'Castaways' 36 Cromarty Road - Maison en front de mer

Suited us as a family

The real estate were robotic & impersonal, everything was automated. They were curt over the phone & demanding in texts & emails stating & reiterating their expectations & were pretty inflexible in return. Eg: counted two kids aged 3 & 4 as adults & would not allow more than five adults in total due to their ‘insurance’ & the sent continuous automated texts about leaving ‘strictly before 10am’, ‘putting the rubbish bins out to the curb before leaving’, strictly allowed check in no earlier than 2pm etc. On arrival to the property, the neighbour had her blind half open & watched over us a lot from both front & back of house with no fence between the houses & it was easy to assume she was the owner or care taker who had us feeling watched for most of our stay. The views were the water were partial & distant, not waterfront by any means. The access to the beach was handy from back gate & beachside walks were lovely, as was wild life. We saw & heard lots of bird varieties such as black cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets, sea eagles, oyster catchers, pelicans, sand pipers & were lucky to see dolphins off the end of the peer too at dusk. The house was nice enough & had almost everything we needed with a nice back veranda with water views (unfortunately the nosey neighbour often turned up & overlooked it). The house was a split-level design with uncomfortable, steep stairs between the levels that were creaky, shaky & too steep – they looked homemade & needed replacing with an extra step added! Unsafe setup for little kids or seniors. My Mum now has knee & hip pain since using the steps for 3 days that she’s booked to see a physio about! The master bedroom had a comfy queen bed & the other bedroom had a claustrophobic double/single bunk with a rickety top deck. The free wifi was good, but the old, non-smart TV was awful with poor sound & picture quality & no internet or wifi compatibility, so no streaming platforms, just an old DVD player with DVD’s supplied if you wanted to watch old movies. I bought a Chromecast dongle to enable Foxtel or Netflix access, but the TV’s sound quality was too bad to enjoy it. To sum it up: we love the gorgeous bay & wildlife, but the home needed safer stair, a smart TV & privacy improved. The real estate needs to be less focused about the number$ & more warm focused on providing a better customer experience, after all tourism surely pays their bills.

This lovely old school home is a delight in a great location with beautiful wildlife, water views and cafes in walking distance. Bed was super comfy. Perfect for a couple. The places is easy to stay in. Thank you

Wonderful location Enjoyed our meals on the balcony enjoying sea breeze Beds were comfortable and kitchen was well equipped which allowed us nice home cooked meals

Superb!