Panorama Retreat & Resort

Centrally located with nearby dining options and attractions. Clean rooms, comfortable beds, and spotless bathrooms. Friendly, accommodating staff offering exceptional service.

Perhaps the giveaway to what lay in store at Country Place should have been the website's effusive language, which promised a haven too wonderful to be true. "Step into a world of tranquility and sophistication as you enter our inviting accommodations." What we actually stepped into was a dusty relic. It's advertised as a hotel, but on arrival we gradually realised it's actually a corporate retreat venue. On the walls are displayed hospitality medals from the late nineties and mid-2000s, giving the sense that the whole property is frozen in time. The feeling that you're intruding on the past continues when you start to explore the property: There's a gas fireplace in the lounge but the gas line is off; there's a ropes course on the grounds but an earnest request in the room booklet that you not use it without supervision; you are allotted one pillow per person on the bed, and there's one spare pillow and blanket in the closet, but it's resting on a thick layer of dust. "Each of our stylishly appointed rooms and suites is meticulously designed to provide you with the utmost comfort and relaxation." For $359, the room is a shoebox with no shelf or table to put belongings. We dug an ironing board out of the closet which we set up to put our bags on. The bedroom door and windowsill had clearly visible handprints in several places, and the ceiling corners are coated in spiderwebs which are scattered with insects. Lying on the bed gives you a direct view of the bathroom, which only becomes private if you can manage to haul the accordion door closed. The bathroom is so small that the toiletries need a little trolley that sits in the bedroom. The bathroom has no extraction fan or an option to open a window, which explains the mould in the shower grout. The water pressure only ever works itself up to a weak trickle, and the trickle only runs burning hot or freezing cold without ever landing on a comfortable in-between temperature. "let Panorama Retreat & Resort be your haven for unforgettable moments." Our stay was certainly unforgettable due to how bizarre and disappointing it was.