Battle of the premium parks

If you travel around Australia for any period of time, chances are at some stage you’ll stay in a caravan park that’s part of either the Top Tourist or Big4 chains.

With more than 200 Top Tourist and 180 Big4 parks scattered around the country, the familiar logos of these two big brands are welcome sites for many road travellers, from families on week-end getaways to grey nomads doing the Big One.

But are all the family-friendly facilities, members' perks and up-spec accommodation options often provided by these premium ‘holiday’ parks worth the price of admission, especially if you don’t necessarily require all the bells and whistles?

To help find out, we decided to ‘road test’ a couple of premium parks on a recent visit to the old goldfields region of Bendigo, Victoria. Now a bustling regional centre and tourist hub with a permanent population approaching 100,000, Bendigo has no lack of accommodation options including seven caravan parks.

With both vying for the same travellers’ dollars, it shaped up as an interesting comparison of two competing parks located, incidentally, just 4km apart...
 
TALE OF TWO PARKS

Both the Gold Nugget Tourist Park (Top Tourist) and Ascot Holiday Park (Big4) are conveniently located close to the Midland Highway that dissects the city of Bendigo, with popular tourist attractions like the Bendigo Pottery and Golden Dragon Museum just short drives away.

The Gold Nugget actually adjoins the highway, although the closest sites are set back about 150m from the road so traffic noise isn’t really an issue. The Ascot park is on a road that runs off the Midland Hwy, which has minimal traffic.

Both parks have been around a while: the Gold Nugget one of the founding member parks of the Top Tourist operation established around 20 years ago, and one of three Top Tourist parks in Bendigo. Colin and Linda Johnston are the fourth owners and have been running the Gold Nugget for the past eight years.

The Ascot, established 34 years ago, is believed to be slightly older than the Gold Nugget, and Ray and Anthea Jones have been in charge of this Big4 park for the past 12 years.

Linda Johnston says the Gold Nugget is "the biggest tourist park in Bendigo", although the Ascot at 7.5 acres is not cramped either. Both have nice, wide access roads around sites, allowing good manoeuvrability of RVs as well as plenty of bike riding tracks for the kids.

Visually, the Ascot presents with a somewhat more manicured feel with its crazy-pave cabin driveways, white pebble-mix roads and lush green lawns (thanks to recent rains), while the Gold Nugget has more outdoor recreational space and probably wins the shade contest with more leafy trees.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

It would be safe to say that both parks have been upgraded considerably over the last 10-15 years, with the increased number of on-site cabins the most obvious enhancements. As Ray Jones explains, "Cabins are really driving the market. They’ve enabled parks to update their infrastructure and spend a quid (on new facilities)".

For RV-free travellers, both parks offer plenty of options for a range of budgets, from older-style, Jayco budget ‘studios’ with unmade beds and no bathrooms to the latest Fleetwood three-bedroom/two bathroom ‘family’ cabins with all the mod cons and up to seven beds.

Gold Nugget wins the budget race with six-berth cabins from $55, but at the other end of the scale charges as much as $220 a night for its impressive new ‘Poolside Executive’ self-contained family cabins with their outside BBQs.

The increase in overall cabin numbers has not overly affected the number of traditional van sites available at either park though, with a decent number of ensuite as well as more traditional ‘slab’ and grassy sites on offer.

The Big4 Ascot has 42 powered sites and 10 unpowered, whereas the Top Tourist Gold Nugget has 65 powered and 17 unpowered. The Gold Nugget’s are generally cheaper though; $28 for an offpeak powered site versus $33 at the Ascot. "We always try to be cheaper than Big4," claims Linda Johnston.

The Gold Nugget has more ‘big rig’ drive-through sites for fifth-wheelers and motorhomes, than the Ascot, which has just two, although the Gold Nugget’s super-sized sites are not available at peak times like Easter.

FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY

The Gold Nugget arguably has a more resort-style outlook, with a dedicated outdoor recreation area with a nine-hole mini golf course, tennis court, giant chess board, and picnic area. All activities are free to guests, except for the kids pedal karts.

