BreakFree Wirrina Cove — Hotel in Wirrina Cove

Writing this review so that others don't have to go through the same experience.

I've stayed at what is now BreakFree Wirrina Cove twice now. The first time was 22 years ago in 2002 and the second this Easter weekend. In those 22 years, not much seems to have been updated and the resort has deteriorated into what is probably close to being no longer fit for use as resort accommodation anymore.

The original resort built in 1972 included all accommodation rooms, which were likely refitted nearly 30 years ago in 1994 when the then SA Premier Dean Brown commemorated the opening of the new reception, restaurant, country club, golfing centre and convention centre. You can find the commemoration plaque near the toilets behind the restaurant area. The sections built and opened in 1994 are the best in the resort; but are not part of the accommodation rooming and still in parts have new external cladding fixed but still left unpainted for the elements to wear down again. Having walked around parts of the golf course, it's in very good condition and way better maintained than the actual resort itself. It's clear this is the focus for the owners.

The gym is well fitted out and clean, however the steam and sauna rooms had rubbish, bacteria attracting cushions and were in a very poor state, not very hygienic at all, so we decided not to chance it and use them.

We had booked a long stay (10 nights) and in their best room within the resort, the Fleurieu Room - as it had an advertised in room spa and two wall mounted air conditioning units. We were told at check-in that one unit in the main room didn't work well. Upon arriving to the room we found that one aircon didn't have power or a compressor unit.

After a few nights and hotter weather, we realised the other bedroom unit was also not working at all. Reception sent maintenance to try to get the unit working again, and after 2 hours and bringing in a computer motherboard, he was unable to rectify the issue.

We approached Andie at reception who after being pressed agreed to reducing the premium rate we had paid ($179.50 per night) with advertised air conditioning and spa bath in room. We were told we'd receive a call to resolve the rate adjustment in a few hours as dinner service made it a busy time of day.

2 hours passed without a call, and we presented to the restaurant as reception was unattended. We were greeted by Mark, who was initially attentive. When we said we had paid for the room we had and did not want the offer or inconvenience of moving to another room and losing the space and amenities of the Fleurieu room he became very agitated, calling us liars in the presence of other customers regarding the advice the room had working air conditioning.

Eventually we were able to speak with Andie, however whilst speaking with him; Mark stormed back over again calling us liars about the advertised room having air conditioning, when we disagreed again he stormed off calling us racists.

Whilst we were provided with a refund by 9.45pm in the evening last night, it cost us abuse from a staff member, an uncomfortable few days ending in stress/tears and being out on the roads late after midnight over a long weekend when we were supposed to be enjoying a relaxing long stay holiday.

The resort was purchased and reopened 12th August 2021, I can understand that period was difficult for accomodation patronage..however what is being advertised and paid for is different from what you find upon arrival.

If looking for a stay in this area, you're better off staying in Normanville or keep going to Kangaroo Island instead. At least until the accommodation standard and integrity of those operating it improves and/or changes ownership again. There even seems to be some safety and compliance issues here with even smoking being allowed throughout the resort, which as of March 2024 is completely not allowed even in outdoor areas.

I hope Wirrina Cove improves, as it's a beautiful part of South Australia which deserves better for those that choose to spend their tourist...

The property is extremely outdated! This was the second time staying at the property and to be honest I was hoping they would’ve made improvements but sadly not. Arrived to and empty lobby with no one around to check us in, had to go down to the cafe and ring the bell to find anyone who worked there. We were given a key and explained where our room was located and how to get there, sadly for us our room was the furthest room possible (no exaggeration) despite being what looked like at the time, the only people there. The confirmation email I received stated our room had a pool view and we most definitely did not, it faced out onto the gravel road that lead to the most unattractive side of the property. When arriving at our room we enter to find not only a dead moth on the floor but this pungent smell of a room that has been closed for a long time only to then see there is no fly screen on the sliding door and the only way to air out the room was by leaving the sliding door open letting in bugs. The bathrooms aren’t any better, old, flickering lights and a bath/shower mat that has noticeably been used over and over again. 1 of the 2 main lights in the room also didn’t work so at night was impossible to see the entrance of the room/kitchenette. The mini bar fridge had completely frozen the top area meaning no freezer for us, just a solid ice block. The first nights sleep was horrible, 1 of the beds had collapsed on one side meaning all night my partner rolled into the middle of the bed. The next morning I went into the lobby to find someone to speak to to find no one again. As I was walking back to my room I found the lovely lady who checked us in the previous day and explained to her that the bed had collapsed which then was followed up by comments/jokes by herself and another cleaner that my partner and I shouldn’t have “been so rough” insinuating we had broken it while being intimate, not the case. After announcing it to all the cleaners around us and embarrassing us extremely a couple of the maintenance workers came and replaced the broken bed base. Disappointing that there was zero apology or compensation just accusations and leaving us walking around/sitting until they were done. Was impossible to get any of the free WIFI for us considering we were probably a solid 500m from the main building that the connection loaded nothing. The second morning we decided to have breakfast on site as it was what we thought would be easy and convenient, sadly this was a mistake. Such a beautiful cafe/bar/restaurant area yet always empty and now we know why. They had a very basic breakfast menu with 5-6 items you can order, my partner and I both ordered the bacon and eggs and I added a hash brown to mine. The lady who served us (who was also the same lady who checked us in and accused us of breaking the bed) did mention there might be a slight wait, considering there was 5-10 people in the area I didn’t imagine this would take as long as it did. 50 minutes after ordering breakfast we finally get our meals only to be presented the most bland, basic scrambled eggs you could imagine. They were dry, cold and not seasoned AT ALL and missing the extra hash brown I had asked/paid for but considering how long we waited I wanted to eat and leave. definitely not some where a foodie (aka me) would ever eat again. The day before checking out we headed out to the beach at normanville and had put the “please service my room” sign on the door so we could have fresh towels when we got back. We came back hours later to find the sign still on the door and that our room had NOT been serviced, what do we pay for? $160 a night for a room that doesn’t get serviced, provides minimal towels, appliances that hardly work? Definitely not visiting again unless it changes...

