Southerness Holiday Park

Liked The pot washing area was with nice warm water

Disliked Very disappointing — not worth the money

I honestly wouldn’t recommend spending your money on this site. Online, everything sounds wonderful, with lots of activities and facilities promised, but our actual experience was completely different.

We arrived on Thursday after reception had closed. There was nobody at the gate to help us, and we ended up having to knock on other people’s caravans to find out where we were supposed to go. Eventually, we found the out-of-hours team, but unfortunately they were not particularly helpful and gave us very little information about how anything worked.

We then discovered that the pool was closed on Friday. We also couldn’t book any of the activities online because the reservation number we were given was incorrect.

The soft play was closed, and the arcade was absolutely filthy, with rubbish and things all over the floor and seemingly nobody cleaning it.

On Saturday, we were advised that if we wanted a chance of getting a swimming slot, we needed to queue. We waited for over an hour, despite people with bookings not even turning up. When we finally got into the pool, the experience wasn’t enjoyable either. The staff were constantly blowing the whistle and telling children what they could and couldn’t do. The session was only 45 minutes.

We tried again in the evening, only to find the pool had been closed because the chlorine levels were too high. So, out of the three days we were there, we only managed one swimming session.

This was particularly disappointing because it was my son’s 6th birthday, and his one birthday wish was to have a pool day. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We were given an ice cream voucher for each child as an apology, but that obviously didn’t make up for the experience.

Other facilities were disappointing too. The family carts were dirty, damaged and didn’t feel secure for a family with young children. The soft play wasn’t supervised, and when something was spilled, there didn’t appear to be anyone around to clean it. Some of the pitches had large holes, and some of the play areas had damaged parts that I personally felt were unsafe.

The restaurant was also very expensive for what you get, and the food we had was bland and disappointing.

For us, the biggest issue is that we paid for a holiday based on the facilities and activities advertised, but so many of them were either closed, unavailable, poorly maintained or impossible to book.

In the end, it felt like the only thing we could reliably do was park our caravan.

Very disappointing experience, especially considering the price we paid. We definitely won’t be returning.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked The location

Disliked Toilet block needs updating and the entertainment wasn't for us

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Great for £15 a night. Showers were clean and hot. Toilets the same. Great laundrette onsite too. Beach was lovely and the pubs etc near by were great.

Disliked We stayed on a weeknight so the entertainment was a bit naff and the complex very small. But ok for a quiet time of year. Also so much sand dust from the sand field next door,

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Not good

Disliked Not good

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Enjoyed being there hard to get into swimming etc going out the park there so many nice areas to go see

Disliked We had a massive rain fall whilst there the ground was that uneven with pot holes etc our whole tent flooded up to are ankles we ended up having to leave because everything was ruined, music playing till 12 at night as well wasn't fun after a 7 hour drive

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked We really enjoyed the pool and the beach was so close and beautiful. All play parks on site seemed more or less brand new.

Disliked Toilet block for tents was quite run down. Shop on site also quite expensive. If weather was poor which it was when we were there, there wasn’t much to do as campers. There’s only so much time you can spend in an arcade. So driving into Dumfries for shop and activities was what we done which meant a lot of the holiday spent in the car. Also very random but at the park the swings were so high off the ground so my children who are little couldn’t go on them.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Lovely helpful staff. Clean camping site.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Clean and well laid out

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked Being close to beach....Thats it.

Disliked Pitches are nothing like the pictures, way too busy for my, too many cars around so kids had to be very mindful of surroundings.Couldnt get to use the swimming area as all time slots were fully booked from the frid-sun..Camping area shower/toilets were dirty, could do with a good power wash with some bleach.NO Internet signal at all.Arcades,food etc were expensive especially if you've got kids.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Hi Donna,

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We're so sorry to hear that your experience didn't meet your expectations.

This certainly isn't the standard we aim to deliver at Parkdean Resorts, and we're disappointed to hear that we've let you down on this occasion. Please be assured that your comments have been shared with the relevant team, as feedback like yours is invaluable in helping us improve the experience we provide for all of our guests.

Thank you again for bringing this to our attention.

^JC

Liked Fantastic booked again for August

Disliked Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Dear Janice,

Thank you so much for your brilliant review!

We're delighted to hear you had such a fantastic stay, and it's the best compliment we could receive that you've already booked to return in August. We really appreciate your kind words and can't wait to welcome you back for another enjoyable visit.

See you soon! ^EC