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My partner and I have recently returned from a night at Tree Tops Cottage at Sketches Resort, which we booked directly through Ravensbourne Escapes.com. Sketches Resort was easy to find, being located directly on the Esk-Hampton main road. It is in an idyllic location, nestled at the top of the mountains, and a short drive from both Ravensbourne and Crows Nest National Parks. The cottage itself was harder to locate, due to a lack of signage on-site. Once inside, Tree Tops was tidy and well-appointed, and we especially enjoyed the private outdoor Jacuzzi and extra-comfortable queen bed. The kitchen facilities were limited (just two electric burners ¿¿¿ no oven), and we were disappointed with the lack of basic provisions (salt/pepper/oil/fresh milk) which are usually included with properties of this price and standard. We also weren¿¿¿t sure whether the tap water was suitable for drinking - it seemed to be pumping directly from the rainwater tank - so we ended up purchasing bottled water. The cottage manual was basic and didn¿¿¿t include any information on facilities outside the resort i.e. local attractions/nearest grocery stores. Three light bulbs had also blown ¿¿¿ easy to remedy, but there was nowhere to leave feedback or repair requests. Another thing to note - a sign at the entrance to the resort advised that the business has recently gone into receivership, and this became apparent as we walked through the property. The original reception building, outdoor bar and function area had all been closed for some time, and are now in a state of disrepair. There were also multiple signs relating to a Golf Course onsite, although this obviously hasn¿¿¿t functioned in years. Fortunately, this didn¿¿¿t affect our stay at Tree Tops as the cottage is slightly removed from these areas ¿¿¿ however, it did leave us feeling like the property had seen better days. And one small thing, completely out of the owners control - there seemed to be trail-bike tracks on the other side of the valley, and we found the noise of revving engines and ¿¿¿hard riding¿¿¿ up and down the hills less than peaceful. In review, Tree Tops Cottage is a charming property that would benefit from some simple improvements, or a lower price tag.

The cottage was just as described on the "Ravensbourne Escape" website. Very cosy and immaculately clean. The hot tub was great - we did not experience the spa jet noise problems described by previous reviewers so they may have rectified that problem. The bed was very comfortable and the cottage was nice and dark in the mornings which allowed for lazy sleep ins! It is a little tricky to find the "Treetops cottage" once inside the property - make sure you print the directions when they email them to you and have a look on a google map (photo) to get an idea of where the actual cottage is. The price was good too - we got a "pay for 3 nights and stay 4 special" so that was an added bonus.

We stayed at Tree Tops which we booked through Ravensbourne Escapes from 30/08/12 to the 1/09/12. The property was extremely hard to locate, directions where not great and the chalet did not have a number or name on it. The Chalet was neat, clean and lovely itself however the first night of staying there we had no hot water (we contacted the agent whom was fantastic however even she could not heat up a system that had only been turned on that day) The 2nd complaint was that the hot tub on the verander adjacent to the bedroom had a pump that went on and activated the jets of the tub every hour through the night, this ended up with one sleepless night as we kept jumping up to turn it off, (in the morning we contacted the agent whom once again was very helpful), the owner came around and checked the tub with the advice to turn it down to 18 dec overnight to stop the pump turning on through the night. Well that did not work, it still activated all of the 2nd night keeping us up. The views where beautiful however no hot shower and no sleep does not equal as restful escape. We have stayed in lovely Chalets close by which were amazingly beautiful, restful and on a whole so much better for the same $.

We just stayed at the Tree Tops Cottage at Skecthes Resort, which we booked through Ravensbourne Escapes.com and it was perfect. Very clean and tidy. We loved the jacuzzi on the deck. It had everything we needed along with a relaxing setting overlooking the native bush whilst the beautiful coloured parrots fed on the season's berries. A perfect romantic weekend away.