BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Phillip Island — Hotel in Phillip Island

Location: Newhaven, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

Location & Access: Located just as you enter Phillip Island, BIG4 Phillip Island Caravan Park at Newhaven is in a prime spot for exploring the island. It’s a short drive to popular attractions like the Penguin Parade, the Koala Conservation Centre, and Cowes Beach,and Phillip Island GP race track.The park is situated right by the water, giving guests easy access to the quiet Newhaven Beach, perfect for leisurely walks and fishing.

Accommodation: The park offers a variety of accommodation options to suit different needs: Deluxe Villas: Ideal for families or groups, with full kitchens, spacious living areas, and often ocean views. Standard Cabins: A more budget-friendly option but still clean and well-equipped with basic amenities. Powered and Unpowered Campsites: These cater to caravans, motorhomes, and tents, with some sites offering partial shade.

The cabins are well-maintained, comfortable, and provide everything you need for a relaxed stay, from fully equipped kitchens to cozy beds. The campgrounds are spacious, providing plenty of room for campers to spread out.

Facilities: BIG4 Newhaven is well-known for its family-friendly facilities, including: Playground: A large children's playground with climbing frames and a jumping pillow. Camp Kitchen: Fully equipped with stoves, sinks, and BBQs, offering a communal space to cook and relax. BBQ Areas: Free BBQs throughout the park for easy outdoor cooking. Laundry Facilities: Convenient and clean for longer stays. Recreation Room: Games and activities for kids, perfect for rainy days. Free Wi-Fi: Available, though it can be slow during peak times.

The facilities are consistently cleaned and maintained, ensuring a comfortable stay.

Customer Service: The staff are friendly and helpful, ensuring guests feel welcome and well taken care of. They are knowledgeable about the local area and quick to offer recommendations for activities, restaurants, and attractions. Check-in is smooth, and staff are accommodating with special requests whenever possible.

Nearby Attractions: Penguin Parade: The iconic wildlife experience is only 15-20 minutes away by car. Churchill Island Heritage Farm: A great spot to enjoy nature and learn about the island’s history. Phillip Island Chocolate Factory: A fun and tasty stop for families. Koala Conservation Centre: A short drive from the park, perfect for animal lovers. Beaches: Newhaven Beach is just steps away, and you can access surf beaches within a 10-minute drive.

Pros: Excellent location for exploring Phillip Island, close to major attractions Family-friendly with activities and playgrounds for children Clean and well-maintained facilities and grounds Spacious sites for caravans and campers Pet-friendly accommodation options.

Overall Experience: BIG4 Phillip Island Caravan Park in Newhaven is a fantastic option for families, couples, and groups seeking a relaxed and comfortable stay on Phillip Island. Its proximity to major attractions and beaches, combined with its family-oriented facilities and friendly service, make it a popular choice. Whether you're camping, caravanning, or staying in a cabin, this park offers an enjoyable and convenient base for your Phillip...

To start with, I purposely chose to book the “2BR Villa” option as the photos show a much more modern cabin, both inside and out. It also appeared to be quite spaced out from other cabins. This cost approximately $46 more per night compared to a “Standard Cabin”.|When we arrived, we realised we had been duped. What we got was probably one of the oldest and most run-down cabins in the park. Shabby old curtains, nanna’s old sofa, hooks on the walls where pictures, clocks etc used to hang once upon a time, a mixture of different colour light globes, one with a nice flicker to it just to add to the rundown feel.|It turns out there are only 3 of the newer/renovated ones I had paid for existing in the park, and the rest (majority) are not. We ended up with a very “standard cabin” feel, even if the bed was a queen rather than a double. While the layout we got was the same, the photos I was presented with when booking showed a nice cabin with pictures on the wall, roller blinds, plants scattered around, a new-ish modern couch, and just a generally nice “premium” look to it. Even the feeling of space between other cabins shown in the photos couldn’t have been further from the truth. Turns out the cabins are crammed in like sardines, lucky to be 2m between them all.|I brought up my concerns with the reception staff at the beginning of our stay and she said she didn’t have any other cabins available but would pass on my concerns to the manager. Throughout our stay I never heard from this manager. All things aside, I just wanted what I was sold on the website when I booked. I repeated my concerns on check-out from the park with a different staff member, who was apologetic and also said she’d pass it on to the manager. This manager doesn’t seem to have tried to make contact with me to discuss it, so I assume just doesn’t care.||Aside from being lied to, our cabin also had damp carpet, which I assume is from the constant condensation in it all the time.||To call this cabin a “Villa” is a massive stretch. The 6-seater table doesn’t actually fit the space and you literally have to climb over chairs to get to the back of the table. Also, there is 1x 2-seater couch for a 6-bed “villa”? It gives the feeling that this small cabin has been turned into a 6-bed setup when it’s really only suitable for 4 people max.||The games room was a little disappointing mostly being filled with coin-operated arcade games and very little free games for the kids to play. Seems like an extra cash-grab considering people have already paid to stay in the park.||The “jumping pillow” pictured on the website is 100% not the one at the park, so don’t believe that photo either. The one at the park isn’t a jumping pillow, but rather a “jumping pad”. It’s more like the base of a shabby old jumping castle.||The access to the beach is good, a very short 1-minute walk directly out of the park.||The caravan sites look quite good.||Unfortunately we won’t be inclined to return to this one. Usually Big4 Parks have been great in our experience, but this one was a real let down for the brand for being...

Where to start ! As Big 4 Members, initially we booked a tent site but then the office called and checked if we were bringing a caravan to which we replied yes to and gave the model and size of van to ensure it fit on the site. We then also called to see if we could come a night earlier to which they replied they were booked out. Ok great. Not a problem. But... When we arrived the park was maybe half full with many empty sites, so we assumed there would be a lot of arrivals coming in. The site were we placed in initially seemed small, tight up against the cabins. But the map looked correct and we setup. Later we checked with the office only to argue that the site was correct, and it was a large site, to which we had to run power and water through the campers site next door. We were offered another site but we had just spent an hour setting up under the impression your park was fully booked. Not to impose on the campers, we asked for some options re: the water supply and the office asked the ground men to entend our water connection to another outlet. Only to find out, when a full time stay spoke to us and told us we are in the dead/privacy zone between the sites and the cabin, and the campers were in the wrong spot. No check from the office after the arguement that the site was small, the grounds men didn't seem to know anything, and so we stayed put, not wanting to spend hours of prescious holiday time packing up and setting up again. The Campers told us the site was empty the night before which ment we could have come a night earlier but the office didn't want to check properly or make an effort. 1x nights fees lost :( Why did they not check and ask the campers to move across?? who knows, lazy I guess. Then when asking for last check out after all the mishaps and arguements, we were told we could have until 10:30, and again argued saying that there was not enough resources to check the site over if we left later, also saying that there was someone coming onto that site. Bull! The Park was probably half full if that ! Then to keep the kids occupied, as Big 4 members we had a pedal kart hire included we thought they could ride them while we packed up. But again it seemed a hassle, saying we only had 5 minutes to get out cause they gave us until 11am to check out. And wouldn't be covered under insurance cause we had checked out, but we were still in the park and not checked out of the park. We mentioned we had late check out at other Big 4's and they argued that each park had there own policies. Sure, if you are busy maybe not, but the place was not busy! and even so, use some descretion and make so allowances based on experiences of the guests.

We wont be back - The office staff to be honest made this stay just...