It went very well - the place was fantastic.
Overall I am impressed with the Wolgan Valley experience given the price paid ($1360 a night). If however I was paying the full $1900 tariff I might be expecting something just a little more discerning (but i'm talking about that last 1% of pure luxury and service that is very difficult to attain). My previous experience at a luxury resort was Qualia on Hamilton Island, and Qualia really was the benchmark. I would rank the Emirates property as just below Qualia if I were to compare the two, but both offer quite different experiences with Emirates providing many more activities such as horse riding etc etc. As my partner and I usually spend most of our holidays in PJ's drinking/eating/relaxing in bed watching movies, the activities part really did not spark our interest.
All staff were as expected very welcoming and exceptionally polite as one would expect. The managers who were both floating around throughout the weekend were mature and insanely personable, but the remainder of staff appeared to be young and as a result, did not carry the same level of experience and distinction that I have seen at other facilities.
The property itself is expansive and has fantastic views of the mountain range/gully. The Heritage suite is sensational and really does meet all expectations. I won't really go into detail as the pictures speak for themselves, but the fit out was very nice and the four posted bed was AMAZING (NB if you book, make sure that you get a room that is a king bed, and not a zipper king! We initially got given a room that had two single beds pushed together, but this was not acceptable so we were given a new room).
The food was generally very good. The inclusive meals were all of high quality, however on the first night we were given the degustation which was of average quality - not the best degustation I have had. The breakfast and dinner are held in the main restaurant, with lunch & snacks being able to be ordered from the casual "Country Kitchen". I found the meals from the Country Kitchen to be of the best quality - I had the best meals at the resort at that restaurant!
The inclusive wines that were on offer were from the Regional NSW area (Orange etc)... I found the reds to be OK at best with the whites being slightly better. Still - the wine was complimentary so I shouldn't whinge. The wine list was extensive and we bought a couple off the list. The 2000 Dom is about $700 so expect to see a decent markup on normal bottleshop prices (obviously).
Top marks to the team at Wolgan Valley, with the missing points being down to staff experience and a average degustation. I would recommend the resort to anyone wanting a relaxing weekend away from Sydney as it ticks all the boxes for such a trip - and when using the "winter weekend warmer" special, the place is of great quality. Give it a go - you won't be disappointed.
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