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Home Valley Station


Tolley

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Hello Koggers,

Two years ago when we traversed the GRR from west to east we stayed at HV8 (Home Valley Station) and really enjoyed it. On the trip along the GRR this year I enthusiastically booked in the HV8 for three nights. We were travelling in company with Jane and Grant Armstrong.

It was very disappointing. Below is my letter to the GM.

Regards

Colin

15 June 2013

Mr Ben Pratt

General Manager

Home Valley Station

East Kimberley

Western Australia

Dear Ben,

I trust that your personal details that I have written are correct. I obtained them from the staff in the reception at HV8.

I attempted to meet you yesterday, Sunday 14 July, but was informed by the same reception staff that you were not available.

My wife and I are travelling in our caravan. This is the second occasion we have stayed in HV8. The first occasion was almost exactly two years ago. Coincidentally, on both occasions we have been located on Site F.

We were greatly impressed by HV8 two years ago and enjoyed a number of the activities as well as the facilities of the restaurant, bar and the pool. In the intervening two years I have sung my praises of HV8 to many people both first hand and in my frequent contributions to a number of caravan websites

.

Sadly, my experience on this occasion has been poor. It is apparent that the quality of the visitors experience at HV8 has degraded greatly in the past two years.

On arrival at HV8 on the 13 July, we (I am travelling in the company of another caravan) booked in for three nights and booked a table for dinner at 7.30 pm. It was hot and we looked forward to a refreshing dip in the pool. On arrival at the pool gate we stopped and watched a horde of out of control children running around the pool and cueing to take turns of doing "bombs". Not only is this behaviour of children contrary to the general enjoyment of all guests but it is also dangerous, and exposes HV8 to litigation should an injury occur to one of these little darlings.

I elected to forgo a swim and turned away from the pool having decided to settle for a shower instead. My wife decided to proceed. On entering the pool she was bombed a number of times so she withdrew. Her swim lasted less than a minute. My wife made a complaint to the staff at reception who responded by saying that they would talk to management and erect an appropriate sign aimed at controlling the behaviour of the children. That sign did not materialise and, to the best of our knowledge, remains to be put in place.

Then came our dinner experience. We were booked for 7.30 PM as it was the only time available on what was a heavily booked night. We arrived at 7.25 PM and were allocated table 103 which was actually a park bench arrangement outside the restaurant. We were surrounded by more of the hyper active out of control children whose noise and behaviour destroyed and chance of an enjoyable dinner with friends.

Having been seated at 7.30 PM we were totally ignored by your staff until 8.00 PM when my wife left the table an found someone to take our order.

Soon after our order was taken a male waiter placed a bottle of water on our park bench. No glasses. We waited for twenty minutes in the hope that someone would deliver us glasses. No such luck! Eventually I went in search of a staff member to help us. I happened across a waitress carrying plastic cups and managed to extract four from her. Meanwhile the entree's had arrived along with some wine. Then we waited and waited for our main courses.

At 8.40 PM I sought the attention of the restaurant manager and complained to him. He was apologetic and explained it was a fully booked night and "they" had made the mistake of accepting an additional 65 "walk-ins". Our main courses arrived shortly thereafter. I had ordered a 200 g eye fillet and salad and chips. The steak was over cooked, dry, and tough. I could not eat it. The restaurant manager advised that we would not be required to pay for our food and delivered to our table a complimentary bottle of wine. I refused to accept the wine.

We left the restaurant as a very disgruntled party.

It had been my intention to book a Heli-Fishing for two for the following day. My disappointment in HV8 was such that I decided not to spend $980 on an activity and to depart a day earlier than planned. We sought and obtained a refund for one day.

The toilet and shower facilities adjacent to Site F are dirty and smelly. I watched your staff "cleaning" the facilities and, believe me, their efforts were grossly inadequate. The red Kimberley dust ingrained into the toilets is readily removable and would greatly improve the presentation. Similarly, the body grease on the walls around the showers and the ingrained dirt on the floors is readily removable.

The number o showers and toilets provided is inadequate for the number of people accommodated in the park. As a consequence, the sewage system is over stressed and smells badly of urine and sewage.

It is almost 6.30 am as I sip my early morning coffee and pen this letter. The stench from the toilets nearby wafts gently through my caravan. The thump of the one washing machine available to campers has started is daily grind which will continue unabated until well into the night.

You should not make the mistake of thinking that my disenchantment with HV8 is an isolated experience. While I did not seek other opinions I, none-the-less, met a good number of other guests who were not impressed by HV8.

Ben, I have walked in your shoes. I have been the CEO of large and complex resorts all of which have been in remote locations. I have experienced very similar issues to those that confront you. But, I also know that the issues can be overcome.

It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of time to build a great reputation for a resort. It takes a few minutes to destroy it.

Yours sincerely

Colin Toll

Sincerely yours,

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Good Morning Tony,

And his reply was prompt and apologetic. He addressed the pool and restaurant issue but failed to even mention the smelly, dirty facilities and the one washing machine provided to service both the two camp areas. There were examples of "washing machine rage" as accusations of cue jumping etc were made between campers.

I have not yet reverted to him. But I will do so.

My purpose of publishing my letter in this forum is to alert others who might be travelling that way. It is a pity as HV8 was a great place and hopefully formal complaints might shake them back on track.

Regards to you.

Colin

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It's a pity you had such a poor experience, Colin.

May I suggest next time not parking so close to the amenities. When we were there, we parked on the nice green grass in the centre - unpowered but in a Kedron, you should be good!

Pools and kids go hand in hand - luck of the draw I'm afraid.

I'm not sure what you want from the restaurant staff - it appears they were very apologetic - giving you a full refund AND a bottle of wine (which you refused).

