Eden Gateway Holiday Park

The Resident Managers at Eden Gateway Holiday Park denied our request for a refund after circumstances outside our control affected our Booking.com reservation. Booking.com had been respectful and understanding with our other reservations on the trip, but here the only response was that it was a “non-refundable booking.” There was no empathy. I won’t book here again, and I’ll tell others about what happened. Word of mouth matters.

The only reason we managed to stay was the help of two lovely couples on the neighbouring sites. They travel from park to park doing maintenance and were working here during our visit. They suggested ways to reposition our caravan, and without them, including Wayne, we might have packed up and gone home. We’d booked by phone with Alannah, and that part went well. Check-in was a different story. Alannah seemed flustered and wasn’t helpful. Our so-called largest site couldn’t really be used because a big tree with exposed roots sat in the middle. We couldn’t set up our caravan properly or swap with our friends, who had a 4-6 person tent. When we raised it with management, which was Alannah, she was rude, didn’t apologise, and told us to share sites within our group. We stayed 9 nights over NYE as a group using 6 sites, after travelling 6 hours. Each powered site cost over $900. At that price, the experience was extremely disappointing, and we wouldn’t return. The advertised security amounted to management coming around at night in dressing gowns, which felt very unprofessional. The amenities near our site felt unsafe and unclean, with cloth shower curtains and toilet floors that were constantly wet. The dryers were cheap at $2 for 20 minutes, but one cycle didn’t dry anything, so expect to pay for 2-3 cycles. The water was shut off at 10am without proper notice. We were bluntly told to “check our emails.” WiFi didn’t work, and mobile service was very unreliable.

Our cabin was just right for our family and little fur baby. It was basic but tidy, and we’ve stayed in more basic pet cabins before. Allana and Les were lovely, knew the area well, and helped us with a small car problem. Thanks so much. We’ll stay again.

We were shocked to be told on our way back that we’d been charged an extra $100 for not cleaning the room properly. We’d done our best before checkout, as we usually do at places we stay, despite having no dustpan or broom. They didn’t send any photos to show what was supposedly left unclean, just called to say the $100 had been charged. I don’t know what standard they expected, but I don’t think guests should have to clean like professional cleaners. The charge felt like a scam. The poor condition of the holiday park had already made the stay a bad experience. Facilities were old, dusty and sometimes broken. The rooms and beds were dusty, the coffee machine didn’t work, and neither did the one next door when we asked our neighbour if we could use it. When we asked reception to fix ours, they told us to contact the cleaners instead. Most taps dripped, and many plates, cups and cooking utensils were dirty, stained or dusty. The cooktops were broken and unclean, and there was no dishwasher. We don’t recommend staying at Eden holiday park.