Emu Bay Holiday Homes

Starting with the host,Zanne, we had a wonderful experience. The host was exceptionally attentive to all our needs and helped greatly in our ferry transport. The accommodation, a cozy 2 bedroom cottage was perfect! Clean and a wonderful view. The koala (3 of them!) and kangaroo were literally right in our backyard. Excellent location-close enough to the beach that we walked down. Close enough to Kingscote to have a lovely meal at one of the many restaurants there. The value for the money was terrific! You won’t be disappointed at Emu Bay Holiday Homes.

First, set expectations -- this is a little holiday home surrounded by wildlife. It's not fancy, but that's not why you come to Kangaroo Island -- you come for the wildlife and you get it. The house is cute and has the basics you need. It was awesome seeing kangaroos everywhere on property late afternoon to dusk, and koalas in the trees right outside the house (because there really is a colony that lives there). Note that we saw more kangaroos the first day than the second, so don't be disappointed if you don't see them right away. We ate out in Kingscote the first night, then bought groceries and cooked in the second. They had everything we needed for cooking, and we ate outside watching the wildlife. We could walk right to the beach, and one day drove to the beach and on the beach. The most spectacular thing was the night sky - with no light pollution on the island, it's an emotional, life-changing experience. By staying in Emu Bay (vs the city), you get this kind of view. It's probably no further to the sites than staying in Kingscote. I liked how we use the water from getting the shower hot (suds-free) to fill the birdbath and kangaroo drinking stations. Very sustainable. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT Had we known in advance what a hassle it would be to have an electric car, and that KI had ceased supporting electric charging, I wouldn't have rented one, and my stay would have been less stressful. The hosts provided extensive reading material to prepare for the trip, but I would have appreciated knowing that, plus that it's better to have an SUV/truck given how many roads are unpaved. That's not the hosts' fault, but adding it to their materials would be super useful. The directions for where to put compost materials seemed straightforward but nothing was labeled, and I had to walk up to someone else's house to deposit them and recyclables. Feels like they could be in a shared location and better labeled.

We were a family of 6, 4 from Adelaide travelling with 2 family members from Bavaria, Germany. We stayed in Amani house which exceeded all expectations. Honestly, the photos do not do it or the view justice!!! Amani is spotless, well-equipped and comfortable! Host, Zanne is amazing, great communication and checking to make sure everything was in order. There was a Koala and baby in the tree adjacent Amani together with Kangaroos to the door made our stay perfect.

I really wanted to give this place 5 dots as the location is great and grounds are spectacular. Loved seeing a koala in the tree outside our house and kangaroo roaming the grounds. The house was very nice and clean. We did have 2 problems unfortunately. The WiFi was barely usable. Since cell coverage is generally fair or worse on the island the WiFi becomes really important. Anything other than email was basically useless including WiFi calling. I reported this to the owners and they said that their carrier would look into it, but there was no follow up and it did not improve. When the ferry was closed and I needed to rebook ferry, airline. rental car, hotel, activities, etc. this took forever since the WiFi was so bad. We visited in the winter. There is only one heater in the front room, far from the shower and toilet which were quite cold at night. Better heating distribution would be helpful. We would return if the WiFi issue were to be resolved as this is a wonderful place. But getting the details right is important and we had a miss in our case unfortunately.

Excellent self contained accomodation in strategic location on KI. Attentive hosts Zane and Dirk supported our daily road trips to explore the wonders of KI with great tips, directions and genuine pride in the area. Koalas on site and birds! Wonderful gardens!