Sandy Balls Holiday Village

Liked The pool was warm.
The staff were friendly. The staff seamed to be a bit leaderless but coped very well given their relatively young age.

When was tried to go swimming we were told that we could not use the outside pool as the life guard ‘may’ only turn up, but not likely on time if at all. The staff seemed accustomed to having to make decisions on the fly. The site was clean and well maintained.

Disliked The pool was very sandy and the jacuzzi was broken.
The restaurant menu referenced a discounted children’s’ that stated a main, drink and dessert for £7.45. When our order was taken the computer did not recognise this as a meal deal and we were charged the full rate. When this was brought the attention of the staff they adjust the bill but stated this happens all the time but the management would not print out new menus. Had we selected a starter then the discount would have been applied. The cost was corrected, although we were never offered a starter. The food took an hour and the pizza was burnt.

We were camping in a field that we expected to be near the main site not 600 yards away down a muddy forest path. The distance was so great we could not allow the children to make this journey unescorted so they had little chance to explore the main site. This distance was not stated when booking.

The field is equipped with a good toilet block with warm water. Next to the block is the pot washing sinks that only had cold water. Not ideal for pots and pans. Providing hot water would be an easy fix rather than having to use a pan to fill the washing up bowl from the toilet sink.

The booking app said no BBQs. When we arrived we were told BBQs we permitted and welcomed. Unfortunately we had heeded the instructions on the booking app and left ours at home.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked We camped, the shower block and toilet, wash up area is kept really well. The site is really flat, which makes for a brilliant setup. The staff who man the camping are really nice, helpful with knowledge
The pool is amazing, and the staff too. Young fresh and with great personal skills. Something that the whole site staff needs...Refreshing.

Disliked Within the main site, I found staff could do with some training on children with neuro diversity. There was little to no understanding or compasion with regards to our children in our group who have autism, and adhd. They did not feel inclusive, and quickly became full on anxiety and very upset, only feeling safe in the camping area or pool. Numerous times we had to explain over and over again about them. To which they were actually quite rude regarding. Maybe this is an age thing as quite alot of staff are older. With one very rude man in the arcades area, and a woman in the restaurant.
Drinks are very pricey. We paid £30 for 4 j20's and 2 fruit ciders.
The shop is super expensive and not your ordinary shopping. Organic etc. Great if thats the morning that you eat. With very little choice. Maybe focus more on food that gifts. In the restaurant we paid £12 for 3 portions of chips which came in a burger tray, so you can imagine how many were there!
Child friendly if you kids don't play or make noise!

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Camp site a nice field with clean toilet, shower facilities

Disliked I feel like sandy balls focus A LOT on the lodges and not enough detail to care for camping..
there is no play ground for the children it is just a field and have to walk through a woodland trail to get to the site. Could do with including camping more to the business. But had a lovely time just wish they would put a little bit more in e.g. playground for the camp site.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked The facilities - pools, arcade, play areas, entertainment; the range and quality of food, everything we ate was really yummy and was good for allergies; the location - campsite is a short walk from the main park which is in the middle of the forest, there are great cycling and walking routes. So much to do to keep us entertained. The staff were (nearly) all lovely and helpful. Especially the lady on the campsite who was so lovely and even helped us put up our tent 😀
The toilets and washing facilities in the campsite were nice and clean, they were regularly cleaned, had nice warm water, always stocked well with toilet paper and paper towels. Good showers.

Disliked The only problems we had were with the pool, we queued I think 4 times to get in and were told it was too busy/couldn’t get in yet, so had to come back later. On the first day the indoor pool was closed, which seems silly in the heat. It seems like the system could do with a bit of a rethink, queuing out the door to be told was full. When we did manage to get in on the Sunday, we sat around the outdoor pool and it was really quiet. The pool was lovely once we weee in though.
The only other thing we weren’t happy with was one of the staff members on the campsite. We couldn’t find my nephews tub of cards he was collecting, we thought he’d left them by the washing up sinks that morning, but when we went to ask the man on the gate (shed) he was slumped in his chair and couldn’t be bothered to talk to us or look for them, said he’d not seen them but when we looked, they were in the shed, so had been handed in.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Loved the face it's a small site and the walk to the main complex is lovely. It's like a little adventure through the trees every day for the children.

Clean toilet facilities. Friendly staff.

Disliked The pool at sandy balls was, once again, a let down.

The indoor pool was closed for 2 days of our 3 day stay. We have been to sandy balls 3 times and every time there has been an issue with the pool. In the winter (early Jan) the heating was broken and it was literally ice cold but open. Then the next day it was closed due to poor water clarity. This time it was closed due to chlorine levels. It really isn't good enough that such a major feature of a family holiday is closed and there is never any sign of an apology or compensation. Of course everyone booking family holidays at sandy balls is expecting the pool to be available. Why is there continual problems and why don't sandy balls seem to care?

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Good facilities and clean spacious pitches.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Use of sandy balls main facilities were great. The kids loved the swimming, arcade, entertainment and even alpaca walking. The camping site itself is very spacious and the pitch size is generous. The facilities are basic but perfectly adequate for the amount of people there. We neverreally have to queue for anything. It was a 10 minute walk to the main site through some woodland which was lovely.

Disliked Whilst we were here the camping site was unfortunately burgled. Large items were taken such as trailers and bikes. The site is not secure at night and the gate is constantly left open for anyone to enter. There is a representative at the gate during the day but no-one at night. I was told a watchman comes by every 30 mins in the night and the burglary must have happened in between these times. Either way no effort was made after this point to implement any new safety measure for the guest staying there. We never travel with valuables and large items so were not affected by this incident. But, if you do decide to stay here please lock your belonging away at night.
Despite what happened we really enjoyed our stay here and I would come here again.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Relaxing and chilled family time. Campsite clean and friendly.

Disliked Mainly booked because of the pools onsite - outdoor is a splash pool not a swimming pool. Indoor is nice but on a first come first served not always guaranteed to get in. We were told not allowed to mix between the pools but we saw plenty did and nothing being said.
Outside pool closed for a day after half hour of being open the chemicals weren’t right. Is this not checked before opening to the public?

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked It was amazing. The staff was very friendly.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Pools were nice. Activities available were good. Food was nice in the pub.
Friendly staff. The main square was always quite busy with a big screen and other entertainment.

Disliked Terrible WiFi, not available very often. The Away Resorts App was awful, especially when trying to book food. It said things weren't available/couldn't be selected but they could be ordered when ordering from the bar.
The campsite is miles away from the main resort and is very basic and was really noisy until late. There is no lighting at all from the resort to the campsite. No WiFi available at the campsite.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Great pitches
Helpful staff
Good atmosphere
Good restaurants
Nice pool

Disliked Toilet facilities for camping could be cleaned more regularly or have more. Only 3 toilets and showers (per sex) for all them pitches meant they were often occupied or dirty.

Recommend to friends Visit again