Karri Valley Resort Pemberton

filthy cottage

We arrived to a beautiful view of the lake, with people everywhere, kids yelling and no parking space at the reception. My husband stayed in the car, as we had to double park. The young lady gave me the key and directions to our cottage. Once we managed to find it, we started to unload our belongings, food etc and I put the kettle on for a nice cup of tea. We had been driving most of the day and everyone was tired. The first cup I took out of the cupboard was filthy, with mouse droppings in it. I tried another one and noticed more mouse or rat droppings inside the cupboard - yuck! My next experience was stepping on someone's toe nail clippings in our bedroom - not a great start to our stay. My husband went to have a shower and came out several minutes later asking me to have a look at the state of the bathroom - as putrid as the kitchen, with mould in the shower cubicle and what appeared to be pubic hair on the curtain and walls. At this point we decided not to risk using any of the crockery or kitchen utensils for fear of catching a disease.
The setting is beautiful, the amenities okay, but our overall experience was one that I never want to have again. Two days here was enough and we regret choosing to stay at this establishment, having looked at other places in the region. Its a real shame because Pemberton is so beautiful and the people friendly, however our experience was adversely effected because of staying here. The restaurant was good, food fair, but prices high. No TV, no radio, no laundry or oven in our cottage, made self catering and a relaxing evening in, a little wanting. Having come from Bunker Bay in Margaret River, we think that this place is a backpackers lodge in comparison and should be totally renovated or pulled down.
Whinging poms we may be, but this certainly justifies having a whinge - not what we expected of a tourist icon in Australia.

Unique Quality: dirty, lacking in facilities, old and run down, but in a beautiful setting