Looe, Cornwall, England
Electric grass pitch (maximum 6 metres)
Liked I liked that it was a very organised campsite, great facilities, clean toilets and showers, everything you need really. Really great location too being just up the lane from Looe.
Disliked The only thing I didn’t like which is just personal preference, is that it is a very busy campsite with lots and lots of pitches. I appreciate I stayed during the summer holidays of course but for me I can’t relax when there are so many people all around so a much more spacious and quieter campsite suits me better. But that’s just preference as I say, nothing wrong with the campsite. Pitches were spacious enough but still very close to one another on all sides so felt a little claustrophobic.
Recommend to friends Visit again
Bridgwater, Somerset, England
Electric hardstanding and grass touring pitch
Liked The fishing pond was pretty enough and the water in the showers was hot.
Disliked We were disappointed with our stay, particularly with the condition and cleanliness of the toilet and shower facilities.
The main camping pitches are essentially situated in what feels like a car park. This wasn’t necessarily a major issue for us, but it isn’t particularly attractive or relaxing as a camping environment.
The biggest concern, and something I would strongly recommend the owners address, was the extremely strong smell of sewage around the toilet facilities and also at the washing-up area. This wasn’t just an occasional unpleasant smell – it was genuinely one of the foulest smells we have experienced and made using these areas very unpleasant.
The toilet and shower facilities also appeared to be in poor condition and did not feel particularly clean. The toilets had reusable fabric hand towels, similar to towels you would have at home, which doesn’t seem particularly hygienic for facilities being used by a large number of people. On the first toilet I used, the white hand towel was visibly brown and heavily soiled in the middle.
The showers were mouldy and generally quite grotty, and there were no sanitary bins available for used sanitary products or nappies, which we found particularly disappointing. The overall condition of the cubicles gave the impression that they weren’t being cleaned as regularly or as thoroughly as they should be.
What made this particularly frustrating was seeing signs throughout the facilities reminding guests to wash their hands and prevent the spread of germs, while the facilities themselves didn’t feel hygienic.
We also noticed dogs being allowed off the lead with no staff presence around, which was another concern.
There are some things that could be improved relatively easily, but the cleanliness and sewage smell in particular really need to be addressed. We appreciate that camping facilities aren’t expected to be luxurious, but they should at least be clean, hygienic and well maintained. Unfortunately, based on our experience, we wouldn’t choose to stay here again.
Recommend to friends Visit again
From the manager: Thank you for your review. We are sorry that you were disappointed with your one-night stay, although we would like to provide some context to a few of the points raised. Your visit was during an ongoing heatwave, following four periods of extreme heat and virtually no rain since June. This is why our fields were extremely dry with very little grass, and also why we had a strict **no-fire policy** in place. We appreciate this was disappointing, but the safety of our guests, site and surrounding countryside has to come first. We were particularly surprised by your comments regarding cleanliness. Our toilets and showers are **cleaned four times a day** and are regularly complimented by guests, even while we are running at full capacity with up to 160 people during the school holidays. There are also **sanitary bins and bags in every toilet**. We are an **off-grid site** with our own sewage treatment plant rather than mains drainage. Unfortunately, when guests flush nappies and other unsuitable items, the pumps can become blocked and require immediate attention, which can occasionally cause an unpleasant smell until the problem is resolved. We use reusable hand towels because electric hand dryers would create too much noise around our peaceful fishing lakes. We have also investigated paper towel systems, but providing these across eight individual facilities would cost approximately £8,000 per year. That said, a heavily soiled towel is not the standard we expect and would have been replaced immediately had we been made aware. Finally, the dogs mentioned were our own and were with us while we sat with friends celebrating a birthday. They remained with us throughout. We are a relaxed, friendly and personal site, and we understand that this style of camping will not suit everyone. We are always happy to receive constructive feedback and make improvements where needed, but we also feel it is important to provide context for future guests. We wish you all the best with your future camping trips.