Pumphouse Point is the most money I've spent, to be completely miserable.
View from my room
It's a boutique hotel, in the middle of a lake, in a national park.
And it's full to the brim of luxury.
And I never want to go there again.
When I arrived I was offered some of Tasmania's finest sparkling wine or sparkling water.
When I mentioned that I didn't drink (much), the lady in charge of greeting me gave me a smile and a look, and this look I'd get a lot more during my stay in Tasmania.
It was a sort of pitying, strange smile, that sort of said 'why not?'.
I cannot handle alcohol, I'm a very weak drunk, and in general I don't really like wine all that much.
I couldn't just get my key, they had to explain about dinner, was I attending and what time it was, and what time breakfast was the next morning.
In hindsight I should have opted for the dinner in my room, rather than the dinner at a specified time 'family platter-style dining'.
I was also sort of interrogated about why I was staying there, and what I wanted out of it.
Relaxation, business, adventure and a few other things. After a fairly long drive, which was of my own design, I thought I'd be able to arrive and check in, not be interrogated about what I wanted out of this situation.
I said relaxation because I just wanted to relax, and go to my room.
She seemed to get a little annoyed that I was a bit tired and said 'we'll go over the rest later because you look like you want to go'. In hindsight I should have taken that as a sign of things to come. I didn't and smiled and said 'no, explain it' and she went over the times of dinner and breakfast, it was a bit of a blur and I asked if this was written down anywhere.
No.
And she didn't offer to write it down for me.
Now, getting out to the pumphouse was implemented very inconsistently.
When you first arrive they take you and your bags out there on little golf carts, which given the freezing rain and wind was nice.
But, each other time you want to go back to your car, to reception, to the main building where dinner and breakfast was served you had to brave the driving wind and freezing rain.
At dinner, which I arrived late to by falling asleep in my room, rugged up because the single panel heater in my room didn't exactly fill the space with heat, I chatted to come people who didn't seem like they felt the cold even in the dining room it was cool.
When I enquired if I could get a golf cart back to the pumphouse I was sort of given a look and a few words to the affect of 'no, everyone who drives those has gone home, let me look, and I'll see, maybe I'll have to'. From my dining companions it was suggested that no, you just had to walk along there at night in the below freezing wind and rain.
I was driven back, but she made it seem like I was getting special treatment and that it was a huge imposition.
Temperature of the morning I departed.
The following morning I took my bags back to my ute, I didn't bother asking them to help me, I didn't want to go through the exasperation and annoyance from them.
If I'd known this was going to be the case with my bags, I'd have repacked everything into my smaller bag.
Also their umbrellas were terrible against the wind and rain, a few of them were broken. I was glad I took my own with me.
On the positives. The view was amazing. The in room 'pantry' was very well stocked and you could have dinner without leaving your room.
It is a very unique location, and it is luxurious.
I don't want to throw them under the lake, because it is all the things they promote themselves for. And I knew many of these things before going.
I think for couples it would be a much better stay, especially if you like the outdoors.
But, it was a lot of money for me to spend to be incredibly miserable.
I've stayed in a lot of average to vaguely awful places in the past.
But they've all been quite unique and generally cheap.
Pumphouse Point was quite unique, almost to a fault.
Not remotely good for a solo traveller.
Its foibles not well communicated either.
Next time I go to Tasmania and am looking to stay in the Lake St Clair I'd probably opt for an Airbnb in Queenstown or Strahn.
That would offer a unique experience without superiority or utter misery inducing experience.
Alternatively...I might stay at Pumphouse Point again in the future, despite everything I've said it was a unique experience, and one I do wonder that if I experienced it in the spring, summer or even autumn I wonder if I might have a different experience to the middle of winter.