Just spent a delicious 24 hours at Peppers. Booked a room and breakfast online and were upgraded to a Villa on check in. Awesome! Mentioned our wedding anniversary and received a voucher for drinks. Lovely staff. Superbly clean and well appointed room (or rooms, as is the case with the villa). Gorgeous gardens to stroll in and a delightful atmosphere in the library, Reception and lounge areas. We were underwhelmed by the brekky but that did not detract from a gorgeous stay. Pricey but worth it for the escape from reality.

We were than impressed with both the rooms and service. For the price we expected a much better room, it was like an over decorated school portable, with a basic bathroom and cheap tv (no movies except old scratched DVDs you could borrow from reception. It was not cheap and the experience was average about 30% overpriced

I had a garden spa room, which includes a spa bath on the back balcony. So I was in hedonistic heaven sipping wine in my bubbly bath and eating some choccy. The mini bar includes a choice of local wines and a few snacks, I got hungry on the first night and dug into some, but if you plan ahead you could grab your own snacks at the general store, or even the shops in Daylesford. Speaking of, there's a nice little wine store on main street. But I digress.

Room comes equipped with robes and towels, hair dryer, nice soap and shampoos. Big TV to watch while winding down in King sized bed.

WiFi however, is very very spotty. Wouldn't go in relying on it because it'll drive you cray cray.

I ate brekky at the conservatory on my second day, when I had only paid for it on my third, but we staff were super friendly and easy and let me swap the days. The continental spread was quite nice with fresh fruit and yogurt, etc. But the highlights were the pastries that were so buttery and delicious. I ate way to many of them, but no regret. Even the bread for the toast was lovely fresh baked sourdough. Dig in. There's also an al a caste menu, so obviously I got that too. Really lovely eggs benedict. Runny yokes, thick ham, A plus.

I had dinner at the Argus too. Not having had too many fine dining experiences before I wasn't sure what to expect. Staff was very polite and helpful, especially when trying to decide which dish I would like. All the options are too tempting! I ended up having the braised duck which was so unbelievably good. I am now a convert to eating duck. I also had myself a cocktail and was so full and satisfied after I couldn't even fit in dessert. The final bill wasn't even all that expensive at around $65 for one, it's a good experience to indulge the senses while on a relaxing getaway.

Speaking of relaxing, I also went to the retreat at the mineral spas attached to the resort. I had the chill, soak relax deal listed on the website which includes two days stay and 2 90 minute passes to the retreat. Honestly, it's spoiled me for other spas now. I think i stayed during a fairly busy time for them, because my first visit there were quite a few people in there with me. That can be a bit awkward, like invading other people's private conversations, but there are two outdoor hot mineral baths, one cool plunge in the middle, and inside there's a traditional hot stone sauna, a steam sauna (my favourite) and an infrared heat room. So I rotated in between all of these getting the full effect. By the end the full 90 minutes blew by and I was feeling pretty good.l my second visit felt like it went even faster, and there were much fewer people there are the same time. But I should mention that they were lovely people these other guests, very friendly.

I think I’ve covered most of it. I didn't get a chance to enjoy the gardens all that much, but i had a walk through them and in warmer weather they would be very nice spot to chill with a book or some friends. Ditto the bar.