Guests on $2,000 beach weekend hit by torrential rain and forced to urinate in bushes
Customers demand refunds after complaints of lack of toilets on luxury weekend break
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Your support makes all the difference.Attendees of a luxury weekend getaway on one of Australia’s Whitsundays islands are demanding their money back after complaining their break was wrecked by torrential rain and they were left without access to toilets.
While the first day of the weekend had delivered a glamourous experience on one of Queensland’s most beautiful beaches, guests claim the event descended into chaos the following day.
Customers, who had paid up to AU$2,000 (£1,100) a head to attend the White on Whitehaven Long Lunch on 29 and 30 May, reported guests vomiting and urinating on the beach as they tried to shelter from a storm on the second day. Footage from the party shows one group cowering under a beach umbrella as the rain lashes down.
As well as a lack of adequate shelter from the downpour, attendees also said access to toilets was an issue, with one woman telling the Courier Mail that there were “men peeing everywhere”, as they could not use the ferry toilets due to the rough seas. Another guest told the newspaper that there were people “spewing” as they were ferried to and from the lunch by boat.
One attendee told 7 News that she was forced to urinate in in the bushes due to a lack of toilets. “It was pretty disgusting. I found a used sanitary pad in the bushes,” she said.
The storm started just ten minutes after 300 guests arrived at the beach for the four-hour lunch, resulting in guests’ food getting drenched as it was served.
Tickets for the event range from $349 (£190) to up to $2,000.
The “Long Lunch” had been being held as part of the Clipper Race Carnival, held in the Whitsundays in January, for the past two years. This is the first time it has been run as an independent event in May.
Organiser Kevin Collins acknowledged there had been some complaints, telling NCA NewsWire that the event planners are “seeking feedback from all guests to see how we can improve the event for next year”.
While some customers are seeking full refunds, Mr Collins reportedly offered attendees a free meal at his restaurant, Fish D’Vine, valued at $160 (£85).
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