Generally I like Wests. This looks nice a nice set up…read more Drove an hour to eat here only to find they closed their kitchen early. Not overly impressed and a bit hangry. Nice layout. Hard to find bistro area though. Wished I hadn't wasted time looking for it

Good food and great value This is a really great option for…read moredinner in Nelson Bay. The portions are generous and the food is really great value. We opted to have the roast meals which were terrific and had an really great selection of vegetables!

Absolutely horrible experience, if I were you I would avoid this place at all costs. It's over…read moreexpensive, very low quality food and completely arrogant waiters and ground staff. My recommendation for those who are reading this keep going to anabay or salamander Bay and hit up the taverns there. They have amazing food. Brilliant service and a stunning atmosphere. Now for the full details. We came in on bikes being a beautiful day. Thought we'd stop in for lunch and a beer. We parked the bikes in the shade. There were no signs saying do not park here or staff parking only, it was open slather. So we walked up and found a table in the shade, it was already 32° C and will feeling the heat and very keen for a beer. After sitting down, ordering a beer, settling in and ordering our food. We were then told by one of the staff members who bought my dish out (I'll get to that shortly) That we had to move because the table was already booked. If there was something clearly saying that the table was reserved we wouldn't have sat there in the first place. However, it wasn't clear so we had no idea. This waitress, french-speaking lady, then took my food away and told us we had to relocate to another table. Finally, after finding another table in the shade, we all sat down and my so-called crispy pork belly was served in front of me. Now this dish is $23 and it had a handful of pork belly and a very little amount of what they thought was pineapple salad I think. The pork belly was like chewing gum. It was flavorless, far from crispy and a big challenge to eat. My mate who was with me was Kane on the prawns and salad. This dish was $28 and it came with three prawns including the heads which were already cut off and three pieces of green rocket I think. Locally you can pick up half a kilo of tiger prawns for about $20. My mate went and said something about the meal because he was completely disgusted at the price and the value in which we were sort of compensated for. I'm leaving. We've come down to our $30,000 bikes to find them being watered and covered in bore water from a sprinkler that wasn't there when we arrived. This was the straw that broke the camel's back, the staff were notified and some very large overweight middle-aged individual in a high-vis vest came down and whinged to us saying that we shouldn't have parked there. I asked him to show me where the signage says "no parking" But there wasn't one because someone had taken it down well before we had arrived. So I explained to this individual that it was not our problem and this looked like parking for customers. Now I'm a local, I live 15 minutes from this place and the four occasions I've been here over the last 12 months. I've not had any luck with the service or the food quality. If it was my choice we would have moved to Salamander Bay or Anna Bay where there are two amazing taverns with much better food quality and outstanding service. The staff here just did not care about their service or the issues with saturating our $30,000 motorbikes in bore water. Don't come here, it's over expensive and the food quality is well below average. You won't leave here with a smile on your face, I was totally disgusted and I can assure you I will never return. I'm hoping you've read this review in full and seriously reconsider where you are going for lunch, this place had so much potential back in the day, but it is completely failing right now, it's failing the locality and the reputation of this amazing area that we live in.

We spotted Murray's Brewery along the road on the way to Port Stephens. On the way back, we decided…read moremake a pit stop for some food and drinks. There's also a winery on the premises, Port Stephens Winery. We dropped in on an early Saturday evening (around 6:00pm). The layout is quite nice with a beautiful view of the vineyards in the background and plenty of outdoor seating. The menu is quite massive with beer snacks, sides to share, lighter meals & salads, burgers, pizzas, BBQ, cheese platters and sweet treats. There also was a small gelato case inside. There's the usual merchandise with other random touristy nicknacks for sale. - Beer tasting paddle ($23.00 AUD for 6) - this is pretty pricey but you do get 6 samples that are 200ml each. The unfortunate thing is that they don't let you choose what you want. Never been to a brewery before where you didn't have the option. Lame! There's about 10 flavours on tap. The best one we tried in our sampler was the east coast lager and dark knight porter style. Rest were pretty unmemorable. - Crispy pork belly bites ($15.00 AUD) - came with red wined braised cabbage and macerated apple. You get 6 pieces of pork belly. The apple sauce was a nice combination and the cabbage was tasty. Pretty great for sharing. - Sweet potato wedges ($12.00 AUD) - came with a side of sour cream and sweet chili sauce. The wedges were quite chunky but needed to be way more crispy. Decent stopover. Food was better than expected but wasn't too impressed with their beer offerings.

