Bright Cabin and Caravan Park — Hotel in Hume

We camp quite a lot over Victoria and other states, this is the first time I have ever left a less than favourable review of a caravan park. The cost is probably the main issue, it just isn’t reflective of the service and amenities offered, and I wonder if maybe this review might have been more favourable if the cost matched the site size and amenities available. Having recently travelled right up to Kings Canyon over peak Easter season, it was very surprising to have the cost of the campsites at Camp Crusty almost as much as luxury campgrounds near Uluru that included pools, playgrounds, jumping pillows, indoor kitchens and games rooms. Neverless, we booked ahead, there wasn’t anything else available that late in the year in the area for that time ( we booked Nov 23 for early Jan 24). When I arrived, I had just come straight from a big 4 in Bendigo that had a pool, spa, large indoor air conditioned play centre, outdoor playground, jumping pillow, indoor kitchen, indoor games room, and very large sites, and paid less per night. I get the location makes a difference to price, but so do that level of amenities, when Camp Crusty has none of them.

Over the phone a friendly female told us the campsites were quite big, and would fit large caravans on them. She said they were all the same size, so reassured us we didn’t have to worry what site we got, I had asked for big sites. This was not the case when we arrived. It was probably the smallest site we have ever been on, it was lucky we were camping next to friends and we could jigsaw everything to make it work, however, we could not fit our cars on there though. For perspective, we would have fit our small canvas soft floor camper trailer and a gazebo on our site only, not our car as well. Luckily for us, the park was reasonably empty, so we were able to park our cars on vacant sites across from us.

I’ve seen comments about the amenities, they’re pretty fine, not up there with big 4 level, but definitely not down there with the worst of them. Mid range reasonable amenities. But again, it’s the price that frustrates you, when you pay so much per night, you kind of expect a higher level of amenities. The male toilets only have material shower screens, not lockable doors, so may be a safety issue for parents with children, although you are required to supervise them.

One night we went to cook toast in the two toasters for our dinner, both of them weren’t working, we had bread instead. Like I said, usually this stuff wouldn’t bother me too much when I’m paying $$ matched for the value offered, but these guys charge more than big 4s, and don’t offer anywhere near the same level of service.

Another night there was a campsite near us that was pretty loud way past the noise curfew time, it doesn’t seem like anyone is is around to manage this at night. Maybe they came a bit later.

Overall, it’s a great location, and a nice reasonable park, really awesome creek down the side of the park too. We love the area, happy to pay those prices though for a few more amenities and...

I want to fair with this review, given the ultra low price. We booked a triple room for our biking trip. We’d read the reviews and weren’t expecting much, thought it’ll at least be a laugh if it’s not very good. Well we got a big laugh, my sides hurt from how hard I was laughing and I was out of breath. The cabin was quite a small room, 1 half of a little logger hut positioned just behind 4 dumpsters. Ah the sweet smell of rotted garbage and dead rat. The door was held closed by using a gate latch on either the front or the back, no door handle. It was fine, but the one on the outside made me nervous that we could be easily locked in which is not safe at all. The door also had large gaps around the edge for bugs to easily get in, but being cold that wasn’t an issue for us. The beds were of a reasonable size although pretty old and not very comfy. There were windows with blind, but they didn’t open for airflow. Later we moved to a different room, no blinds on those windows but the door shut much better. There was a pedestal fan, bar fridge and toaster. The cabin itself is at least 50 years old, probably more so no insulation, we slept very hot at first without ventilation and then very cold without insulation. The amenities were basic, mostly clean but still in need of maintenance. I thought the sign on the back of the toilet stall door (pictured) was funny. Why not write a shitty review whilst you bathe in the smell of feacal matter?

We came back from dinner to discover one bed was ridden with bed bugs (pictured for evidence). We notified the manager who offered to move us to the room next door. We declined at first claiming that this showed unsanitary conditions and the next room over would be no different. He flatly refused our request of a refund claiming ‘well you guys have already checked in’ and ‘other people have stayed here and not complained’. No reader, you’re not not confused, it does not make any sense. After a lightly heated discussion, It was clear we were never going to get any money back from this place so before we tried to find another place to stay at 9pm, we said we would check out the cabin next door. We carefully inspected the beds (couldn’t find any nasties in this room beside a few healthy looking spiders) and relented that it was better than sleeping in our cars.

So the fair part: It’s cheap for a reason, don’t expect the world. Probably met our expectations for the price, other than the bed bug situation. The amenities are usable and clean on our visit, but it’s nothing special. We didn’t use the kitchen so can’t comment on that. Location was great. Probably better for campers than cabins, but clearly they get used and I think it is good that there is this option for people on a lower budget. Not much else at this price point in Bright.

If you’re not willing to put up with all this, probably best you go elsewhere and pay a bit more. If you don’t mind any of that, well Camp Crusty...

Do not stay here if you want a self contained room, any peace and quiet to sleep, want to roast all night in a Dutch oven or your room to flood. For $150 a night we at least expected a cup to be able to make a cup of tea, no plates no cutlery, no bowls. Camp kitchen doors, which one would assume you have access too to use crockery & cutlery like any other normal camp park, were closed - zero access. Only access is outside with bbqs and a fridge etc. Make sure you pack everything you require. The room is falling apart, windows are held open by a piece of wood which one wouldn’t even work, the tin roof of falling off and 4 rooms are crammed into one block. The room was disgustingly hot with only one fan for 2 adults and 2 kids, zero room to have bags let alone tripping over each others due to the tiny size of the room. No fly screens so bugs galore if you want to sleep with the ONE window open. The only way you can lock your door is via a pad lock - yes a pad lock literally is your safety measure with a gate lock & then a pad lock with a key. If you want to leave the room whilst others stay in there, the door has to be locked from the inside to stay closed but then the person on the outside can’t get it & vice versa (smart right) did I mention it flooded - yep zero drainage that works and a poor lady was out there with her shovel trying to save our rooms which I would imagine is an ongoing occurrence. Holes in walls bogged up by random things. The bed Mattress for the kids was so thin it may as well not have been there. The double was insanely uncomfortable with springs sticking into your body all night, very pain-full to be honest. The walls are paper thin so you can expect zero sleep and many party goers at your window until 3am despite asking them very politely twice to move over to the dismal camp kitchen so they can sit outside and my family could attempt to get some shut eye amongst the heat, bugs and noise. The whole park is on dirt, zero grass. Access to a toilet block is a fair hike and only 2 accessible for the WHOLE park not to mention that the whole park were crammed in like sardines on very small blocks. The ratio of humans to toilets was pathetic and lengthy line ups were very common. If you want a shower don’t bother it takes to long to be able to have one although once you had a shower that was the only posture thing about this stay, hot showers and powerful. We were absolutely blown away by the price for what we stayed in. Many properties are much better value for money. It was so bad that we left the night before check out and moved to a van park closer to town for $20 extra per night and it was pure perfection. We would have moved earlier but money was an issue given we had to eat 3 meals out per day as no way to make , prepare or cook meals. Don’t bother staying here!!!! Wish I had taken...