Hunter Valley Gardens Shopping Village — Attraction in Pokolbin

Went to the Hunter Valley with my family . The Hunter Valley shops are cute and unique. Which is why it is with a heavy heart and great regret that I write the following: My 17 (almost 18yr old) son who is on the Autism spectrum was kicked out by Vanessa at the antique store due to the simple fact that she didn’t like the look of him. Whilst my husband & I were enjoying brunch, our son asked if he could look in the antique store which was just a couple of doors up, I said sure but don’t touch anything or take photos. Less than 10mins later he returned very upset, he said that the lady in the shop isn’t very nice. I asked him why and he that she kicked him out. He promised me that he didn’t touch anything or take photos. He said that he was just looking and she said to him “Are you looking for something” and he said not really, I just want to look. She said “well then you can leave” my son did not respond, he just left. After our meal, my husband walked back into the store with our son, so they could look together. Almost immediately she threatened to call security. I could not let this go as my heart broke for my son who loves antiques, classic cars, all things old and thinks good of everyone, he was blaming himself and I could not let him believe that. I waited a while and then walked into the store on my own, I looked around for a few minutes. I was not greeted by Vanessa, instead I asked her how she was. She gave a very quick, rude tone “good” I asked he if we could have a word. She said “yes, what’s wrong” I proceeded to let her know that my son walked in to her store earlier and that he was kicked out. I asked her if there was anything he did to make her feel uncomfortable or if he touched any items and she responded with “No” I then asked her if there was a reason why she kicked him out? She responded with “I just didn’t like the look of him” This is when I got really upset. I tried to explain to her that he is on the Autism spectrum and has a big love of antiques, he meant no harm. She responded with “well if he has Autism then he shouldn’t be left alone to wander through shops on his own” I said he is almost 18 and perfectly capable to walk into a shop and look. She continued to offend me and said “ I know nothing about Autism and I really don’t care” I suggested that perhaps she should educate herself a little since she works in retail and needs to deal with lots of different types of people. She said “I’m 81yrs old, I’ve learnt all I want to and I don’t care to learn anymore and I suggest you leave my store before I call security. I thanked her for her time and informed her that I will be taking this further. I walked into the country cafe across and asked them for directions to centre management. The owner of the cafe saw how upset I was and walked me to management. She was lovely and informed me that she had just hired a kid on the spectrum and that they were doing great. She was sorry for the ordeal that I was going through and said that my complaint about Vanessa was not the first. Centre management was also sympathetic but unfortunately said that there was nothing they could do. I got emotional and started crying on my son’s behalf, this treatment is unacceptable and there is no excuse to treat any human being the way that she did. I understand that she is elderly and may have felt intimidated by my son for some unknown reason but any decent human would have felt my heartbreak as I tried to explain and excuse my son for being outside the box. Why should I have to make excuses, why can’t people just be accountable for the way they treat others. Action needs to be taken, she should never be allowed to treat anyone this way again. It’s such a shame, the other 2 shops in the village that we walked into were lovely to my son and when I thank them for their kindness and said that not everyone in here was as respectful they knew exactly who I was talking about and encouraged me to write this review. No one should ever feel that they deserve miss treatment, we are all different but we all...

I remember this village to be vibrant, buzzing and full of people and energy, it was the must place to visit. The shops use to be full of beautiful, hand crafted, unique items and I always looked forward to coming and finding something different for gifts. It’s now so disappointing. Shops are empty, and the ones that are open are over priced and full of cheap temu junk, the facilities are old and dirty. Cant even express how disappointing and sad it is so see an iconic location like this, in this state. I hope someone is able to restore it back to its glory days. Did however have great coffee...

A nice precinct to visit when in the Hunter Valley. There are various interesting shops, various interesting tastings (like chilli vodka) and some tastings are even free. There's a playground for kids, and a driving range where you hit golf balls into a lake with floating targets. The various tours, like iHop, stop here. There's also the gardens nearby, although all the rides were unavailable when we visited and they were charging something like $38 each to just go in and walk around. The parking is also a little limited, but you can easily walk here from Harrigan's next door, if you're...