The Broken Banyan

It was clean and cosy and had everything you need for an enjoyable stay. Outdoor BBQs were very handy. Barbara was lovely and very generous with her time, collected us from airport and drove us to dinner. Just remember to bring all toiletries and tea/coffee bags.

Well equipped kitchen. Comfortable bed.

No wifi to the rooms. Every time I wanted to connect, I had to walk around to stand outside the laundry room. Also, the owner made you read the pass code off the back of the router in the laundry room instead of printing it out on the information sheet in each room, or even simply putting up a notice on the wall. I suggested to the owner that she get a wifi extender or two, but she didn't seem to be interested. She also said that the washing machine had broken down, seemingly quite a long time ago, and she was 'waiting for someone to come over and fix it'. If customer service is a priority, it would be best to buy a new machine and then work out what to do with the broken one. There was a draft excluder on the bottom of the door in my room that got dragged back every time the door closed, leaving a big black arc on the carpet. It wasn't a great introduction. When I used the push-down hand basin plug in the bathroom, it stuck down. I had to use my fingertips to unscrew the top, otherwise the hand basin was unusable. I realise that maintenance may be difficult to organise on the island, but it's important.

Accommodations were exactly as advertised: simple, clean and comfortable. Barbara was a lovely host and very knowledgeable about the island. She picked us up (and dropped us off) at the airport and gave us a quick tour to show us where everything was that we might need.

Really no complaints. The washing machine wasn't working at the time, but such is island life and it didn't impact our stay.

Nothing to like about the place

Theres not enough space to put all the dislikes. look once you see a cockroach crawling on your bathroom basin you cant unsee that. what else got crawled on. Unfortunately for me i booked the flight then found this was the only accomodation option on lord howe island so i had no coice. i can live with the room type and its basic amenities. i cant live with Barbara telling me before our stay that the islands mostly flat and we can ride bikes everywhere its what everyone does. however we are 2 unfit people and she lives on top of the only hill a fact Barb forgot to mention. no cars to hire no electric bikes to hire. i asked 3 people with a ute for a lift for cash to the top of the hill no one was interested. Beautiful island however the worst weather kept us inside 50% of the time other 50% was spent at the local restaurant using their wifi as Barbara advertises wifi but you gota walk to the laundry and stand in the washing room to get it. Also first rule of accomodation is dont run out of hot water.

The gardens are pleasant, the rooms are in good condition.

The only washing machine was broken and no alternative was offered - on a remote island clothes washing is important. An email a week before giving us a heads up would have allowed us to adjust our clothes packing accordingly. The WIFI existed but was a 15 year old modem that in practical terms didn't work, even if you stood next to it (in the shared laundry). On the island you use WIFI to make phone calls, book tours etc, there is no 4G/5G network. The host was not very accessible or useful with up-to-date information. The host insisted on dropping us off early at the airport even before the the check in desk had opened (even though we repeatedly asked to be dropped off later), even when the the plane was running 1 hour late. All the other local hotels didn't drop their guests off until another hour after we arrived at the small airport. It really felt like the host had lost interest in the guests.

Lovely location set in gardens. Very clean and comfortable. The owner,Barbara was lovely and very helpful.

Wifi is sketchy but not unusable. Not a deal breaker.