Australia's best caravan park dunny block opens

Forster Beach Holiday & Caravan Park in NSW's picturesque mid-coast region is a top spot to stay if you like eye-catching coastal scenery and stunning sunsets. But now guests are guaranteed a day spa-like shower and toilet experience, after the park recently opened what it's calling the "world’s best amenities block".

The new biophilic-designed amenities block boasts a large landscaped garden, stylish shower and toilet cubicles crafted from local timber and with chic mirrors, generous natural light, indigenous art and local geographic landmarks on the walls, ‘nature inspired’ piped music and a signature Reflections scent.

The Forster Beach park is managed by the Reflections holiday parks group, and Reflections CEO Nick Baker told Forbes Australia that they did a survey of over-55 caravan park visitors and discovered the most important facility for them was the amenities block.

"So we made a call … What would the world’s best amenities block look like?  We tore down all the old notions of what we used to do and how they used to be built," he said.

"For the world’s best amenities block, we’re trying out everything we thought people would want. Whether it be a biophilic design, which is bringing nature into it, whether it’s storytelling, planning, use of light, art, smell."

They hired an interior designer and worked for months with a local candle maker, to get the signature scent right. 

"We know the standard of amenities contributes to the satisfaction of their stay, so we invested a great deal of time and effort to research what a best-in-class amenities block looks and feels like, so we could truly lift that experience in our parks,” he said.

The fancy new amenities block also features water-efficient shower heads, and pebble-shaped door handles and robe hooks in a nod to nearby Pebbly Beach.

Reflections said it is developing a model for a best-practice eco park to roll out across its 41 holiday parks, with features ranging from solar panels to smart-metering technology..

As the only holiday park group in Australia that is a certified social enterprise, it said it's committed to spending $6 million in FY25 to build new amenities or improve existing amenities at several of its holiday parks across New South Wales.