Maitland Showground — Hotel in Newcastle-Maitland

Maitland showground holds many events throughout the year of various kinds, topics and interest to different audiences and age groups and genders. Some are free to enter depending on the event being held and the popularity or fame of the person /s participating at the event. All in all Maitland showground tries to showcase events that cater to the interests of different things that appeal to many walks of life within the society we live in and they do a great job with what they have. There are the markets held the last Sunday of every month and every Sunday closer to Christmas to cater for the stress, rush and last minute needs for xmas gifts ( this is one of Maitland showgrounds regular events and is very popular offering a variety of goods, foods and services) . It is free walk in entry and a gold coin donation for parking within the grounds. Other regular events include farmers markets, horse training and riding, the Maitland show once a year it has a cover charge for entry, the Groov'n the Moov festival once a year with a line up of popular well known global artists and is extremely popular for the teen-agers, young adults and young at heart adults ready to get glammed up, down, barely there and in crazy fashion for a long day of groov"n in the many tents provided in the padocks, let your hair down n show off ya moovs or not! Other events include circus, monster trucks, motorcross, caravan displays and many more to spark your interests. Just keep an eye out on social media, Facebook, Google etc and you are sure to find something of interest to fill a bland day and maybe learn a thing or two. It's not bad for an old country showground, your guaranteed to feel welcome and be greeted by friendly Folk from here, there...

The grounds and amenities are fine and close to train station and shops. My only issue is with Ray the caretaker who seemed to be on a power trip Christmas morning. The front gates are usually open at 6 every morning . At quarter to seven Xmas morning I went to catch the seven o'clock train. The station is about 500 meters from front gate. An easy walk. The front gate was still locked and Ray is the only one who can unlock this gate . I asked Ray who was about ten meters away if he could open it as I had a crook leg and didn't want to miss the train as I was on my way to have the morning with family who were waiting to open their presents when I arrived. The only other way to exit was from a gate on the other side of the showground which was a good ten minutes walk and you have a code to open this gate. Ray said no he wouldn't open it. When I got back around to the front gate on my way to the station he had opened it. Still can't understand why he said no and would be so difficult and certainly not being kind or in the...

I think that the positive reviews on this site, are from deluded reviewers who have only just started their travels. The grounds are unkempt and after almost a week, I have not even heard a lawn mower in action, so the grass around our camp and others nearby, could almost hide a Bengal tiger. The amenities block, as they can be in other showground facilities, are old, but here at Maitland it seems good enough to put up temporary fencing on the outside to keep people away from a hazard, a huge crack/gap in the wall of the men's toilets/shower, but on the inside, ah, don't worry, it's okay. After a day out we returned to our camp about eight o'clock; fortunate that the gate was open, as we could no longer access those amenities, because the access code had been changed, without any notification to us whatsoever. If I didn't have to give a star, they'd get a zero from me! UPDATE: Perhaps they read my review, as our return to camp this day, found the grass cut all around the vans down here in the 'swamp', which was...