Having booked a relative bargain package upon purchasing a voucher through Scoopon or Groupon (or somewhere), and noticing Tuscany Wine Estate is no stranger to the coupon world (hey, you can even book your Tuscany wedding with a Scoopon voucher!), we did not expect great things from Tuscany so were pleasantly surprised.

Sure, the accommodation was a little tired and the decor just one step up from a motor-inn, but our Olive Grove room had all the amenities we needed and a lovely view to boot (we could step out onto a little patio and venture further onto the lawns where the kangaroos grazed in the late afternoon).

Only after check-out did we notice the chocolates that were included in our package were missing (oops!). We took advantage of meal discounts to eat in The Mill, their main restaurant (with such small serves, I was glad we didn't pay full price) but found the Brokenback Bar was more to our liking. The service in the onsite Binnorie Dairy Cheese Factory was unpleasant however I wouldn't associate the dairy with the accommodation.

There was a blackout the first evening we stayed there and the little torch on our keyring made me wonder whether this was a common occurrence. It was definitely an inconvenience considering I was in the middle of a shower and had to give myself a pre-wedding manicure in the middle of the night when the lights finally turned back on (not so fun to go to sleep with wet nail polish!) No compensation was offered to make up for the inconvenience - a coffee at the bar or a bottle of wine from the onsite winery would have been a nice touch, guys!

We'd consider staying at Tuscany again, if the price was right, but with so many options in the Hunter Valley, I'd feel like I was missing out on discovering a real gem if I stayed at Tuscany each time I visited. Tuscany is not the attraction, just a place to rest your head.