Coolalinga C/Van Park (Darwin Area) :(

While I always put reports on CPs we visit into Badgers and encourage others to do so too, one off negative reports from a first time contributor may not be accepted.

Note:
"IMPORTANT: I am no longer accepting one-off reports, from one-off contributors, that rate a park badly. I may accept such reports if I also receive reports for other parks from the same contributor. That is, if you have NEVER sent in reports to me before, and the ONLY report you send me rates a park badly or is a "gripe session", then I am unlikely to accept that report. This website is not a place to simply down-rate a single park, while not praising all those parks that deserve it. If you have stayed at other parks before, then by all means send in other reports and I will consider adding the bad one as well. Also, reports may not be accepted where they are based largely on the attitude or arguments with the management, or there is an obvious bias."

Prices like that is par for the course at Darwin and I don't think many of the parks are all that flash.

thanks toyocrusa & motherhen
having stayed here at this park before in 2007 i was expecting the same reception, obviusly times have changed and by the looks of it so has management or attitude ?, but having stayed in excess of 200 caravan/tourist parks in my travels this is by far my worst experience, i guess you hve to tke the good with the bad, normally i wouldnt bother about complaining but its about time certain places feel the brunt of there rude behaviour, im more than happy to spend $40+ a night in a caravan park because thats what i expect in high demand areas such as darwin...

I agree Stuart that there is no excuse for bad attitude in business, and nothing sours the experience quicker than bad reception on arrival at a CP or any other business.

It depends on whether you were dealing with the owner or staff. If you met bad staff on a bad day, the owner should be informed before the rest of the world, and the situation may only be temporary.

When taking notes for my reports to submit to Badgers, I found that once I used a method of scoring each feature to make up the total, the overall score was often different than I thought it would be - particularly when the first impression was not good. Often it balanced out.

Nothing is cheaper to rectify that a change of receptionist - plumbing upgrades cost a whole lot more. I can cope with less that perfect grounds and amenities so long as the place is reasonably clean and the showers hot.

If the park belongs to a group or chain they should be told as there are standards to be met with that membership.

We were lucky in Darwin - we got into a park with a very helpful receptionist and an equally pleasant and helpful proprietor. The park was overcrowded with tenting backpackers, and the amenities old and run down, but our stay was a positive experience. Unfortunately that CP closed soon after our visit.

Mh

yes i agree motherhen, i suppose if i had to rate the park it would get 2 stars, 1 star for the receptionist she was fantastic to deal with, and 1 star for the fact it had a great swimming pool (slightly over chlorinated but i think thats a good thing) however the manager and groundsman just dont rate at all, ive been to some run down parks before but what they lact in physical charm was really made up with fantastic service and knowing that they had a poor park made it good to see that they where at least putting in a effort to make your stay enjoyable.. a little effort and customer relations go along way, being in the retail/hospitality industry the last 20yrs a customers satisfaction is paramount (it also helps if your getting a great bonus for sales % increase), word of mouth can go along way...

That it can Stuart, never more so than these days with the use of the internet. If appropriate (a waste of time if talking to staff of a big corporation) I point out when booking in that I do reviews of all caravan parks I visit for an internet site, and will give a fair and impartial report be it good or bad. I send reviews of all parks visited to Badger, and have a section on my own website featuring the best ones only.

Mh

thanks matthew
yeh we are out of here today, my patience is very limited at the best of times, got a great deal at another park $30 a night, and its closer to work so will be saving $30 a week on fuel also, i guess my luck is turning around, and the best thing is that my new landlord has a sense of humour and knows all too well about coolalinga, apparnetly he has 4 other people staying there after there experience..

lol, damn dislexia again or maybe i should stayed in school longer..

sorry didnt have any dust, but its been fairly wet the couple of weeks i was there, but would not surprise me, the area is fairly earthy around there, it took me an hour this morning brushing all the dirt of off everything when i was packing up, but that was from the 10cm of water that flowed thru our site during some heavy rain and the splash baack from the dripping off the surrounding trees, but last time i was there in 2007 i vaguely remember how dusty it was but that was in the middle of the dry.