Wonderful accomodation! We stayed here for my birthday weekend and it was so enjoyable. Macquarie Waters is located just a short stroll to the shops, beach and restaurants. It's located at one end of the main strip away from noise yet close enough to everything.

The rooms are fantastic - they exceeded my expectations. It was large, spacious, clean and quiet.

The hotel has many facilities for guests' enjoyment such as a pool, deck, spa etc but we went during Winter so couldn't enjoy them to their potential :(

Staff are friendly and willing to help and there is always someone at the reception desk.

Definitely returning!

We stayed at Mantra Aqua in Nelson Bay over the new year holidays and it was one of the best accomodations we've stayed at.
The rooms are clean, spacious and comes equipped with a self-contained kitchen. The hotel additionally has a kiddies' lagoon and a pool as well as BBQ facilities.
It's located very close to the central strip. We walked to the beach, marina, shops and restaurants.
Seeing as we drove there, we were so grateful that they had secure undercover parking at no extra charge!

Definitely recommended to everyone.

Great takeaway shop with great service. I think they recently changed owners but the quality of the food is the same. It's great for a quick bite. They do burgers, sandwiches, kranskies, dim sims and even pork rolls. It's a family owned business and they are always so friendly.

Approximate cost: $5

Thaina Box Merrylands is located just outside Stockland shopping centre - where the new restaurant strip is.

Thaina Box offers average Thai dishes at a slightly high price. Customer service is great. Orders taken promptly, menu is easy to read, dishes never take long to come out.

I only ever get the tom yum with prawns, chicken pad uhai and chicken or beef massaman curry.

The tom yum tastes powdery and not very authentic at all - more like from a powder pre-made packet.
The pad thai isn't that great either. I've had much better and at a slightly cheaper price.
The massaman curry tastes average. However, sometimes the potatoes don't seem to be very well cooked and we just have to throw it out.

Approximate cost: $17

Great service. The stylists made sure they understood what I wanted, delivered fantastic results and were never pushy in regards to purchasing products. The value is fantastic! Keep an eye out for coupons and discounts in the local paper as well.

Great tasting pizzas with generous toppings at a great price.

I love the pizzas from Nikki's as they are happy to accomodate to any dietary needs and include a generous amount of toppings on the pizzas.

The sides are fantastic - nachos, corns, pastas, ribs etc Lots of variety that even the fussiest of eaters would be pleased.

The prices are value for money for what you pay and they always have special deals/combos.

I love that they do a loyalty card scheme whereby you are given a card for every $15 spent, collect 8 and redeem them for something else.

The manicurists at Le's Nails definitely take the time to do your nails. They don't rush you nor do they do a quick rush job.

The ladies are friendly and they do try and talk to you despite the broken English.

Even though they are located in Double Bay (where most things cost more!), the prices are cheap and comparable to most nail salons out West.

Great value for money, great service and great environment.

Approximate cost: $25

Being Asian, I rarely get Chinese take-out as I find that most places just don't do it right. However, Ming Fa hasn't disappointed me yet.

The price is cheap for a generous serving with great flavours. Much better than the food court Chinese places.

Martha B is one of the best eye brow specialists I have been to. She charges $35-40 for a 1/2 hour - 1 hour appointment. She is a perfectionist so you can be sure that you will walk out of there with the most perfect eyebrows!

Her work is meticulous. I cannot fault her work at all. She makes my eyebrows look AMAZING.

Approximate cost: $35

Great little dry cleaning store.

Service is mediocre. Not exceptionally great but not horrible either. They're very blunt and you do need to explain to them very clearly about what you want.

It's a bit overpriced for the service so I only go here for the pieces of clothing that really must be dry cleaned.