Tasman Holiday Parks – Merimbula

The person who cleaned and maintained the cabins was the highlight of our stay. She had an Irish accent and was absolutely delightful, friendly and helpful. She sorted out towels for us and was genuinely accommodating. We didn’t get that same helpfulness from reception or management, who were generally unhelpful. We asked if we could be placed closer to friends staying in the park so the children could play together. We were told there was no way to do it, even though cabins right next to our friends looked available for almost all of our four-day stay. Before arrival, road closures delayed our drive from Victoria into New South Wales. When we called reception, the staff member was rude and unaccommodating. Keys were left out for our late arrival, but the phone interaction still left a poor impression. We were also first given a cabin for four, though we’d booked and paid for one sleeping five. The manager did fix that and moved us to the correct cabin. We stayed four nights as a family of five in a two-bedroom Hideaway cabin. It was extremely small, even for a cabin. The floors were wet and still very dirty when we arrived, and several pairs of socks had to be thrown away after we walked around. That felt unhygienic from the start. The bunk beds were old, and the rusty fridge didn’t feel clean enough to store food in. Wi-Fi kept dropping out despite us having a code. It rained much of the time, there wasn’t much to do in the park, and we ended up using most of our mobile data in the first two days. The indoor pool was advertised as heated but was quite cold. The spa was almost as cold as the pool, nowhere near spa temperature, so it wasn’t comfortable to use. The park feels old and tired, with little for children to do. On top of the high price for a family of five, we had to pay extra to use the games room, including for air hockey. That felt unreasonable with the current cost of living. Better cleaning, service and flexibility would have made a big difference. I can’t recommend it to families looking for value, basic cleanliness and supportive service.