Hydro Majestic, Great Western Highway, Meadlow Bath

Hydro Majestic, Great Western Highway, Meadlow Bath
Saturday 29 July, 2006

How things can change.....I have fond memories of the Hydro Majestic - the amazing views, the old worldly charm of the exterior and the afternoon tea. Sadly, the Hydro Majestic today is an example of how not to run a hotel. What a shambles.

We drove up from Sydney this morning and decided to make the Hydro Majestic our first stop for morning tea. We thought good coffee and scones with jam & cream for morning tea overlooking the Megalong Valley would be a great start to the day. Unfortunately, on arrival we noticed that the exterior looked shoddy - cracked and peeling paint, tired looking front entrance, poor signage...the list goes on.

We walked into the main entrance of the hotel or so we thought and were greeted with a massive Christmas tree and gifts that almost blocked the passage way. There were lots of people milling around the entrance and we walked through to look out the massive windows and take in the view. Sadly, the configuration of the hotel has changed and the afternoon tea is no longer served looking out across the valley. Instead, you have to go back outside, navigate your way across the driveway to the broken stone blocks that make up a pathway past an old swimming pool, unkempt garden to a dodgy looking old fly screen door. Is this the best they can do????

A sign advertising devonshire tea welcomed us as we entered. The dining space was enormous and there were a few people still having breakfast. It looked like an old ballroom with massive high ceilings and small stained glass windows. It had charm but looked tired. We were directed to sit down at a table away from the open fire and left with menus for snacks and high tea.

We decided to stick with our plan - devonshire tea. Our waitress returned and took our order - she was pleasant enough and took the order back to the kitchen - this is where the drama began. It appeared there was no system in place from this point on. Within 10 minutes we received our scones and small dishes of butter, jam & cream. The quantity of butter, jam & cream seemed out of the proportion with the size of the scones. The scones were served warm which was nice but this was about as exciting as it got.

Where's the coffee?

About 10 minutes later we received one coffee and our waitress disappeared. We tried to attract the attention of another staff member who informed us they had a new staff member on hand who didn't know the procedures. She stumbled over this excuse and offered us more scones. OK then, but we didn't want more scones - we wanted our coffees.

Another 10 minutes passed and we asked another staff member. The excuse this time was the coffee machine was broken - this occurred as we could hear the coffee machine steaming from the kitchen. What the!?@

Finally our last 3 coffees arrived from a very snooty staff member who was extremely patronising. He delivered the coffees and marched off. Meanwhile another employee was assembling a dancefloor and banging together different square - how on earth do they feel this sets the scene for morning tea?

The whole experience was incredibly disappointing. The only way I can sum up the service is....car crash.

Avoid.

Hydro Majestic - Great Western Highway, Meadlow Bath - (02) 4788 1002

http://www.hydromajestic.com.au/