Ardour Lilianfels Blue Mountains

This place LilianFAILS on so many levels. We came here for our honeymoon and wish we had stayed in the city longer, where we had a true five star experience. The grounds, the rooms, the spa, the dining scene, the service- not even close to five stars. When we arrived, no one came out to greet us or help with our bags. Upon checking into our room, we found a dirty used floss picker left in the shower. The pool scene is atrocious. There are no loungers due to the renovations. The only seating by the pool is hard, uncomfortable chairs (see photo). No side tables to put drinks on, so we had to put our drinks on the rusted ground (see photo). No poolside service for food/drink- you must go inside the restaurant to order. We laid towels on the turf grass to soak up some sun, and we were surrounded by duck poop (see photos). I asked an employee to move an umbrella near us, and he was walking through the duck poop to set up our umbrella. Never returned to clean up the poop. The indoor pool had used, wet towels all over the place. On our second day we returned from an outdoor hike and we were quite thirsty. We asked front desk staff for water and they looked at us like we were crazy. They told us our only option was to purchase a large glass bottle of sparkling or still water, or to have our used plastic water bottles from the night before from the room (only 2 provided per room) refilled using sink water. To call yourselves a five star resort and not have a water dispenser or water bottles at the ready for guests is astonishing, especially considering the proximity to many outdoor activities. We left our room at 6 am for the hike and put the “service please” sign on our door. We returned around noon and the room had still not been serviced. When it was serviced, the room was not actually cleaned. The sink area was still visibly dirty, but the towels had been swapped out and the bed made. I can appreciate the charm of an old hotel, but the hotel in general was just dirty. The lamp shades were stained, the ironing board was stained, our desk chair was stained, the carpet in the elevators was dirty, and the couches in the lounge were dirty (see photo- crumbs everywhere). There is no turn down service, which is something you typically expect at a “five star resort.” The staff seem miserable, and almost like they are avoiding eye contact with you because they do not want to do anything above and beyond to make you feel welcomed or comfortable. In three days we were never once asked how our stay was going, if we were celebrating anything, nothing like that. Again no effort to be exceptional in any aspect. The food at The Lounge was decent- certainly nothing to rave about- and the service was subpar. The breakfast was ok… pastries were small and scarce, overall food options limited. Food and service at Miss Lilian were the highlight of our stay. Last, we had hoped to sleep in on our final morning but we were woken up by the renovation construction at the crack of dawn. Our travel agent reached out to the hotel yesterday to make them aware of these issues, yet at check-out nothing was done to rectify the situation.

I wish we had read some of the Google reviews before booking this hotel. My daughter booked a studio apartment as a special treat for our last night in NSW. 5 star it is definitely not. While our room was spacious, the furniture and soft furnishings are dated. Bed linen has definitely seen better days. Bedside tables were stained and scratched. There was a long hair on a pillow as well as hair, including pubic hair and a dead cockroach in the bathroom. Breakfast was ordinary without much variety. Available fruit was kiwi fruit and passion fruit cut in half. The staff were polite and friendly, especially Bryant at Reception. Thank you Bryant. For the price, the place is a disgraceful ripoff. We would have had a better experience at a Comfort Inn and paid a lot less. It was a very disappointing end to our time in NSW.

This isn't a five star hotel. We spent a small fortune to splurge on this hotel for 2 nights and we left disappointed. The rooms are dated, the bath was tiny to the point a couples bath was a horrible experience, and the service was meh. It turns out there were a lot of renovations going on whilst we were there. The only notification we had of this going on was a small paragraph AFTER we booked that exciting works were underway and a small number of rooms were effected. Well turns out we didn't have access to the health centre, nor to play billiards, Darleys restaurant (which is where we planned to spend our 10yr anniversary dinner) and when we went to book into the day spa we were booked into another hotel 18mins away because suprise, that was also closed. No complimentary taxi was provided to us either to make the journey. Disgusting. Some other people staying there complained they were woken by drilling above their room at 7.30am as well! There was duck poo all around the outdoor pool and no deck chairs around to relax, just uncomfortable seats. The location of Lilianfels however is amazing and close to some beautiful, easy walks with incredible views. Will we go back? To Katoomba yes, but not Lilianfels based on this experience.

Very disappointed. The hotel was under renovations and we were not advised prior. The room was left messy after housekeeping made the bed. Coffee not replenished & when we enquired re coffee were told very rudley we had to go down to reception to get more. Breakfast at Darleys was shocking. We had to follow up after waiting 45 mins. Only to arrive cold. Very poor service all around.Reception often left unattended.