Ikara Safari Camp

Stayed in a 2 person safari tent over Oct long weekend at an eye watering $600 a night. Tent is comfortable with nice bathroom. Generally quiet tho tents are not soundproof if you have a noisy neighbour. Our fridge didnt work but a call to reception brought a new fridge quickly. Porch light not working - was reported but not fixed but not a big deal but for $600 a night?? Staff were very friendly. Restaurant food was good ( crocodile and prawn laksa very tasty but partners chicken was dry) and a tad pricey. But biggest disappointment was breakfast - tinned fruit, croissants and pastries not replenished, and the usual scrambled eggs, bacon etc. For $600 which was B&B i expected much more. Location of resort was great and the Flinders is great.

This is a very different experience to staying in a high end hotel/resort. It IS camping but with a/c, ensuite, fridge, power for devices. But no wifi. Signs of wear & tear which is impossible to prevent in a tent which is exposed to the elements year round. The tents are robustly constructed situated off the ground. A broom would be handy as the deck does collect dirt from shoes & boots. Perhaps also a doormat. The only negative is that it is difficult to fill the jug from the shallow vanity sink - we used the shower. It was so nice to be that close to nature with the comforts of home. Lovely view from the deck, thru' the woods to the escarpment beyond. Our tent was more than adequate; warm with the reverse cycle heating as it was freezing on the June winter nights that we were there - also took advantage of the extra blanket provided.

Beautiful location… but that is unfortunately all. I love writing great reviews, but I’m at a loss to find anything positive to say about our experience. Tent zipper was broken (so we hope future patrons love mozzies as much as we do. LOL. Advertised as “serviced daily “ yet the only “service staff” we ever saw was when they pulled up the resort vehicle to service the vacated tent next to ours, their car windows and doors open and loud radio broadcasting (so that they can hear it inside the tent perhaps?) So we had to ask them to please turn their blasting radio down? The response was “oh is someone sleeping there?” on which we answered that not only was it none of their business (AS IF we needed a reason to ask them to turn them radio down!), but we actually paid a fair amount of money to actually come here to enjoy the silence! Some of the staff seemingly have no idea that we (paying patrons) are actually the very reason they have a job… and we’re not asking them to do us a nice favour. The services staff did not even change the mugs we used for tea for fresh ones… and bear in mind, there is no facility for us to wash the mugs ourselves! They did not put foot in our tent at all actually. Clearly one cuppa is enough over a few days in this “Spoil yourself” package where staff treat you as a nuisance when you request silence. The tent was clean enough, but the shower could have been cleaner. The food portions at the restaurant are quite large and are tasty enough. Overall: Really a poor experience compared to how it is presented in the advertisements.

We arrived on a small group coach tour just on dark. The "glamping" tents were a long walk away from reception down a dark unlit track beyond the camp grounds. There was no service available to take our luggage or ourselves to our tents. They flat our refused to help - no apologies. When we finally arrived at the tents, they were insecure some with zip closures not working. No torches provided. Some of our group were able to relocate to Resort rooms. For others, it was a 20 minute walk in the dark from the tents to the dining area. Not designed for anyone other than visitors with their own vehicles. Resort rooms were comfortable but ours was quite run down and not cleaned to a satisfactory level.