The Ascot also has mini golf (for an additional fee), but only one children’s playground, whereas the Gold Nugget has two.

Both parks have the all-important giant jumping pillow, which Linda Johnston describes as a "fabulous income earner" (although it’s free to guests). Judging by the amount of kids using the pillows at both parks when we visited, they’re worth the hefty $17,000 cost of instalment, despite a limited five year lifespan.

The Ascot’s giant pillow gets extra brownie points as it has a shade sail, providing some UV protection as well as keeping the rubber surface from heating up in summer.

The Gold Nugget arguably has a better camp kitchen and BBQ area, which can remain open or shut via roller doors. The Ascot trumps the Gold Nugget, however, with its large indoor ‘convention’ centre with commercial kitchen able to cater for large groups.

Both have games rooms with similar activities – table tennis, billiards, video games – but the Gold Nugget’s converted school portable gets the nod as it includes eight computer workstations with free internet access.

The Ascot fights back with a dedicated playroom for young children (under 6) including a TV, toys and couches. Both provide kids holiday programs and activities like chocolate egg hunts at Easter.

Both have ‘resort-style’ fenced pool and spa areas; the Gold Nugget’s more private than the Ascot’s which can be seen from the road. The Gold Nugget’s pool is heated, unlike the Ascot’s (its spa is though).

Both parks' amenity blocks are centrally located, but reflecting its larger capacity, the Gold Nugget has a few more showers, toilets, wash basins, washing machines and dryers. The Ascot’s recently renovated bathroom has more modern decor with such niceties as heated floors in the showers and automatic extractor fans.

Both parks have four large rotary clotheslines, and plenty of bins for waste. The Gold Nugget also has a full-sized ‘dump point’ for motorhomes.

WAIT, THERE’S MORE...

As well as the fixed computers with free internet, the Gold Nugget also provides free wireless broadband throughout the park, whereas the Ascot charges up to $10 an hour for wi-fi (Big4 also offers cheaper 'package' rates). The Ascot no longer offers pay-per-view Internet kiosks.

The Gold Nugget is pet friendly, although not inside units and not over Easter. The Ascot has a no dogs policy, although this could possibly change with Big4 recently relaxing its previous across-the-board no pets policy.

Both parks offer an on-line reservation system to make things easier when booking.

The Gold Nugget claims it’s the "only four and a half star park in Bendigo", a rating provided by AAA Tourism. The Ascot has a four star rating, as well as a number of Bendigo Business Excellence awards to its name.

Regardless of 'awards’, though, both parks were immaculately presented when we visited. Both owners admit their parks are a constant “work in progress” with plans for a conference centre and new pool at the Gold Nugget and bigger pool and separate games room at the Ascot.

And perhaps a sign of the future, Gold Nugget is currently marketing a new residential development on spare land at the back of the park, where over-55s can buy and live in new cabins and pay weekly rent. Some of the new units are on sites previously occupied by ‘annual’ caravans.

WHICH ONE?

For regular park users being a member of one of the big chains certainly makes sense, whether it’s Top Tourist or Big4 (or both). Both offer various member discounts and incentives as well as the peace of mind of staying at a ‘big name’ park.

But for less frequent travellers, it’s very much down to individual preferences and how fussy you are (or tight your budget) when it comes to pulling up stumps of a night.

For example in Bendigo, those wanting to save a few dollars by accessing free wireless internet and slightly cheaper sites might opt for the Gold Nugget. While others who appreciate modern, floor heated bathrooms or are part of a group requiring a large indoor meeting area may prefer the Ascot.

Those looking for a modern, well-equipped family cabin could go either way.

Both parks are set up to provide a fuss-free, relatively low-cost family holiday experience, and the fact they’re both fully-booked over the Easter long week-end is testament to their strong appeal to a range of holidaymakers in particular young families.

But if neither of these 'Big Two' parks adds up, the beauty of a place like Bendigo is there are other parks as well as free camping options in the area to choose from...

MORE INFO:

Gold Nugget Tourist Park
Ascot Holiday Park
Top Tourist Parks of Australia
Big4 Holiday Parks