Palazzo staff upset at the run of recent one-star reviews online
PALAZZO Versace’s general manager has hit back at negative online reviews, saying the hotel has a “special place in the hearts of thousands of loyal and frequent guests”.
The Bulletin revealed on Monday that 11 of the most recent 20 reviews on TripAdvisor awarded one to two stars to the swanky resort where rooms and suites range from $375 to $3065 a night.
One visitor from Ballina who stayed in February said it was “probably the worst hotel in that price range I’ve ever stayed in” describing the ritzy establishment as “tired, boring and dull”.
Another Brisbane visitor said grout was falling out and in need of repair “throughout the entirety of the complex” while one likened the main outdoor pool to “swimming in Parramatta river”.
A review published on Monday from Parri W of Byron Bay said she booked four nights in a condo but only stayed one saying the experience was “disgusting” and she left to stay in a villa at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort.
Palazzo general manager Jane Kingston said the story was an “attempt to sensationalise a pathetic collection of negative reviews”.
“Many members of the dedicated, hard-working team … were extremely disheartened today by the unsubstantiated criticism of them, selectively gathered from an online platform,” she wrote in a statement.
“Firstly, Palazzo Versace Gold Coast is not promoted by us as a six-star hotel. This may have been the case when the hotel first opened 21 years ago. It has not been the case for over a decade. We are a fivestar hotel.”
Ms Kingston said the story failed to highlight “the many glowing reviews” received by the hotel and its staff and came after a fully-booked Valentine’s Day weekend.
“Staff went above and beyond delivering services with love to make the guests experience more enjoyable – juggling numerous marriage proposals and last-minute requests for gifts, flowers and restaurant bookings,” she said. “I am immensely proud of my team and their commitment to making Palazzo Versace Gold Coast such a special place in the hearts of thousands of loyal and frequent guests.”
WRISTBAND trackers for people isolating at home and quarantine camps have been recommended by biosecurity experts to help bring stranded Australians home and resume international tourism, education and migration.
Leading epidemiologists Henning Liljeqvist and Professor Marylouise McClaws, together with Gold Coastbased
celebrity doctor Bill Anseline, have been lobbying governments for months for a three-tier plan to manage quarantine arrangements.
Dr Anseline – whose company Hemisphere Management Group has handled medical care and security for the likes of the Rolling Stones, Queen, Elton John, Hollywood A-listers and sports stars – said he had spoken with the Wagner family to try to help get their 1000-room national quarantine camp plan for Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport off the ground.
A senior lecturer in clinical medicine at Griffith University, he has partnered with Dr Liljeqvist and Prof McClaws to propose a “three-tier” quarantine system. They said while hotel quarantine had been largely successful in containing the virus, mistakes meant it was to blame for most of Australia’s
community outbreaks.
“As we work towards establishment of a new normal with COVID-19, we will want to free up the return of (international) students, skilled workers, tourism and business travel,” they said.
“Hotels will continue to be useful, but are far from optimal in many situations, particularly when the risk is on the higher end of the spectrum.”
Their plan, which has been put to leaders including Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young, would start with rapid-testing of all international arrivals.
“Low-risk” travellers would be placed in home quarantine and monitored by GPS wristband trackers which also gather health data.
Hotel quarantine would serve as the mid-tier, with improved protocols to prevent airborne transmission of
COVID-19. People travelling from high-risk countries would be managed in mining campstyle quarantine centres such as Howard Springs in the Northern Territory and the proposed Toowoomba facility.
Dr Anseline, Dr Liljeqvist and Prof McClaws said such centres would improve physical and mental health for people in quarantine because it would allow them to spend time outdoors.