First time staying in cabins at these holiday parks and I love it!…read moreClean, tidy, self sufficient, close to jetty, own parking spot. Was perfect! Next to jetty as well, some beautiful views! Also great for fishing! It's also got some awesome playground and fun activities here too organised by the site. Only one thing, we weren't allowed to use our NSW stays voucher because we booked via booking.com. Not too happy bout that. :(

Now Best Western, NOT Quality Inn. Came back to the Apollo after their recent renovations. I didn't…read morestay in the new wing, and stayed in one of the rooms in the refurbished old wing. I actually prefer this wing due to the lovely views across the bushland and the valley outside. Staff are lovely, and room was spotlessly clean and tidy and a very good size. Bed very comfortable. Such a good location, so I always make this my base in the Newcastle area when I stay here. A few things I was a little disappointed in regarding the new renovations: 1) The room was renovated, however, the air conditioner wasn't a new one and was an older one kept from the room previously. Whilst it did the job, it was quite noisy. 2) I was surprised to see that the room service menu hadn't been rejuvenated / upgraded along with the hotel and still offered the same choices and is a little bit limited in selection. It does the job, but a few more selections would be handy. 3) The bathroom is quite dark, particularly in the shower area, even when both bathroom lights are on. Not an issue for me, but maybe for ladies who need to do make-up etc. 4) I know that these days its good to "be green" and consequently, the hotel has fitted energy-saving halogen bulbs in the rooms. Whilst good environmentally, they do cast a very harsh light around the room at night time, not a "soft" light that a conventional bulb would emit, and consequently, despite having modern fittings, the room doesn't really have any "warmth" about it when the lights are switched on at night time. It felt quite clinical at night-time being in the room. 5) If they could add the FOX FOOTY channel in the future, the selection on the TV would be excellent. (Yes, I'm a footy fan and miss my coverage when travelling for work). These are very small issues, and wouldn't put me off staying here again - and it shouldn't for you either. However, if I was re-designing a hotel I would have thought about these things - particularly the lighting. It's the small things that make a difference sometimes. This is the best hotel in this area of Newcastle, and with large clean rooms, and friendly staff who make you feel welcome, I am always happy to come back here. A very reliable, consistent hotel.

I'd like to thank the staff at The Mercure for doing such a good job for my wedding. My check in…read moreand out was a breeze. The breakfast both mornings was delicious (so too was the 3 course wedding dishes) and our late reservations were accommodated with no fuss as well as a last minute late check out request. Table service for drinks appeared to go off without a hitch and our drinks at the bridal table were promptly refilled. The wedding coordinator changed hands a few times but I was taken care of very well by Caroline who saw it through to the end. She was professional, always immaculately dressed, calm and easy to talk to; by phone, email or in person. It was a COVID wedding to which Caroline was amazing at outlining any limitations and providing alternatives to make our wedding as safe and close to our desires as possible. I'd also like to thank Jade who showed maturity well beyond her 21 years. Never seemed concerned by the pressures I could imagine feeling catering for a wedding. To top it off we were allowed to leave everything as it was (floral arrangements, hired items etc). After a massive day it was a relief not to worry about that and be allowed to pick the items up the next day at our convenience. I will say that the pathways beyond the hotel room terraces could use some TLC. But.... I had to eat my words after commenting to my photographer that it was "a bit overgrown and viney out there". He got some amazing photos and the lush greenery added amazing contrast to the dress. Well done everyone!

I don't normally stay in hotels on vacations much preferring a friend's house or a B&B but in a…read morepinch, like Christmas holiday and 9 people to sleep, we opted for the Mercure and I'm glad we did. This hotel is centrally located to all the best restaurants and wineries in the Hunter. The rooms are very comfortable. Best of all, they have a pool: the perfect way to relax between cellar door closing hours and your restaruant reservation.

I only stayed for a night but found a pretty good late deal online and confirmed with them. I was…read morejust popping into the Bay to visit my brother who lives nearby. My journey to the Bay from Sydney was twice as long because of trains breaking down and buses taking forever. I phoned to let them know I was still coming and the lovely reception stayed back half an hour to ensure I was checked in and able to get to my room. The room itself was I guess what I'd call a triple; a double and two single beds - a bit much for just little old me but a really decent sized room. Although it was dark, there was a view of the pool - not being used this time of year but I thought about what it might be like IF I used it! It was clean, beds were well made. The bathroom had a bath and shower (separate) and a really good dispenser system in both the shower and basin. I don't see this in a lot of hotels. I didn't use it but there was a fridge, microwave and TV. You also get a free Wi-Fi code which is good, not sure how many MB's, I only used it for a little bit. After I checked out and was on my way back to Sydney, I realised I had left behind my book and umbrella and they kindly agreed to take it to my brother - it's the Bay attitude, generally very friendly and helpful. I'm 5+ months pregnant and the only pain in the backside thing I can really mention is that getting into the resort from the bottom of Magnus street is annoying because it's uphill. Down, not so bad. The bus stopped right on Magnus outside. Decor is a little old-school but I wasn't in town for a posh, fancy holiday. This would suit a family trip for the weekend or outgoing couples not fussed about staying in an elitist property; you're in to sleep and out to play. Breakfast down at Baroque and a walk along the Marina was a nice way to end my stay. I'd book at Marina Resort again.

It looks as if the further out from the city you go the better the pub accomodation becomes. Well,…read moreI can only describe it based upon this one particular pub, but I have to say that I was really impressed. The rooms were comfortable, and I got a really good nights sleep. Okay, checkin was a bit annoying, but that was because I ended up here pretty early, and they don't do check-in until the afternoon. Still, the pub was pretty nice, the service excellent, and the rooms really comfortable.

The best cheesy sweet chilli bread, my steak was great and cooked perfectly, staff are very…read morefriendly, have been back again already. Dining area was very good with the green roof (jasmines etc)

$10 meal menu is superb. Recommend the Thai chicken salad. Spacious areas, friday saturday live…read morebands and dj. Place is nice, easy to find, good food and beer