A Married at First Sight bride’s 30th birthday trip nearly ended in disaster over the weekend when she arrived at the Sheraton Grand Mirage on the Gold Coast only to discover the “horrible” state of the luxury hotel room she booked for the celebrations.
Sam, who was paired with MAFS boyfriend Al Perkins on the reality show’s ninth season, booked a $600-a-night lagoon suite with a close friend.
While the idyllic photo on the hotel’s website advertises a tidy queen room with a private balcony overlooking a serene man-made lagoon, Sam took to TikTok on Wednesday to share the uninviting reality.
His video showed a murky, empty lagoon area, full of mud and garden debris.
The lagoon terrace furniture was also covered in dirt and ants and appeared to have not been cleaned.
“We decided to stay on vacation and pick a good hotel for myself and one of my close friends’ 30th birthday,” he explained via a green screen for the Sheraton’s online reservation system.
Married at First Sight bride Samantha Moitzi was shocked to discover the “horrible” state of the luxury hotel room she booked for a 30th birthday “staycation” on the Gold Coast this week.
While the idyllic photo on the hotel’s website advertises a tidy room with a private balcony overlooking a serene man-made lagoon, Sam took to TikTok on Wednesday to share the uninviting reality. Photo: Queen of the lagoon
‘The Sheraton on the Gold Coast is meant to be really nice. So I said let’s book the Tranquil Lagoon room (at $600 a night), it looks great. But this is what we have…’
‘So calm. “Super calm,” said the birthday girl as she panned the disappointing scene with her camera.
Trying to find humor in the situation, Sam noticed the hotel sign accompanying his room instructing guests not to swim in the outdoor water fountain.
‘Important to keep in mind: The lagoon is a decorative element and not for swimming. “That is true,” he read.
“This place needs some serious love or a lower price lol,” he captioned his video as 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.
‘My God, that’s horrible! I highly recommend Langham Gold Coast. Their pool is epic…unfortunately it rained almost our entire trip,” wrote one user.
“The JW Marriott is the only luxury hotel on the Gold Coast I would go to,” another added.
“Even that’s pretty dated,” a third person responded, as Sam’s video kicked off a public forum about the “sad state” of Gold Coast resorts compared to their glory days.
His video showed a murky, empty lagoon area, full of mud and garden debris.
‘Important to keep in mind: The lagoon is a decorative element and not for swimming. That’s true,’ he read.
‘That’s just the Gold Coast in general! As an event manager, I visited many properties in March this year and (added five surprised emojis).’
“I said in a previous comment that I used to come to all these places when I was 11 to visit my grandparents and the rooms in most places haven’t changed and I’m 32,” the first commenter responded.
‘Did you get a REFUND?!’ Oh my god,’ was one of the top comments on the video, and hundreds of other people asked variations of the same question.
Fortunately for Sam, such is the power of TikTok virality that within a few hours ‘Dan the Manager’ saw her video and upgraded her to a suite.
As Sam’s ‘viral’ hashtag suggests, the short clip quickly racked up millions of views and 1.1 million likes on TikTok, as well as hundreds of comments.
One woman thanked the MAFS girlfriend for her videos because her boyfriend was “about to book this exact room.”
“So Dan the manager just called us and gave the girls an upgrade,” Sam smiled in the first of several update videos, shared an hour after his original post.
‘Welcome to our hose. Very very pretty. Yes, that’s the ocean.
The influencer and her friend happily skipped around their palatial new room, which appears to be the Presidential Suite, and twirled among the amenities wearing fluffy white bathrobes.
Former Married at First Sight star Samantha Moitzi profusely thanked TikTok and the hotel staff for making sure the situation didn’t derail her plans to celebrate her 30th birthday with her friend.
Why extend an olive branch when you can extend a chocolate, cream and fruit cake?
‘Yes, the girls! I think this is going to be a good night. To dinner.
‘After a power outage and a few other things, Dan watched my video and is a legend that he updated us to make our birthday stay better. Note: All staff and customer service so far have been amazing,” he added in the video caption.
In a further update, Sam revealed his confusion when a chocolate and cream birthday cake was delivered to his suite.
The beautiful cake came loaded with whipped cream, fresh fruit, macarons, and a little birthday note.
‘They sent us a birthday cake. Manager Dan is a king!’ Sam captioned another video.
On Thursday morning, he posted a fourth and final update to let people involved in his saga know that the hotel had resolved the situation.
‘The best thing they’re doing is something about it!’ he wrote, in a lesson for customer service and hospitality managers on the power of a bad review.
In the end, Sam was refunded her $600, upgraded to a suite for the night, and given a cake.
“That was our room,” he said while filming a pool cleaner tending to the murky pond this morning.
“I have never seen a hotel file a complaint so quickly in my life. They are the ones who do the most today. Look at this guy!’
‘Incredible. We received a full refund. Thanks tiktok. Peace, love and light.’