Rydges Oasis Resort - Day 2

So following our rather hasty breakfast, I managed to get us a two-hour extra stay of execution, having joined a priority club when we booked.
Which meant we only had to leave at 1 pm as opposed to 11 am.
Now 2 hours isn't much, but with kids, you make the most of it.
The later check-out meant that after breakfast the kids managed to fit in:

Another swim, and soak in the spa

A hit of tennis ... Mr 9 kind of lost interest when he realised poor old Mum, despite pretending to be crap (and I am crap!), was still better than he was ...

So we retired to our room to watch I-Carly and pack (can you spy Miss 7's head just peeking out from the blankets on the left?)

A quick stop at McDonalds - which for once had the toys they were advertising for the happy meals (Bakugans for Mr 9, My Little Pony for Miss 7), and we were on our way back to Brisbane.

Can I just say that despite the pluses and minuses of our last minute jaunt the kids were awesome, and I really loved hanging out with them.

Rydges Oasis Resort Caloundra .... the food

Okay, so with the restaurant booked out, and two hungry kids, we were left with a problem.
The always-social Mr 9 really wanted to go out ... and there are loads of cheap and cheerful restaurants in Caloundra, and I kind of seconded that motion.
But Miss 7 was tired after a busy day in the water and sun, plus, after a lovely spa and shower, had changed into her pyjamas. And no girl in her PJs wants to be seen in public after a certain time. If at all.
The only thing we agreed on was that we were all HUNGRY.
I'd already planned on splashing out on a meal at the resort, so I suggested: 'Let's look at the room service menu!'
The kids had already started watching some family movie on the pay TV channel (we don't have Pay TV at our place, and I had no idea who the actors were, but the kids insisted they were AWESOME).
So we looked at the menu. (Did I mention that I love that the kids can read now, and take pleasure out of choosing their own meals?)
Strike One: There was No Kids Menu. Now, I don't think I've ever stayed at a hotel or resort that didn't have one, particularly one which is aimed at families.
But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because my kids are good eaters with decent palates, and often they prefer small serves of 'adult' meals when we eat out anyway. (I know - how good is that? No artificially-enhanced nuggets or fish sticks for them).
The prices were reasonable, so I threw caution to the wind and ordered a 'Feast' to share. (The kids' word, not mine.) We had drinks to share too - OJ and Fanta - and in honour of the occasion, the kids drank it in pretty adult glasses.
Mr 9 1/2, being the man of the house, wanted to order and he did so with considerable aplomb.
And when the food arrived, (and very quickly thank you Rydges), the kids were ecstatic.

A steak ciabatta sandwich for Miss 7, nachos for Mr 9, and a seafood basket for me.

But what actually happened was, the nachos were way too spicy for Mr 9, and Miss 7 hated the salad on her steak. So C. ate my seafood basket, H. ate the steak and chips, and I got the salad and nachos. (And boy, they were spicy! But they were loaded with guacamole and sour cream too, which balanced out the spices.)

Luckily, dessert avoided a mutiny. It was really rather good.

Mr 9 went for strawberry and meringue mash and was in ecstasy. (In fact, he wanted to order another one, but even on treat night I had to put a stop to that!)

Can't pose, eating

Miss 7 chose warm chocolate pudding with maple ice-cream and strawberries.

And it was delicious, the outside moist and warm and exploding with hot fudgy sauce when cut through with a spoon.

But here is another gripe.

The menu description said it was chocolate pudding with maple syrup ice-cream and strawberries.

As always, whenever we order any kind of food when we're out, room service or otherwise, we asked if any of the meals contained nuts or tree nuts.

Oh no, we were told.

Well, thank God, C. didn't try his sister's dessert because her ice-cream was full of walnuts or pecans (I'm never sure). And although we carry an epipen, we would have ended up in hospital had C. even tried a tiny bite. And he would have been traumatised, because any anaphylactic reaction is life-threatening, horrific, and extremely scary. And usually the child is wiped out after treatment, for quite a long time. Not to mention, scared to eat anything again. (Not to mention the poor parent in grave need of valium...)

C. has a potentially fatal allergy to nuts, particularly tree nuts.  And most organisations, when you check with them, are extremely responsible. It can be difficult if you're travelling, but you need to be vigilant, and double-check every order.

During our last family holiday in Samoa, before The End Of Life (As We Knew It),  the chefs often came down to double-check the ingredients with us, and on the occasions there were nuts involved, they even whipped up special nut-free meals just for C. I love Samoa!)

On this occasion, there was no language barrier, so I was not impressed. I guess it was another reminder that we can't always trust kitchen or wait staff. (C. did want to try his sister's ice-cream but I insisted on checking it first. Yes, I'm selfless like that ... but seriously, it is necessary.)

Luckily, breakfast was a happy affair. I was content with coffee - several cups - but the kids enjoyed a buffet breakfast for $8.50 each. It was, to be honest, fairly standard breakfast fare, but for $8.50 I'm hardly going to quibble. There were there usual hot box scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacons, sausages and other goodies, plus pastries, yoghurt, fruit and those dinky boxes of cereal that kids love.

The room was noisy and full, but luckily none of the other guests ventured outside for some reason, where it was quiet, and peaceful.  We were the only ones out there, would you believe?

When they weren't eating, the kids kept looking for George The Resident Water Dragon, and turtles, and fish.

I always find it funny that at a breakfast buffet, Miss 7 always goes for toast. Even though she could have toast every day at home, it's nowhere near as fun in a restaurant!

 Looking for George 

The peaceful outdoor setting.

As we finished our breaky, we were told by staff they closed at 9 am, which struck me as being a little early for a Sunday morning. My tired out angels had slept in, and I'd let them because it was the weekend.

