MAFS bride left shocked over ‘awful’ state of $600 luxury Gold Coast hotel room
A Married at First Sight bride’s 30th birthday trip almost ended in disaster this weekend when she arrived at Sheraton Grand Mirage on the Gold Coast, only to discover the “terrible” state of the luxury hotel room she booked for the celebrations.
Samantha Moitzi, who was paired with MAFS groom Al Perkins on season nine of the reality show, reserved a $600-a-night lagoon suite with a close friend.
While idyllic photography on the hotel’s website advertises a tidy Queen room with a private balcony terrace overlooking a serene man-made lagoon, Samantha took to TikTok on Wednesday to share the less enticing reality.
Her video footage showed a murky, drained lagoon area full of mud and garden waste.
The lagoon deck furniture was also covered in dirt and ants and did not appear to have been cleaned.
“We decided to go on vacation and pick a nice hotel for me and a good friend of mine’s 30th birthday,” she explained on a green screen for the Sheraton’s online booking system.
Married at First Sight bride Samantha Moitzi was shocked to discover the ‘terrible’ state of the luxury hotel room she booked for a 30th birthday ‘staycation’ on the Gold Coast this week
While idyllic photography on the hotel’s website advertises a tidy room with a private balcony terrace overlooking a serene man-made lagoon, Sam took to TikTok on Wednesday to share the less enticing reality. Photo: Lagoon Queen
‘The Sheraton on the Gold Coast must be very nice. So I said let’s book the Tranquil Lagoon Room (for $600 a night), it looks really good. But this is what we have…’
‘So peaceful. Super calm,” the birthday girl said as she panned her camera over the disappointing scene.
Trying to find humor in the situation, Samantha noticed the hotel sign outside her room stating that guests are not allowed to swim in the outdoor water feature.
‘Important to note: the lagoon is a decorative element and not for swimming. That’s right,” she read.
“This place needs some serious love or a lower price tag lol,” she captioned her video when it was uploaded Wednesday afternoon.
The short clip quickly racked up millions of views and 1.1 million likes on TikTok, as well as hundreds of comments.
‘Omgggg, that’s terrible! Highly recommend the Langham Gold Coast. Their pool is fantastic…Unfortunately it rained almost the entire trip,” one user wrote.
“JW Marriott is the only luxury hotel on the Gold Coast I would ever go to,” another added.
Her video footage showed a murky, drained lagoon area full of mud and garden waste
“Even that’s quite outdated,” a third person replied as Samantha’s video kicked off a public forum on the “sad state” of the Gold Coast’s holiday resorts compared to their glory days.
‘That’s just the Gold Coast in general! As an events manager, I visited many properties in March this year [they added five shocked emojis].’
“I said in an earlier comment that I came to all these places as an 11 year old to visit my grandparents and the rooms in most places haven’t changed and I’m 32,” the first commenter replied.
“Did you get a REFUND?!!” Omg,” was one of the most common responses to the video, with hundreds of others asking variations on the same question.
Luckily for Samantha, the power of TikTok virality is so great: within hours, “Dan the Manager” had seen her video and upgraded her to a suite.
“So Dan, the manager, just called us and he upgraded the girls,” Sam beamed in the first of several update videos, shared within an hour of her original post.
‘Welcome to our snake. Very nice. Yes, that’s the ocean.’
The influencer and her boyfriend happily skipped around their palatial new room, which appears to be the presidential suite, and twirled around the amenities in fluffy white bathrobes.
The short clip quickly racked up millions of views and 1.1 million likes on TikTok, as well as hundreds of comments
Sam’s video kicked off a public forum on the ‘sad state’ of the Gold Coast’s holiday resorts compared to their glory days
A woman thanked the MAFS bride for her videos because her boyfriend was ‘about to book this exact room’
Luckily for Sam, the power of TikTok virality is so great: within hours, ‘Dan the Manager’ had seen her video and upgraded her to a suite
In a further update, Sam was gifted a chocolate and cream birthday cake, which was delivered to her suite
‘Yes the girls! I think this is going to be a great evening. Off to dinner.”
‘After a power outage and a few other things, Dan saw my video and is a legend who upgraded us to improve our birthday stay. Please note: all staff and customer service so far have been great,” she added in the video’s caption.
In a further update, Samantha was gifted a chocolate and cream birthday cake, which was delivered to her suite.
The beautiful cake was loaded with whipped cream, fresh fruit, macarons and a small birthday note.
‘We were sent a birthday cake. Manager Dan is a king!’ Samantha captioned another video.
On Thursday morning, she posted a fourth and final update to let those invested in her story know that the hotel had made amends for the situation.
Sam got her $600 refunded, upgraded to a suite for the night, and received a cake as a gift
“The best thing they can do is do something about it!” she wrote in a lesson for customer service and hospitality managers about the power of a bad review.
“That was our room,” she said as she filmed a pool cleaner cleaning the murky pond this morning.
‘I have never seen a hotel file a complaint so quickly in my life. They do the most today. Look at this guy!’
‘Unbelievable. We received a full refund. Thanks TikTok. Peace, love and light.’