BIG4 Bays Holiday Park — Attraction in Anna Bay

We were so excited for this trip as it was the first time that we were taking our young child (under 5) to a BIG4 holiday park.

Good things: Pool and waterslide Shower water pressure in our caravan Location in regards to attractions around port stephens Park is medium sized and doesnt feel over crowded. Guests seemed to be nice and generally respectful, very family orientated crowd. Brazilian BBQ food truck on site -although they don't do kids portions so it was pretty $$$

Bad things We were allocated different accomodation then what we booked with a completely different floor plan. This was an issue because instead of having the kids room at the far end of the caravan, furthest from the entrance and all common spaces like living room, bathroom and kitchen. The kids beds were smack bang at the main entrance of the cabin and also in between all amenities in the caravan. This meant we had to creep around all night from 7:30pm onwards trying not to disturb their sleep. Bays did not advise that they were changing our accomodation although they did confirm the age of our child so some risk assessing and forethought to our situation would have been appreciated on their part or some discussion about it prior so we could explain that the accomodation they were allocating was unsuitable and why. There is no security on site at all. Anyone can come in and out of the property by car as there is no boom gate or cameras. Consequently due to no onsite security at night, there is constant drag racing for hours on the main road right outside EVERY night! We could smell burning rubber inside the caravan for over two hours our first night. By Sunday (Day 3 of our stay), one of the guests had become so fed up they went outside and told them to stop, which led to a 20min screaming argument with threats of violence being heard from inside our cabin. Eventually the police arrived and it stopped - That was the only somewhat quiet night we had out of 4nights. The main door to our caravan didnt close properly. There was also no way to secure it for safety from inside the cabin. This meant the only barrier between our small child and outside was a balcony style glass door with a latch that could be easily opened. Due to this, we woke constantly worried if our child was still in their bed and had to check as we were concerned for their wellbeing and safety. The road and on-site traffic is loud in general, ear plugs would be nice. They are cheap and would show that management listens to feedback. Even if they made them available free at reception for those that required them. The parks facilities ie. games and activities are weathered and not well maintained. Alot of them unusable or not enjoyable. The park has so much potential so its such a shame as it wouldn't take that much money or time to maintain the equipment better. The tap water smells and tastes awful. I am not sure if this is a location thing or the caravan itself but we had to go and buy bottled water. It was that bad, I woke up with a sore throat after our first evening. There is no FAQ on the webite or provided on arrival with general quesitons about the property ie. Is the water safe to drink? Reception was only there for 6hrs a day due to it being a public holiday. Although they have an after hours number, the reception was so bad on site that making calls was near impossible. I tried when the drag racing had been going on for over two hours on our first night.

Overall we still had a good holiday but this was in no part to the holiday park itself, outside of the waterslide which was a big hit. After this experience we would definitely reconsider going to other holiday parks especially if we couldn't ensure the accomodation we booked was what we were going to receive. We would also check reviews before any decision as a lot of the issues we experienced seem to be long standing ones according to...

Where do I start. It doesn't look like the images online.. Very run down. Bindies everywhere so you cannot walk barefoot anywhere, Even in the pool area. The bouncy pillow wasn't inflated when we arrived. And was only inflated late the next day and was only inflated for a short period of time our whole weekend. The room was SO SO hot when we arrived that we had to sit in the car for 2 hours for the whole room to cool down as it was very hot that day. It was raining so we couldn't do anything. The aircon should have been turned on prior to guest arrival time to prevent that happening on extreemly hot days (This was the Matilda carvan cabin) no where to hang wet towels etc, ants everywhere. Not enough bath towels and the beds.... oh my goodness. I had a bad back for 1 week after staying there for 4 nights. They're very firm and uncomfortable. The bunk bed feels flimsy and rocky so my kids didn't want to sleep on the top. It's also got no privacy at night time. You sit in the main room, and if you have a light on, everyone can see inside the whole room. Which was a bit freaky to know that people can just see everything you're doing. Even if you're just sitting there relaxing. Not very comfortable. The Matilda caravan cabin is right next to the main road!!! We woke up to so much traffic noises on the weekdays, and trucks! I was very disappointed to pay so much money for the Matilda cabin for only 4 nights. $1300 is way too much for what we experienced. I would have been happier to bring my own caravan and pay $200. Way too over priced. No real place for kids to ride their scooters and if you bring your dogs, please be really careful of the bindies! The bindies were getting stuck to our shoes and I saw so many people's dogs limping around because of this too. The only good thing about this place really is the staff were friendly, and the pool is amazing. My kids really enjoyed the pool and that will be the only reason we would come back. But I will bring my own caravan and park next to the poolside. The cabins are too over priced for this place and I do not recommend it at all unless your happy to pay thousands for bindie infested grass and a really run down looking place. Sorry but this is a very honest and...

Not impressed at all. We booked a few cabins here for a weekend away. Very expensive considering location and amenities. The park is small and run down. Our fridge wasn’t working on arrival. The maintenance guy tried to find us a solution as best he could however an old rusty, and mouldy bar fridge placed on the kitchen floor of a very small cabin wasn’t the best solution ( it was the only solution he could provide at the time and they did get a new fridge on the day we were leaving). It was stinking hot so we turned on our air conditioner and it flooded the lounge room of the cabin. It was also fixed but is an inconvenience and indicated a lack of maintenance. Cabin sleeps 6 people, you get a 2x seater lounge. The main bed was a small double bed, very uncomfortable for 2 people. With a noisy fan in the room making intermittent whirling noises and the bushes scraping along the windows in the middle of the night with the slightest breeze meant I didn’t get to sleep until 2am and that was because I was totally exhausted and ended up on the lounge. The pool is small in comparison to the deceptive photos on the website. It’s the peak of summer and the pool opens at 10am and closes at 7pm, while the sun is still up and it is hot. I watched so many kids come to the pool in the morning to swim and walk away disappointed. It is located in the middle of nowhere, you can’t walk to a beach or anywhere like that. Going anywhere requires you leave the park in a car and drive there. Only one of our cabins had a bbq. There is 1x bbq at the communal kitchen for the entire park to use. I’ve been to many holiday parks and this was far from impressive, particularly when considering the exorbitant prices they charge. I wouldn’t recommend the place and would give 1 star if it wasn’t for the fact the staff were courteous and did their best to...