Yes, I would have been disappointed to, I'm sure, but they have done everything they can to try to rectify the issue for you but you don't seem to have any acceptance.

If you want 5 star dining, I'm afraid you will need to head to the city...

Hey, you're out in the bush - try a nice campfire - that's what it's all about ;-)

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Sorry cvtripper - I can't fully agree with you. Tolley was making a comparison between two different visits and pointed out that the first experience was a good one.

It's true that kids and pools go together, but the behaviour of those kids was, as Tolley said, dangerous and should have been addressed by staff at an establishment that accepts payment from a broad range of visitors.

I'm sure, too that most Kedron owners do enjoy time in the bush with a good fire etc. But that does not preclude the possibility of enjoying the other side of the travelling coin.

As for the restaurant, when a booking is made it is reasonable to expect that service will be provided in keeping with the booking time. Walk-ins are the ones who could expect to wait and should have been told so on arrival.

Dirty amenities and smelly toilets in a free camp can be expected - unfortunately. But in a commercial facility this is unforgivable and deserves to be subject of complaint.

My comments are based on what I have read in this series of posts and admit that we have not visited HV8. We have, however, stayed in other commercial parks and have rightly expected that staffing levels should match the number of paying guests.

As an aside - on a recent trip we stayed at a free camp (donation appreciated) at Wyandra (south of Charleville) and witnessed a fellow camper berating other campers about the state of the toilets and showers. Why do I mention this? If it's fair enough to expect fellow campers to keep amenities tidy it's more than fair to expect cleanliness in a commercial park.

Time to get off my high horse I think. :mellow:

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Two words come to mind when reading this episode, 1/ Discipline. By the parents to control their kids and the supervisors of HV8 with their staff. 2/Service. Which appears to be sadly lacking. HV8 is supposedly a training facility, considering the amount of people that now frequent this establishment and considering the amount of advertising they have done on the various holiday/recreation shows in the various media. It would appear that this campaign is obviously working but the property's management cannot cope. It might be time to get the professionals in and run it as a resort that it has now become.

I have never been there but it was on the list, I am now having second thoughts.

Cheers

Merv

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It's a pity you had such a poor experience, Colin.

May I suggest next time not parking so close to the amenities. When we were there, we parked on the nice green grass in the centre - unpowered but in a Kedron, you should be good!

Pools and kids go hand in hand - luck of the draw I'm afraid.

I'm not sure what you want from the restaurant staff - it appears they were very apologetic - giving you a full refund AND a bottle of wine (which you refused).

Yes, I would have been disappointed to, I'm sure, but they have done everything they can to try to rectify the issue for you but you don't seem to have any acceptance.

If you want 5 star dining, I'm afraid you will need to head to the city...

Hey, you're out in the bush - try a nice campfire - that's what it's all about ;-)

Hello David and Jane,

I feel I must respond to your comments.

We were allocated Site F without asking as it is one of the few powered sites that will accommodate two Kedrons. It was coincidental that we had been allocated the same site two years previously. Two years ago there was not a washing machine issue. This year there was. Two years ago the bathrooms did not smell of urine. This year they did, Two years ago the facilities were clean. This year they were not. I cannot recall the fees from two years ago but this year it was $54.00 per night. that equates to $378.00 per week for renting a bit of space, some electricity and water, and communal toilets and showers. I think the consumer is entitled to demand clean facilities and more than one washing machine for several hundred people.

The green grass you speak of and which I recall is now non existent. That is not the fault of management but rather the consequence of a non existent wet season. We checked out the free camp area down by the river but were turned off by the very dusty conditions and equally dirty toilets and showers.

I disagree that kids and pools go together and, by inference, they should be allowed to totally ruin the experience of adults who have paid to use a shared facility. The behaviour of these children reflects on the parents. HV8's insurance underwriter would have a severe turn if they were aware of the situation. These same parents are quick to litigate when things go wrong.

What I expect from restaurant staff is prompt, courtesy service. From the kitchen I expect well cooked, flavoursome and well presented food that represents what I have ordered and is reasonable value for money. From the restaurant management I expect a well run and controlled environment in which I can enjoy the experience. None of these elements were present.

David and Jane, in my past life I have run the two largest hotels in the country (based on the number of beds). I have also run resorts in comparatively remote locations including one which attracted, on average, 2000 guests per day. In food and beverages we turned over $4.5 million in 100 days. My staff numbered 550. So, I do know what can be achieved and I am sympathetic to the GM of HV8 for the difficulties and challenges he faces. But, what I experienced was unacceptable.

In closing, don't for a moment think that our experience was isolated or we were the only party to complain. Far from it.

I hope HV8 get their act together as it was a good place. I am also VERY supportive of the indigenous training they undertake.

I have always welcomed critical comments from clients who have poor experiences in business I have run or owned. In large organizations the CEO may not be made aware of system failures and under performance unless he/she hears it from the client.

I reckon I have done Mt Pratt a favour.

Regards

Colin

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Trish and I stayed there on the night of 12th June, having read the rave (?) reviews od HVS.

How disappointing it was, no powered sites available, but not a problem but the unpowered camping was all over the place like a dogs breakfast. We were told the riverside camping was not available, no explanation. We didn't both to eat in the restaurant as Trish is a much better cook.

We left the next day and would not go back!

El Questro on the other hand was excellent, even though with the van we were unable to access the private camping sites. They know how to do it.

Bypass HVS, it's not worth it.

Rick

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Bloody Hell Get the message HV8. We stayed there in 2011 and it was a great experience.. We want to come back again and we love the training you do for the local people. It was great to be served by such lovey young people

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Hi Laurie and Helen,

Yesterday we stopped at 3 Ways for a few minutes before moving on to Bore 41? For the night. I am really sorry I was stupid enough not to remember you were there.

Regards

Colin

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