BIG4 Melbourne Holiday Park — Hotel in Melbourne

The Big4 in Coburg is a strongly bipolar experience of pros and cons. The biggest attraction, of course, is the unusual location so close to the city centre which means you can drive, bus, train or ride-share into the wonderful city of Melbourne whilst camping/caravanning. This brings with it some drawbacks, though.

NOISE (2/5): You drift off and wake up to sleep to the sounds of distant traffic on a busy road but the occasional Harley Davidson or mullet-directed, fully worked HSV punches through like a freight train. Speaking of which, trains go by tooting at a road crossing in the middle-distance, adding a gentle staccato in the background. Occasionally, there are planes directly above when the flight path is in use. Across the park is a waste recovery centre from which loud scraping and dumping sounds can be occasionally heard until bedtime. The delightful melodies of Australian Magpie, WattleBirds, ravens, Kookaburras and Butcher Birds harmony at dawn and dusk from the trees of the adjacent Edgar's Creek park.

Being a caravan park, your neighbours may arrive late or depart early. A children's playground in the centre of the park or the pool at the top may be the source of raucous enthusiasm from 6:30AM in school holidays. I think the takeaway is that early bed and a good set of earplugs are highly recommended. I should note that I am rare a user of caravan parks, preferring quiet, out of the way campsites in National Parks. This may help you keep this review in perspective.

VISUALS: Visually the park is clean and fairly green for a city park. It is very well-maintained.

MANAGEMENT (5/5+): Another major positive are the management and staff. It is run by people who seem to enjoy their job and delight in being of service. Everyone we encountered was delightful and helpful. They were very helpful to us and I saw them go out of their way to help other guests. They kept the facilities super-clean and hygienic.

Generally our fellow campers were well behaved and quiet - perhaps due to the 'elevator effect' which comes from being so close together in a small space. On the one occasion a few got a bit 'loose' at 1:30am the staff sorted them out.

If I was only reviewing the staff and management it would be 5-stars plus.

FACILITIES (4/5): They have a diverse range of options from cabins through to imported tent sites and even tent sites with their own private bathroom and toilet. All facilities including human waste dumping are available. If, like us, you're lucky enough to be in a site adjacent to and downwind from the waste dump whilst the end-of-holiday pack-up is underway you'll occasionally want to shove those earplugs up your nostrils.

All-in-all we were glad of the park and enjoyed our stay in Melbourne and surrounds using...

They lie!!!! Recently in a unique situation where I had bought a new van and traded in my old one . I hired an ensuite site for the week and requested the adjoining site ensuite for day of handover of the van purely for storage purposes. . I didn’t pick up the adjoining ensuite site key until 7pm the night before and requested a late check out at approx 2pm. I confirmed this at least three times - was told yes no problem. On the day of handover the auto electrician was late at the caravan dealership which delayed us as well - the sooner I could get back was 3pm. I was honest and called them to advise of the hour delay - well all of a sudden it was now a problem. Threatening me with a $100 late check out instead of offering an extra night fee of $85 They lied because they said someone was coming into the site and it needed to be empty. I returned and put all my belongings on an empty site where it was at risk of being stolen and in the weather .

No one was booked for site 24 for that night as I was still on the adjoining site for another 3 days. No one was booked for the entire week I was there.

It wasn’t even cleaned until the following morning which took the cleaner an hour and once again we didn’t use anything . Once again I knew because I was on site 25. I would have paid for another night but do not appreciate being lied to when I was open honest and upfront. It is a good caravan park and close to the city but certain staff members need some education in customer service and honesty.

Edited due to response- no one stayed at any ensuite site that wasn’t already booked in. I checked repeatedly as I didn’t want to believe that a business lied to me. Although I understand about late checkout fees you would have thought that after I had discussed three times!!!! About my situation why would you book someone directly next to me when approx 9 other sites were available at the time.

If I was offered another night I would have happily paid and this would have been a 5 star review but it was focused on the late check out instead of allowing another night . You still need to consider I’m not entirely at fault - I was up front and honest at every point. Your staff on the other...

The park itself is okay. Good amenities, large kitchen and overall clean. Its extremely expensive at $52/night, 2 people, van. The reason it's only okay is the booking /reception process. I called the night before and requested a late check-out. The person I spoke to on the phone was polite and helpful. Advised us the late check out was fine as long we left by noon. They took our $52/night payment with the additional %% for using a card. When we arrived, I was told check out is 10, I said we'd requested and had approved a late check out. I was advised they don't do that. I mentioned that when I called last night and spoke to the person, it was approved. Again, no we don't do that and the person is a trainee. I noted that the only reason we had come to this particular park was due to the late check out and it's unfortunate the trainee made an error but we were advised late check out is okay. We had arranged further travel plans around it being approved. At this point the other lady was called over and suggested I can pay for two nights and then leave when I'd like. Obviously that is not a real solution and I stated I would not be paying $52 for 2 hours and again indicated that I had been given late check out approval. The person I was dealing with was obviously getting frustrated with me and I was frustrated with the repeated we don't do this and you can pay $52. In the end, I was told fine but if someone else requests that site they will just pull in beside you. Not an apology for the mix up, could you try and leave a bit earlier if we let you know the sites requested? Nope, either pay $52 for 2 hours, have someone pull in beside you or leave at 10. Of all the parks we stayed in over the past 70 days that is the worst...