Tarset Tor Bunkhouse and Bothy Holidays

Liked The view. I'm sure staying at the bothies would be lovely with their integrated facilities

Disliked The very primative long drop toilet allocated for campervans (the public toilet in Bellingham is luxurious by comparison).

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From the manager: It is a difficult one to answer politely, a came & had a chap with you, Told you about our facilities, which included a Sauna a woodland bar a wildlife pond 5 Acres of glorious Northumberland National Park scenery.
I also explained about the Toilet which is I agree a long drop, but also explained the reason for this was because it is built over a natural water spring and therefore when there is heavy rain the water level raises & it self flushes into the local sewage works via a drain that is set into the wall. As far as i am aware this is the only self flushing eco toilet that is have heard of. I am proud of it because i built it myself! It is cleaned daily has a hand sanitiser and does the job. I understand that we are not a glitzy camper van park, but our location and the fact that you will have a maximum of only 2 neighbours in vans surely makes up for this? and what about the views down the North Tyne Valley that have been described as some of the best in England?
FYI our WiFi works perfectly the code is in the welcome e-mail that is sent to all arrivals, or you could ask for it. Also for readers of this response we have up graded the shower in the last week.

Liked The location is very scenic

Disliked This is a Campervan review, the bunkhouses may be nice inside.

The campervan spaces are parking slots with an electric hookup but that is all.

The single eco toilet was clean but the lock on the door was broken and no hand washing facilities, not even a handsan on the wall.

We were told that the lads in the bunkhouse knew we would be sharing their showers but looking at the heaps of cans etc outside we decided not to.

There is WiFi but the signal did not reach the campervan bays.

For £35 you can get proper facilities at other sites. Maybe for £20 it would be worth a stop-go overnight but I would look elsewhere.

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From the manager: Clearly we are marmite from reading the reviews.
for information of readers....
The Bunkhouse shower unit is NOT for use of campervaners. The shower for your use is around the back of the building, While you were here there were a group of young mountain bikers from Ilkley (my home town) staying I know most of there Parents and they were on there 5th visit. Sole use of the Bunkhouse is between £395 & £650 per night and a hook up pitch is £35. I think they have a right to have exclusive use don;t they, but some of you think it is OK just to walk in!
Also it is OK for persons to have a few drinks outside the Bunkhouse on the veranda or picnic bench, but that said i do encourage it to be kept tidyish, it was windy that day and i did pick up a few bits and bats that had blown about.
it is not true the WiFi does not work or the lock is broken and there is a hand sanitiser in to toilet.(look at the photos)
if anyone wants to give me £20 for a night i would take it if you were not using showers, plugging in or filling your water tanks. in fact I Woulds probably be better off.with the cost of power & water.
Please don't come here if you expect a all singing all dancing caravan park, we are not that.

Liked Location - excellent for cycling in and around the Kielder area minus the midges (in my limited experience). Lovely pub a quick bike ride away in Greenhaugh (Holly Bush Inn).

The owners warn visitors the site is very basic and they aren't exaggerating. The pitches are flat but viewless and the facilities are minimal but do function.

If you are self contained the lack of facilities is not an issue.

Disliked Maybe a tad expensive for the facilities provided but what isn't expensive at the moment?

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Liked The setting was rural and quiet. Lovely dark sky.

Disliked We were in a campervan so needed to use the 'eco' toilet and shower. These were primitive and a bit intimidating. I have never had a shower with shoes on before. Shower adjacent to bramble patch. Our pitch was surrounded by jaggy thistles.

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Liked It is a beautiful site, the location and views are wonderful.

Disliked We were booked in for two nights, we stayed in the campervan park up. The gravelled area was fine, although a little more space would have been nice so we could sit outside the van. Whilst billed as basic, the toilet and shower facilities need significant improvement to live up to the the standard of the rest of the site. As a result we left after our first night.

