Adelaide Caravan Park

The caravan park’s central location was the highlight of my three-night stay, very convenient and a reason I’d recommend it. The office service was disappointing, though. Staff seemed more focused on private conversations and personal matters than helping guests. I’d have liked more attention on customers.

The convenient location near the CBD was about the only positive. I picked Aspen Holidays Adelaide Caravan Park because it advertised itself as pet-friendly, despite the hefty pet fee, and I was travelling with my two cats. I regret that choice. The cabin felt outdated, and the beds were so uncomfortable that my cats wouldn’t settle on them. They spent most of the stay on the floor or furniture. The cleanliness was worse. The provided kitty litter was the cheapest black-and-gold kind, and looked as if it hadn’t been changed or topped up in weeks. It was disgusting and unusable, so my cats basically held it until we could buy proper supplies. Mice were all through the cabin and surrounding grounds. My cats spent the whole stay hunting them, at all hours, under the beds, in the kitchen and outside in the park. It was chaotic, stressful and revolting. That many rodents points to serious sanitation problems, and makes you wonder what else is lurking. For somewhere that charges extra for pets and says it welcomes them, there seemed to be no thought put into keeping the place clean and pest-free. I won’t return, and strongly advise anyone travelling with pets, or anyone who cares about hygiene, to stay elsewhere. An absolute letdown.

The park’s location was good, but after our three-night stay, I wouldn’t recommend it or stay again. There are urgent maintenance and guest service issues. The cabin was compact and perhaps expensive for its size. The bathroom was very small and hard to use, and its lock didn’t work because the strike plate was missing. The bunk beds had thin mattresses on what looked like homemade wooden frames. Even combining mattresses didn’t make them comfortable, and some linen was too dirty to use. Staff never followed up to check how things were going or offer fresh towels. A music festival brought a lot of noise from teen concertgoers. The park seemed full, with tents in odd places, including between cabins and in parking spaces, and some cabins looked over-occupied. Many laundry machines were out of service. One left brown residue on our clothes, so they needed another wash. With machines limited and other guests’ laundry left unattended for a long time, we had to use a laundromat three minutes away.

We were helped even though we called at 4.55pm, when they were nearly closed, and needed a cabin for the next two nights after the air conditioning failed at our original hotel and turned it into an oven. They made sure we’d have a cabin the next day, and had it ready early so we didn’t have to lug our stuff around all day. The price was great for just after Christmas. Couldn’t fault the place and would definitely recommend this little caravan park.