I work at a caravan park and this makes my blood boil

Working on the reception of a busy holiday park in the heart of Byron Bay, we deal with all kinds of travellers and this is what we wish you’d stop doing

Working on the reception of a busy holiday park in the heart of Byron Bay, we deal with all kinds of travellers - from grey nomads to international backpackers, young families to wedding weekenders. And, while we want you to live your best holiday, there are seven things we really wish you’d stop doing.

Hot to plot

Ignoring check-in times and simply turning up expecting your glamping tent or cabin to be ready is a major no-no. We get that you’re excited for your holiday to begin but check-in hours exist for good reason. Our housekeeping team are on a tight schedule to have all the accommodation cleaned to the standard you expect in the narrow window between 10am check-out and 2pm check-in.

You hanging around reception constantly asking if your cabin is ready yet or, even worse, eyeballing the cleaners while they are trying to do their job is like honking your horn in traffic. It gets you nowhere, puts extra pressure on everyone and is one sure-fire way to raise our ire.

Check-out time means check-out time. Picture: iStock

Failure to launch

We know that it’s a great place, you’re having fun and in no hurry to depart but we need you to vacate your cabin or campsite at the designated check-out hour so that we can start cleaning rooms (see previous paragraph) as well as mowing sites, pulling weeds and getting the amenities ship-shape for the next arrivals.

Frustrating phone requests for you to pack up and leave while you’re having that one last swim or a late breakfast across the road are a waste of our valuable time and may earn you a late departure fee.

Pitch imperfect

So your father-in-law has finally entrusted you with his precious Jayco Starcraft and you’re hooking it up for a weekend away. Just one problem - your original booking was for a tent. Shuffling campervans, motorhomes, caravans and tents onto appropriate plots is like a giant game of Tetris and you need to ensure that your description of “what is going on the site” is accurate. Turning up with the RAM and a 30-foot caravan when you’ve booked a tiny unpowered tent site is the equivalent of booking a table-for-two at a restaurant then arriving with 15 friends in tow. It’s guaranteed to ruffle feathers and may even force us to turn you away.

How many kids did you really book for? Picture: iStock

Out of site

And on the sensitive subject of sneaking things in, failing to mention your kids, your mother-in-law or the family pooch on your booking is another crime that will have us talking about you in not such kindly terms. There’s the obvious fact that additional guests incur extra fees which you are blatantly trying to avoid but, more than the money, neglecting to name your entire group is a security risk. In the case of fire or emergency evacuation, we need to know exactly who is on site to ensure that everyone is safe and accounted for.

Bin bungles

We get that you’re on holiday but that’s no excuse to relax your attitude toward recycling. Despite our constant reminders to place garbage in the appropriate bins, guests still manage to mess it up. Babies are cute but, unless you’ve given birth to the Little Buddha, dirty nappies have no place in the recycling bin. On the same theme, don’t leave bags of rubbish lying around your campsite. The brush turkeys will have your litter scattered across the park faster than you can say bin chicken.

Park management cannot do anything about rain. Soz. Picture: iStock

Weather with you

Finally, while we’d love to promise you cloudless sunny days and windless starry nights on your camping trip, meteorology is entirely out of our hands. Please stop asking for refunds based on weather events like rain, wind and sudden cold snaps. Remember peeps, experiencing the great outdoors is what you came camping for.

Turf wars

When it comes to rebooking sites, upgrading and who gets what when, please have patience. We’re trying our best to make everyone happy and allocate the sites you want for the dates you need but it’s impossible to please everyone. Wheedling, whining and threatening doesn’t help and stop with the bribes (you know who you are). Showering us with chocolate and wine won’t win you any favours while throwing fifty-dollar notes at us as though we’re exotic dancers in a Kings Cross nightclub just gives off desperate vibes.