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From the manager: Sorry about this. We have just made further improvements to the showers and have just posted new photos one the pitch up page. (Sept 26)

This is our first year doing the hooks ups, we have been working to make the 'bays' the best we can with landscaping, but we do not pretend that we are anything but basic & clean.

The location and the vibe make up for these short fallings.

Liked View

Disliked Toilet

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From the manager: It is the only self flushing eco-toilet is the world! look at the photos and you decide if it is your thing or not, but don;t come here complaining if you haven't done your homework.
We are basic but the trade off is the views & location. Also we have 5 Bothies & Cabins and a large Bunkhouse and only 3 hook-ups so the mainstay of our business is persons paying good money for accommodation.
We have:
1 loo, 1 hot shower, 1 cold shower, 1 sauna, 1 bike wash facility, 1 football/netball court, 1 wildlife pond, 1 woodland bar. 1 kids play area & only 3 bays for outdoorsey type campervaners! Not bad for you 35 quid me thinks!

Liked Beautiful location and peaceful

Disliked The shower was unbelievably too hot. I’m sure it was my personal preference but struggled to change the temperature.

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Liked Very little

Disliked Vans are in a dug out bank. The sites are small and with a view of a high vertical earth bank behind and a wooden fence topped by a very tall leylandi hedge in front.
Showers are in the bunk house shared by everyone in the bunkhouse.

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From the manager: It is true that our pitches are dug into the bank, this is a recent extension to the size of the bays.
When you came they would have looked bare and had no growth of grass or greenery, we up-graded our grass bays with gravel as Vans kept getting stuck in the mud, so at the same time added electric hook-ups for each bay, also we have trees and bushes between each bay making them more private than the norm.
We have one eco-toilet & one out-door shower and a washing up area for use by campers. You must not have found them as the Bunkhouse facilities are not for your use and are exclusive for bunkhouse users only!
We have a football/netball court, a wildlife pond as well as a woodland bar and use of a sauna, so although the pitches are basic the rest makes up for this. I hope this explains?
One thing though that is weird is the low rating for location! We are slap bang in the middle of the Northumberland National Park and have some of the best views in England therefore the world! Some homework on where you are coming to may be a good idea next time you choose to go rural!
For readers, we are a holiday business with Cabins and have just 3 pitches, they are basic and if your not a fan of the great outdoors maybe we are not for you, because a glitzy motorhome park we are not!

Liked Scenery spectacular - owners friendly- peaceful

Disliked The loo!

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From the manager: I have taken on board your 'Loo' comment and made some improvements, I have put in a hand sanitiser and given it a once over & levelled it.
For 'readers' the toilet cubical is hand made from 6 by 2 wooden planks and sits on a very deep pit, we are lucky enough to have a natural water spring on our land and when it is a rainy period the water level raises and it self flushes as halfway up the pit is a drainpipe that is connected all the Cabins and the Bunkhouse on our site therefore it is self flushing, the only one of its type me thinks, so therefore i am quite proud of it! for anyone who has been to a festival or the like, it much much better than these!
FYI....Tarset Tor is predominately a Holiday Business and has 6 other buildings the 3 Camper-van pitches are 'new' and have just had a landscaping and gravel overhaul with electric hook-ups, it is still bedding into its environment, that said they are private as they have bushes and trees between each pitch. There is just 1 toilet (the afore mentioned) and one warm outdoor shower cubical and a double washing up sink. Other facilities are a football/netball pitch and woodland bar area and even a wildlife pond, the sauna can also be hired.
We have some of the best views down the North Tyne & River Tarset valleys towards Kielder forest & Scotland.
We don;t sell ourselves as an all singing all dancing Motorhome Park and neither do we want to be. Our Camper pitches are basic, but the environment we have built over the last 15 years makes us very popular. Our Bunkhouse & Cabins have very high reviews, they are kitted out to a good standard, so maybe one of these might suitable more to some!?

Liked Lovely site, beautiful surroundings and friendly and helpful hosts.

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