Bright Porepunkah Holiday Park — Hotel in Porepunkah

A 45% increase in rates, despite already paying a deposit & pre booking annually...

Suggestion for future visitors - don't trust the bookings you make & hopefully you get a lot of value out of the jumping pillow

Hardly ever take the time to write a review, but my experience here has led me to do so

For the last couple of years our family has enjoyed visiting Big4 Porepunkah as part of our annual trip away. It's always been a great time together & one we reflect positively on. The space we reserve is fine (we stay in the old cabin/house as it's easier with our little fella to stop him running amok) - nothing flashy, kinda dated, but we don't need much as we are in the area for what's outside of the park, not just the bed we sleep in

We re-book every year and did so again last year aiming to visit over cup weekend in November this year. (Cup weekend is hectic busy, and finding a place can be super tough if you leave it too late FYI)

Just today we received an email stating that due to new ownership and the need to invest in upgrades they are increasing their prices (yay... they have fixed the broken jumping pillow....)

Which all sounds fine to me - I get that things go up

However...

The price increase they have suggested we have to now pay is a 45% increase on the agreed upon rate that we committed to when placing our deposit 8 months ago.

Their response when I queried why it had gone up by so much...

"We realise this may be frustrating, but unfortunately, we’re not able to continue operating under the previous pricing structure.

If you’re not comfortable with the updated pricing, we completely understand. If you wish to cancel your booking we will provide a full refund."

So now, a touch over 2 months away from our annual trip, we are effectively being forced to pay an exorbitant increase in rates OR not go on our annual trip (as there is nothing we can secure at that time given everything books out in advance... hence why we book in advance).

I'm not sure if the new owners are first time in business, or long time in business (and simply don't care about how they go about business) - seems they want their customers to pay higher rates so they can invest that into fixing a park that they purchased knowing full well the bookings that were already in place

Suggestion for the owners - maybe take a different approach such as "hey our rates have to go up here, but we recognise you had already committed to being here, and have done for a few years now. So if you're ok, lets meet half way this time around & next year it'll go back to market rates"

I'm sure you'll find a way to book that space out last minute - but the way you go about this stuff is a reflection of more than just how you do business...

I didn't want to write a review, I flippin hate the idea of these things - but given there has been no fair outcome here I have to be that...

Management need to focus on customer service!!

The owners of the park - Jim & Sandra, are extremely rude and hostile towards guests.

On one occasion, we witnessed Jim threatening to break a guests fingers for going too fast in the park (mind you, he was hooning around on his buggy going much faster, all while hurling abuse over his shoulder at people). On another occasion, we witnessed Sandra abuse the family staying beside us for the same reason.

On the day of our check out, I went into the office to fix up our bill, where I was greeted with anger and hostility from Sandra, regarding our 5 year old daughter. Sandra started acting irrationally towards me in front of other guests in the office - Accusing us of "trying to smuggle our daughter into the park", she yelled "you have flaunted her in front of me for 4 days without telling me she was here" and questioned our parenting by asking "do you not care about your daughter enough to declare her?"

I tried to calmly remind Sandra that at no time, were we ever trying to hide our daughter - in fact, 2 days prior to check out I took her in to the office with me, where she met Sandra and Sandra sold her an ice cream. We also completed our Covid Declaration which was handed to Jim on the night of check in (which they have conveniently lost) which had our daughters details written on it.

Our friends booked us a powered site for our 4 day stay - and at no point were any of us asked about kids - If we had have been, we would have told them. The conversation ended with her screaming at me in front of everyone as I left the office - "Just pack your stuff and get out of my park!"

Aside from the owners - The park has the potential to be really nice and we did enjoy our stay with the beautiful views. When we booked to stay at BIG4 Porepunkah - We did so because of the facilities for kids, however, the jumping pillow was deflated the whole time we were there and the games room was shut due to Covid.

We wouldn't recommend anyone stay at this BIG4 while it is under the...

The weather, location and surrounds were perfect and met all our needs. The outside lawns and facilities are beautiful and were kept very neat, clean and tidy.The staff were delightful! Nothing too much trouble and very accomodating. A bit of shade around the pool would have been welcomed though. We were always greeted with a smile and bright hello by staff. Any small issue was attended to very swiftly. The cabin we were in was perfectly located for our needs and presented very cleanly. The bedding was very comfortable and in good supply. Bedside lamps a little dull in light so an adjustable one for reading, could be a good idea. The bathroom a bit squishy, but manageable. Towels were good quality dried well and basic toiletries ok. The kitchen basic, but met our needs. Maybe a few airtight containers for left overs would be helpful. Outside furniture comfortable and again met our needs. Old small bbq at cabin should be retired/replaced but we didn’t need it as we used the big camp kitchen which was very well set up. All up a fabulous break and congratulations to and Thankyou to the owners and staff for making it so enjoyable. Our family made wonderful memories while there which you contributed to. I highly recommend! We hope to hope to return and will spread the word. !!🙌🥰 regards Fiona...