If no milk which often happened then it was a replacement of long life milk if that at all. Asked the guy at the bar if the pizzas had olives on them as my Grandchildren loved olives and he said "yeah but I don't know which one" quite relaxed about it all. No one cared!!! We were all sick on last day. The minute I see Oz Snow advertised I quickly move on to the next choice. I hope I have helped some poor person before they book this disgraceful place. What saddens me is that people will probably still book and get ripped off but I can only try to save at least a few people from this disaster. Good luck guys? Viv

Friendly staff and service, particularly in the restaurant. The room & bed was really comfy but unfortunately couldn’t sleep as the walls are paper thin. We could hear all of the staff conversations in the hallway at 9pm at night, all crying children, as well as the loud shower pressure of the room next door very early in the morning.