First up, let me say that despite our unusual experience with Arnica Views, this is a five star review. The unusual situation really only happened because of my stuff up.
I initially booked this place through Expedia. I was searching for Saturday nights, but it showed me a Friday night, which I booked by mistake. As I really only wanted the Saturday night (for a wedding) I emailed Arnica Views and got a reply fairly quickly. The lady advised that she was 'feeling generous' and would shift it over to the Saturday night, if I'd ring her and pay up front with my credit card. I rang her immediately and it was all locked in.
We arrived on the Saturday night, and I found a gentleman who asked for my name. When provided with same, he said 'uh, shouldn't you have been here last night?' Heart started to race a little... I explained the chain of emails between myself and the lady from Arnica Views, and that I had paid in advance with my credit card, to lock in the Saturday night. He said that I was lucky - the room was still available. Whew.
We wandered up to the room and it was fantastic. The gentleman said that all of the supplies for breakfast were there (and they were), except for milk. He suggested that I could trot down to the local shops about 10 minutes away, or if I could wait, he'd bring some to us the next morning. As we didn't need milk right away, we were happy to wait for the next morning. Unfortunately, the milk never did arrive, so I had to head down the next morning to the local shops and bought some myself. No biggie.
So, to the venue itself. We were in the 'cheap' room and it was awesome. Really comfortable bed, shower and bathroom was really nice too. Felt clean after a shower - a good sign. The amount of stuff available for you to self-cook for breakfast is awesome, various cereals, toast, bacon, eggs, etc. Not sure if the eggs were free range or not, great if they were. We had other people in a room above ours, but you could barely hear anyone.
The gardens surrounding the rooms are just incredible. The smells, the quietness, the colours. Just couldn't fault it.
I'd really recommend this place to anyone visiting Mt Dandenong. It was fantastic. read more
