Island Lake Holiday Resort

Beautiful setting spoiled by aggressive management.

We spent a weekend at Island Lake Holiday Resort in Wilderness and overall, the location is stunning – right on the lake in the heart of the Wilderness area, with beautiful views and a peaceful, natural setting that made the stay enjoyable for our family.

The accommodation was nice and comfortable, and we appreciated how clean the restrooms/ablution blocks generally were.

However, our experience was unfortunately overshadowed by the management's behaviour, which was aggressive and inappropriate, especially towards young children.

On one occasion, after our kids (aged 3–9) had been cycling in an area where bikes apparently aren't allowed, the member yelled at them aggressively, threatening to take their bikes away. This left our children in tears and very upset – it felt unnecessarily harsh for little ones who were just excited to explore.

Another incident involved the same person entering the ladies' bathroom while our 7-year-old daughters were in there, telling them to hurry up and stop playing. As parents, we found this intrusive and uncomfortable.

We also noticed that the kids' play area and some seating spots were covered in spiderwebs, giving the impression that maintenance in those communal family areas could be better.

To top it off, other guests approached us during our stay to share that they too had been treated rudely by the management – so clearly, this isn't an isolated situation but a recurring issue.

All in all, we loved the natural beauty and setting of the resort, which is why we enjoyed parts of our stay. But the rude and aggressive approach from management left a really bad taste in our mouths and detracted significantly from what could have been a perfect family getaway. It's also sad to think about the workers who have to operate under such leadership.

We wouldn't rush back unless things change in that department. Potential guests with young children should be aware.

The campsite itself was absolutely amazing. The location was beautiful, well maintained, and had everything we needed for a relaxing stay.
Unfortunately, the experience was significantly impacted by the management. From the moment we arrived, the staff were rude, unwelcoming, and made us feel like an inconvenience rather than paying guests. Simple questions were met with dismissive responses, and there was no sense of hospitality or friendliness at all.
It’s disappointing because the campsite has so much potential, but the poor attitude of management really overshadowed what could have been a great experience. With better customer service, this would easily be a top-tier campsite.

No doubt beautifull place😎
Management bad news!
VERY unfriendly retired couple make you feel unwelcome and over supervised
NO braais
Neat and friendly cleaning staff
If you young or have young kids stay away! If not retired look elsewhere.. Ebbe Flow much better and much friendlier management.
The old man spoils your stay daily.

Perfect location for its kind, but management makes the experience unbearable.

Extremely rude managers that keep pushing paying customers away with constant shouting (literally) and reinforcement of rules "as per the email".

We went stayed over post-season and tbe site was at about 40%. At 22:00 sharp the management was walking around ordering campers to extinguish fires, turn off music, and basically shutting down each site. Rules are rules, that is understandable, but their attitude towards campers is disgusting and vulgar.

Would not support again nor recommend. Sad to see this beautiful location be mismanaged.

Has and always will be a amazing location

So sad to see that such a beautiful location is COMPLETELY ruined by the rudest manager! He yells and swears like a old sailor at you if anything is against rules, even if it is something so obscure it makes no sense and keeps referring back to the rules they sent via email. FYI that attached document is the worst put together document I have ever laid eyes on, it looks like something a 7 year old tried to take from their mind and put onto a document.

The way this manager speaks to clients and tries to have a power play is shocking. No one should ever speak and swear like this to any one, let alone a client. Even if you as a client try to calm down his aggression with a respectful & calm tone, he doesn't stop and just keeps going on relentlessly.

The funniest part was seeing the stark difference between how he treats other senior members on the camp site compared others

I would encourage the owner to look into how his manager treats his clients.....