So. I had looked at a number of options in regards to a place to stay on the Mornington Peninsula as I was hoping we could get away in the first half of November. I honestly looked mostly at motels and cheaper options, and finding decent and decently priced places to stay in the destination can be really tricky. I wasn’t really inspired by what I found to be honest, some places were over $600AUD and others looked pretty grim and were still over $100AUD.

Then I was at work discussing my plans and someone was also thinking of going to the Peninsula for a break, and they were searching through places online to stay as you do, and they saw Peppers Moonah Resort. They were dazzled and I looked at the pictures online and I was impressed. Of course, online pictures are the bane of booking because they rarely turn out to be true, but with all expectations in life you learn to presume things are not quite as good as they seem, and so this became the front runner in the choice of hotels for me.

I booked they day before I went because we just didn’t know for sure what the deal would be with corona virus restrictions, as in we didn’t know if we’d be able to take a break outside Melbourne at all. It worked out that we could, and I decided to book with Qantas Hotels as the price was the same as on the hotel website, and I would earn a bunch of frequent flyer miles for this. The price was $265 and didn’t include breakfast, but actually once there they threw it in for free which was an unexpected but gratefully received bonus.

What I hadn’t realised when I booked this thing is that it was a GOLF RESORT. Okay, so that’s okay really you don’t have to play a round to stay there, which is good because I have played golf twice in my life and frankly, I do not care for the sport one jot!

The entrance road from the main road was like, a couple of kilometres long which I hadn’t expected. I parked the car in one of the many car parks, just down hill from reception. We lugged our bags up the hill and walked past a golf buggy and a minibus and into reception. Turns out the room was in another building about 500 metres away and we would need to drive there anyway and I should have just left the car outside the door, but hey, live and learn. At reception I needed to sign a form saying I hadn’t been diagnosed with Covid or had contact with anyone who had it and the like. This will be the norm for a while I guess. And have my temperature checked.

We had eaten a huge late lunch, and so dinner wasn’t really going to be a thing, but we checked out the restaurant area which was nice enough with a terrace overlooking the golf course. The sunset was pretty beautiful there. We returned to the car and drove ourselves to the building we were staying in. There are a lot of buildings dotted around the huge property, apparently there are some 238 residents who live there too. Not in the same buildings as the guests as far as I could see, but there was a section behind an automatic gate which I think was reserved for the permanent residents only.

The building was covered in grey/brown slats of wood. It looked quite dated, like something maybe that was more the 1980s. But the room was much more modern. And it was spacious, with a high roof, a dinner table, a covered balcony, small fridge, two beds one queen one single. With the curtains pulled back it was flooded with light, quite dark with them fully drawn.

Half tiled, half carpeted, huge TV, and the bathroom was excellent with one of the best baths you will find in a hotel anywhere. It was very deep and long so you know, you could fully submerge. The only issue was that the complimentary toothbrushes were available, but at reception and so to get them I had to go back as this wasn’t mentioned on arrival. And when you drive to get to reception, it’s a bit annoying!

The shower was separate and it was one of my (newish) pet hates – a ‘rain water’ shower. However, I will say it wasn’t too bad at all because there was really good water pressure. So it got a thumbs up. Good air conditioner, room stayed cool after we turned it off, didn’t ask about WiFi – sorry I should have but didn’t think to as in Australia I just use my data.

The breakfast next morning was lovely. They usually have a buffet, however not at the moment for obvious reasons, and I don’t think that’s likely to change for quite a while. They made an error with our breakfast, which they fixed and the service was great, and apologised profusely and offered us free dinner there, which we couldn’t accept as we had to go home. So they came out with a free bottle of Champagne!

Locationwise, well it’s not near shops or restaurants at all, but there are a couple of shops there and the restaurant. It’s close to the Peninsula Hot Springs, a five minute drive. I guess it’s out on the peninsula and it’s meant to be far from other things.

All in all, there are somethings that might annoy you I guess – oh the pool was closed, due to reopen the day after we left lol. I would have enjoyed a swim. But it is a resort, a golfing resort, and frankly I’d say it’s a pretty gosh darned good one! We certainly enjoyed our time there!

Andy’s Ratings:

Value For Money – 4/5

Location – 3.5/5

Cleanliness – 4/5

Service – 4/5

Noise – 4.5/5

Total: 20/25 [80/100]

Thanks for stopping by – May the Journey Never End!