Tallebudgera Valley Holidays from £630

The good: Location - my villa was surrounded by rainforest. It was quiet inside with doors and windows closed, but you could enjoy the sights and sounds on the balcony, with 2 chairs and a lounger. Villa was nicely appointed and large. Liked that there was a fridge, m/wave, toaster, kettle, plates, glasses cutlery etc for 2. Also the fireplace would be nice in winter Other nice inclusions: insect repellant, insect coils, large flashlight, robes, slippers. The bad: No wifi. Listing said 32in TV with premium channels. TV was actually larger, but premium channels are only available if you have your own wifi service and subscriptions. I am travelling on limited international plan so this was an issue. There was supposed to be free over-air TV channels, but these did not work (‘no signal’ message. Plantation shutter on windows were good to keep out light, but there are 2 large windows above the sliding doors with no cover so room was ‘light’ at 5 am. Checkin/out: When I arrived, reception was open but not staffed. Waited 15 and then called a mobile number shown on a note there. For checkout, it was locked up. Tried calling, went to voicemail which said it was full. Tried texting, no response. Ended up returning to villa and leaving keys there. Wish there were clearer instructions on what to do. No room servicing: Supposed to be daily cleaning etc, but no one came to me room. Fortunately, I was only there 2 days but still.

The Darling is a beautiful and luxurious hotel. We had a wonderful experience here that began with the lovely lady at check in who was so nice, polite. friendly and extremely helpful. We were celebrating my husband's 60th Birthday and had booked a beautiful Stellar Suite for 2 nights. As we opened the door to our room, to our surprise, we realised that we had been upgraded to one of the amazing Penthouse suites!! Thank you so much to the lovely lady at checkin and the team at The Darling that helped make my husband's 60th Birthday a very memorable one. We had such a wonderful stay here we would definitely recommend spoiling yourself and staying here!!

The location is amazing: right on the beach, easy walk into Surfers shops and eateries, free onsite parking, really well set up with three bedrooms, full kitchen and laundry with washer and dryer, two bathrooms and heaps of room to spread out a bit.

Still well maintained and enjoyable. Not alot of staff around so service can be a bit slow at times.

The room was cleaned, and the staff were friendly, with clear communication. Our check-in after hours stood up because of the organisation and reception, even though they were closed.