Nautilus Mooloolaba

Check-in was fast and simple. We booked a two-bedroom unit with a rooftop hot tub and BBQ area, and we were really looking forward to relaxing in the hot tub for my birthday. Unfortunately, when we tried to access the rooftop area, the key wouldn’t work in the gate. I called reception and was told someone would come to the room in 20 minutes. I tried the key in the neighbouring gate and it worked, so I realised we had likely been given the wrong key. Wanting to save time, I took the key down to reception. The staff member sternly insisted he would come to the room to “show us how to use the key.” I explained I was only trying to save time and that we clearly had the wrong key. After checking it himself, he admitted we had been given the incorrect key and swapped it over. The new key worked, which was great, but the problems didn’t stop there. After turning on the hot tub and getting in, I kept finding long black hairs floating in the water and getting caught on my fingers. There was also a film and debris floating on top, along with gritty sand-like residue on the bottom. The following morning, while we were out at breakfast, I received a message stating that “it appears there may have been an additive put into the pool” and reminding us to remove sand, salt water, and sunscreen before entering. I found this message extremely disappointing and accusatory, especially since we had both showered before using the spa and had not been to the beach or applied anything to our skin. Later that day, when we turned the hot tub back on, large amounts of bubbles formed on the surface. The bubbles were full of black hair and a grey film, and we had to repeatedly scoop the foam off the top before it settled down. On top of this, the overall cleanliness of the unit was poor. There were pubic hairs in the shower and long black hairs throughout the room, food smears on the fridge handle, and the rangehood filter above the stove was heavily caked in oil. We chose not to cook because we doubted the exhaust would properly remove smoke. There was also a warning sign in the bathroom advising guests to keep the door shut so steam wouldn’t trigger the smoke alarms and result in a fine. Ironically, the bathroom exhaust fan was clogged with dust and barely worked. The bathroom door lock also didn’t function properly. To make matters worse, there was a sharp step leading into the laundry that cut my toe, and broken glass from a light fitting was left scattered across the rooftop for the entire duration of our stay, which was extremely dangerous. I think we could have enjoyed our stay despite some of the maintenance issues if we hadn’t been spoken to so rudely. We definitely did not feel welcomed. I travel frequently and have never experienced this level of rudeness in the tourism industry before. Perhaps it’s time for management to renovate their customer service along with the décor.