So the kids grabbed a couple of apples and we left even though they were still a little hungry. But my bad, I should have checked first. .

It was a lovely break away, despite my gripes, and I would return, but only if I could get a better deal next time.

Rydges Oasis Resort, Caloundra - part one

I haven't had a holiday with the kids since my marriage ended.
Money and time has been tight, and during holidays there have always been fabulous things like medical and dental visits, haircuts, and counselling to do. You know, all the usual school holiday fun and frivolity.
The kids are okay. Their Dad has taken them on holiday with his girlfriend and her family; but I've longed to have the opportunity to get away myself.
So recently, we were visiting the Sunshine Coast for a family thing, when I thought: "Bugger it! We're going to stay overnight."
And in that moment I decided to throw caution - and my budget - to the wind. Well a little!
I had a quick look at http://www.wotif.com/, before booking the only place that had a decent deal for one-night stays. (Has anyone else noticed that many of the deals for wotif and the like are now dependent on the number of nights booked? Just saying!)
And also: Next time, I'll check the hotel website first, because I ended up paying about $30 more than I would have paid if I'd gone to the hotel direct. Grrrr!
I love the Sunshine Coast, especially Caloundra, which was the destination for so many lovely holidays when I was a kid.
(Unfortunately most of those holidays also involved the six of us, plus dog, staying in a four-berth caravan and annex. Before there was air-conditioning. With one portable fan and no TV. My bed was the table, which Dad had to fold down every night, and then put back up in the morning. And to save on those scary middle of the night toilet visits, the girls got to wee in buckets overnight, which poor Dad had to empty out in the morning. Shudder! But fishing and swimming more than made up for the discomfort. And I did loads of lovely reading. Bless you Enid Blyton).

Anyway, I digress.
On this occasion, I booked a one bedroom 'suite' at the Rydges Oasis Resort. I put 'suite' in inverted commas, because the word always conjures up visions of indoor pools, heated spas, and private butlers to wait on me hand and foot. Rather than a slightly larger than usual hotel room, with, on this occasion, a kitchenette.  And no butler.
The suites have been given a makeover since my last visit, many moons ago, and it's comfortable and clean.

I thought I'd booked a room with a Queen bed and a single, but the single turned out to be a divan and a portacot.
We kept the portacot as a handy way to dry towels. And although Mr 9 started out sleeping on the couch, he crept into the queen bed with his sister and I in the wee hours. Queue Miss 7 sitting up in bed and crying hysterically: "Go away C. Get out C. Make C. get out!" (She had no memory of this the next day, so it may have been some kind of night terror. A stinky 9-year-old will do that to a girl ...)
When that was done, the pair of them managed to grab all the blankets and most of the bed space for themselves, leading to a cold, sleepless night perched on the edge of the bed for me.
Now, although the room was okay, there were quite a few niggles:
There was no light fixture on the outside light
The bin was broken
It was really noisy (there seemed to be a wedding party there, so that might not be the resort's fault, but you'd think if they book these parties in regularly, they could allocate part of the resort to non-partying guests). In particular the late hours - between about 10 pm and midnight - and the early hours - from around 6 am, were hideous, with groups of people shouting and talking outside our room. The bad manners extended to breakfast in the restaurant, with groups of people blocking the already tiny aisles and shouting and laughing so much that it was impossible to have a conversation with my children. No one did anything to pull them into line.
I tried to book the restaurant at reception, but was told I had to do this with them direct. And although I phoned them the minute we got into our room, at check-in time, they were booked out until 7.30 pm. A fact that I'm pretty sure our check-in dude should have been aware of.
This is a pet hate of mine. Most decent resorts, particularly those who market themselves at families, allocate a certain number of tables to in-house guests. It's just polite. I got the feeling that even if I'd try to book earlier, I wouldn't have been successful, because they didn't want to knock back a big group booking. Which might be okay in the short-term, but not for long-term, repeat business.
You see, 7.30 pm is bedtime for my kids, and to ask them to wait not just until then, but for the time it takes to dine in a restaurant (giving drink and food orders) when the kids are already tired? It's not going to happen. We ended up ordering in, but more on that later ...
I'm not completely mean. I would have let the kids stay up longer, since it was a special occasion, but they were both tired, hungry and cold.
Really cold.
Because even though the Sunshine State is warm in winter, the nights and mornings are cool. Our bedroom air-conditioner/heater wasn't working and we were freezing.
We phoned reception, who said there were quite a few rooms like that, and they would send someone over with an oil heater.
Someone did come over, but minus the oil heater. They had run out. They did bring three extra blankets, but come on ... I had cold kiddies, and they KNEW there was a problem ahead of time, but did nothing about it. That's a Tourism FAIL in my books.
We ran the reverse-cycle air-conditioner in the main room, but it didn't seem to help much, hence Mr 9 volunteering to take the (warm) couch before realising the bed was more comfy.
We would have been warmer at home.
Despite all this, we did enjoy our break away.
The huge plus for this resort is the spacious grounds, and the fact that all the activities are included. Including tennis (court, balls and racquets) and mini-golf (really just a few holes in the lawn, but the kids didn't care.)

And the lush grounds gives it a more luxurious feel, even though the service is really ordinary.
Stay tuned for the next instalment!

It may be winter and the pool was FREEZING, but we had to to ourselves

Missy braved the pool ...Oh my goodness it was cold.

The spa was warmer, but not hot ... and there were sharp things inside it on the floor, which made Miss 7's foot bleed. And brought on tears.

Thank Goodness I thought to bring some Cup-of-Soup while we waited for dinner...

The room was comfy enough, despite the portacot

The fruit trees were a nice touch. Miss 7 picks some lemons ....

Mini-golf. Really just putting, but still fun for kids.