Kryal Castle — Attraction in Leigh Creek

I've waited a while to post this review but it hasn't left my mind so I feel as though it's time.

My partner and I booked to stay here as a romantic getaway and my gosh was it a huge mistake.

You can easily be done walking around this place in less than an hour. It's cheap, run down and down-right depressing.

We arrived on a day that was supposed to be an event day. We were somewhat lucky that due to paying for accommodation there, we didn't need to pay for entry but unfortunately we did waste money on not only accommodation, but whatever sham event they are running that week, to suck money out of the public, without actually having to run an event.

After you arrive, walking over an extremely stinky gunk/pond scum filled moat, you are greeted by one of the most 90's play rooms I've ever seen with horrendous items in the claw machines.

Next there's the accommodation itself. The bathroom had black mold and what my partner called a creepy naughty corner hidden behind the door. The bin in the room itself looked like someone had a nasty argument with it and then proceeded to bash the living daylights out of it, it was almost bent in half. Then there was the bed situation.. what was supposed to be a king bed, was two king single base beds pushed together, with a single or king single mattress on it's side, wedged in between both of the base beds to create the illusion (the only magic we saw that day) of a king bed. Then upon this kingly base was the most lumpy and saggy excuse for a mattress I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.

There was also no windows to the room, only a small painted over grate/vent at the very top of the front wall.

When we first arrived, we were told by reception that if there were any issues at all, even after hours, they would be happy to help and to just call an after hours number.

When called regarding the issues with the room, and asking if it was possible to receive a better bed or a refund due to the fact that I have several bulging discs and cannot possibly sleep on a bed like that, the front desk member who had only 10 minutes prior let us know to call him, he said something to the effect of "oh damn it, I just got off". He made a bunch of excuses on the phone and then telling us we would have to try and contact the after hours number. No one answered, we left a message and to this day, around 5-6 months later we've never heard back.

As far as the grounds themselves go, everything is extremely dated. The shops are very disappointing and as someone else here mentioned, very over priced Temu-esque items. Although I think Temu may have better things these days as I remember seeing a lot of the same plastic items when I was a child, and I'm 36 now. Everything is extremely run down and just a general depressing feel to it, there were no events running, I didn't see any jousting. There was a very sad axe-throwing (event?) on.

It's a shame really, because when you look into the history of the place and the original owners, they seemed to really have something special back then. It was a passion project, that was clearly very well looked after in it's heydey by the lovely couple who owned it. Unfortunately it's a far cry now from anything you'll see in history about this place.

I really regret not charging this back to my bank.

I also regret not making a report to the RSPCA about the sad conditions the beautiful horses live in, on the owners paddock/paddock that is next to the castle walls/carpark area.

We ended up having to find alternative accommodation that night, last minute. We were very thankful to find the RACV Goldfields, surprisingly that night at a cheaper price, and we have been return customers there ever since. So in hindsight while being grateful we found a new place to go, this definitely wasn't it, and we won't ever be returning, nor we will be ever recommending it to anyone else.

It serves as a...

This review is specifically for the Halloween event:

Firstly, our group had a fun time for the first part of the night. Atmosphere and staff were great! However the organization of the event needed improvement since the night was freezing and usually is fairly cold anyway but there were no fire barrels or heaters anywhere near lines so waiting in line felt like hell for most of it. I get that they couldn’t really expect the quantity of people that turned up but it was supposed to be a limited event and WAY too many people were allowed to attend when you consider having to wait 45m-1h30m in line for a 5 minute haunted house section.

Lighting definitely needed to be tweaked in some areas (since obviously it was kept dark for mood and atmosphere) but one member of our group tripped in a drainage hole in the ground whilst waiting for an attraction and could have been easily avoided if lights were set up in queue areas. Another patron separate from us also tripped in it as well. And there was multiple times throughout the night people were walking into objects without being able to see them properly in areas where they really should have or at least been covered up with safety cones or something.

The fact that there were no flyers or anything with attraction times or event planning info was a downside also since our group had to wait for around 45-50mins to receive our food and the gate allowing guests into the areas where all the attractions were set up was only opened 1h30m after entry doors opened. The events were then only operating for 2 hours before the rest of the 2 and a half hours remaining were all had to be spent being locked out of any attractions when this was not made clear by anyone or on the website etc.

Positives were the archery being free and pumpkins as targets, attractions we did get to see were great, bloodbath was a fun addition however could have been done in a slightly more medieval themed way or group bucket style thing as well as the water pistols. Staff and costumes were very cool and talented, dance party was an unexpected plus!

Overall it was a good idea and concept and I hope they do continue to have this event for future Halloweens to come but please take note of the tens to hundreds of people who would have surely complained and demanded refunds in the nights following and listen to their feedback since it had loads of potential and things such as the Bloodbath event were good fun even if not exactly what was expected.

Overall, Thank you for the night Kryal Castle and for being professional and issuing refunds to those who were disappointed by the way the night unfolded regarding to scheduling and...

Good variety of things to do which filled a few hours for us. A few things like hair braiding, face painting and archery you pay extra for, but there were plenty of inclusions as well such as axe throwing, swashbuckling school, outdoor chess and shows. It is mostly centred around children. More adult activities would be cool. We took our children to the torture dungeon and it was fine. Less scary than the Scooby Doo ride at Movie World. The information and displays were interesting. All staff were friendly and helpful and wished us well wherever we went. The cafe was good with a basic variety of quick meals such as pies, tacos, wraps, egg and bacon rolls and vegan pasties. They serve red velvet, white and hazelnut hot chocolates in addition to regular coffees. Prices are comparable with most cafes. The rooms are lovely. Medieval touches like pointed arched doors and windows, gold curtains and dark wood wardrobes make it medieval themed while reverse cycle air con, TVs and mini bars help to maintain modern comforts. The bed was super comfortable - I wanted to take it home! The kids had very firm foam mattresses on the floor and were envious of our bed. Our doona had some stains when I pulled the bottom corner out and there was a kit-kat wrapper in our bathroom. The bathrooms have the same high ceilings, arched windows and dark timber as bedrooms to continue the theme. We had two adjoining rooms and one had stone detail inside while the other didn't. Lovely tapestries above the beds. The shower door had a gap so water leaked out and there was no drain in the floor outside the shower so we had to use our towels to soak it up. The paint on the front doors is revealing frosted glass spots in places, and we could see light patches coming through our mirror indicating a window behind it. It's fairly well constructed but cracks are appearing so to speak. Mostly, things are kept well and the lichen on stone blocks only adds to the theme. There is a games room with pay-as-you-go arcade machines (card accepted) but it was closed after dinner. Things like the maze, animal pens (sheep, highland cow calf, peacock aviary) and kids play equipment were accesible after hours, but all buildings are closed. Castle entry for two day was included in accommodation price. Weekdays are quiet, while weekends are busier. They're only open weekends during school term. Functions here would be great and they have a function room, chapel and accommodation for them. Staying as well as visiting was a unique experience, well...