Stay: 07/02/25-09/02/25 $185 per night. 10th anniversary and staying for the Second Valley Ukulele weekend. We thought we would book a nicer stay than our usual camping at the SV Caravan Park. The room- Told by the desk attendant on arrival that we had been upgraded as they were not busy. Surprising, as I had already paid for a Deluxe Queen room. Room 18. One of the farthest from reception. Front door: Wood damaged with a large spilt near door knob, an obvious attempted prior break-in that has not been repaired. Furniture: Scratched, dirty, ripped cushions and falling apart. Carpet: Stained especially in front of the fridge where there has been an obvious spillage. Lamp: Damaged/bent shade. Bathroom: Rotted timber, mould, dirty fittings, no plug. Bed: Deluxe queen bed- two singles sagging into the middle. No cover on Doona, blood spots and stains. Veranda: Dirty, un-swept. The glass table had a thick layer of filth. Two air con units (one for the room next door )With both aircons running it was too loud to enjoy sitting outside. NO key for sliding glass door. No screen door. Too many ants to sit outside comfortably even without the aircon's running. Air Con: Loud rattling, unusable whilst in the room. Ants: In the room and in the bar/dining area. The Bar/Dining area: No Cocktails, bar had run out of vodka. Closed at 9 pm Friday. Thankfully we attended a concert in Second Valley Saturday night. The staff were untrained in bar service and all but one staff member (a trainee) were unsmiling, uninterested and unfriendly. Breakfast on Saturday morning took 50 minutes to arrive and there were very few other guests. Breakfast was by far the best part of our stay. We ate dinner on Saturday evening in the bar area - the restaurant was closed. The Chinese cuisine was average at best. Smoking permitted everywhere and cigarette butts in the BBQ on the deck area and full ashtrays on the tables, even first thing in the morning. A large broken window in the main seating area, taped up and very obviously had happened some time ago. The ceiling was falling in on the outside due to past water damage. Broken tiles on the floor. Games room switched off and pinball machines were not working when we asked to switch them on. Safety: None of the safety tags on the in-room appliances were in date, having checked them after noticing the iron was due in 2021. Pool/Spa/Sauna: Looks clean but has many broken tiles. The windows/mirrors are filthy with fingerprints and dirt. Spa is timed at 5 minutes then requires guests to wait for 25 minutes while it resets. No towels for the pool area. No staff to be found to ask for towels. One of 2 saunas working. The working sauna had filth caked on the floor, there was no telling when it had last been cleaned. The Grounds: I went for my morning walk on Sunday around the grounds/golf course and was saddened to see more broken items, not cleaned up let alone repaired i.e. a bollard light that had been knocked over leaving exposed wires and glass on the ground. The wiring of the golf cart recharging area looks like something from a third world country. There is obviously water to be had for the golf greens but the lawns around the “resort” are dry, dusty and look like a wasteland. There are many kangaroos, they do not justify the outrageous cost of staying at Wirrina when kangaroos are common in Adelaide. My Partner and I were excited to stay in a resort for our anniversary, having read good reviews that I now realise were scam reviews. I have photographic evidence of all the filth, broken/neglected items and downright unsafe conditions of Wirrina Cove Resort. I strongly recommend avoiding the place if you’re looking for somewhere at the very least clean to stay. A completely disappointing waste of our...