St Francis Winery

The rooms were clean but old and run down. The shower had no control on hot and cold water, it was quite inconvenient to shower. Not worth the price. The surroundings of the room were abit unclean. The staff who checked us in were really lovely but there was a different member who took the keys wasn’t that nice, Didn’t want to speak much and kept things short. There’s a beautiful lake around there.

Went for dinner. Nicest schnitzel I have ever had but booking had been made for 20 people and only 17 warm bread rolls had been prepared. The other 3 came after most of the main courses had been served. Extremely slow service, waitresses were continually gathered at serving window waiting for kitchen to catch up. Everyone else had finished eating main courses before schnitzels came out.

We have stayed here twice. The first room we had was a standard at a cheaper rate and was very old and tired. The second time we stayed, we thought if we paid more for the spa room, it would be better, but no. Could not watch TV from bed in either rooms that we had. Beds, furniture, amenities are all very old. You can hear everything and everyone from outside and surrounding rooms. The place needs a lot of renovations and decent freshen up, photos on their website did not match either rooms we had. Expensive compared to nicer hotel rooms, but the grounds are beautiful. We had a do not disturb sign on the door but the housekeepers still came in.

We went for lunch to celebrate my husband's Birthday 04/10/2023 the food was delicious. The staff were fantastic, on not one level but more. The table service was professional and friendly, so we felt we were very welcome ( not a work that had to be dealt with to get paid) the people came first. Everyone was happy at their tables, but instead of making out the staff member had to go out the back to work she was caring, there was a man who had photos and the staff member genuinely cared and showed interest, excused herself to serve a customer and said a cheery goodbye when his cab arrived. Earlier there was an elderly man who was helped out to the car by a staff member, as his wife had driven their car up to the entrance. The staff member helped him into the car and helped with his seat belt (I could see through the window from our inside table) That is why we will go back to St Francis Winery again to celebrate our special events. A sign of good management is when the staff are happy. Also a management who has the insight to hiring caring good people who are good with people as well as hiring a great chef. My observations as a happy old duck, thank you St Francis Winery.

Booked for Christmas lunch 50 minutes in line to get drinks 40 minutes in line to get food. No food, was told more was coming but that wasn't happening in a hurry. 1 tray of vegetables came out in an alfoil tray and thrown on the table. Gave up and asked for a refund along with quite a lot of others and was told ok we will refund you within 72 hours. Had to continually follow up refund and staff were very evasive until I got onto head office. Head office were quite helpful and finally got a refund on the 4th of January. No offers of any kind of complimentary meal or anything which from a business stand point would have been the right thing to do considering it ruined a lot of people's Christmas Day and may have helped save some face for them and shown some accountability. Certainly won't be patronising any business associated with the group that owns the business.

Good point: Room was spacious, price is reasonable Not Good: Room is quite old and lights were unstable, loud drilling noise came from the next door (maybe bathroom noise) and made me woke up on midnight. You cannot open any windows so no airflow, aircon is must. Short stay would be good. Please note, you have to pay $100 per stay for the deposit.

We had a great stay at the winery, it is very convenient to all amenities with shops that are very close. It has great function rooms for weddings, parties or any event you may like to have. The Restaurant was nice and all the food we had was great, the chefs were really good. The staff were excellent and extremely accommodating to our needs and really friendly, it was a pleasure to get to know them. I would definitely return and would recommend it highly, especially for adults.