Seven Acre Woods

A aimé A fab site. Great for kids. Shower/toilet area are kept beautifully clean.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for your review... so happy to found much to be well! Steve, Ruth & Harrison

A aimé The location is absolutely beautiful. The scenery is peaceful, natural and genuinely impressive. It is the kind of place where you can properly switch off and enjoy the countryside. The surroundings are lovely, the site has a lot of charm, and you can tell the owners care about keeping the place clean, quiet and well looked after.

Everything was very clean and tidy, which is always appreciated on a campsite. The facilities are clearly looked after, and the whole site feels organised.

The check-in, messaging and payment system is excellent. Everything feels smooth, modern and easy to use, and the fact that they accept Apple Pay is a big plus. It makes the practical side of the stay very convenient.

The bathroom facilities also have some good touches. There is a toilet and shower, plus a family room with another toilet, shower and sink. The hand dryer is impressively powerful, and having a hairdryer available is a really nice bonus.

It is also clear that the rules are there for a reason. A campsite like this needs people to be respectful, clean and considerate, and I completely understand that. The setting itself is definitely the highlight.

N'a pas aimé There are so many signs around the facilities that at times it feels a little overwhelming, even though I understand the intention behind them.

I understand the need for rules, but the amount of signage feels a bit excessive and can make the place feel less welcoming than it should. The owner clearly knows how she wants things done and makes sure everyone follows the rules, which is fair enough, but a little more warmth and customer service would make a big difference.

The bathroom block is clean and useful, but there are not quite enough facilities for everyone when the site is busy. Also, the light in the bathroom keeps switching on and off every few seconds, which definitely needs fixing. It is hard to fully relax in the shower when the lighting is doing its own little disco routine.

A clear map of the pitches would also really help, as it can be confusing to know exactly where to put your tent. The place has amazing potential, but it would feel much more relaxed with fewer signs, clearer pitch guidance, and a slightly friendlier approach.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Such a shame so much was so good... yet our rating was so low!

Personally we are very saddened our customer service was so low and reviewed so when us 3 are often commended on this as we enjoy and take a lot of pride in our customer service to ensure all is well for our guests - we even offered yourselves a late check out when after check-out time you had not started to pack away your tent or belongings and we too happily answered the doorbell after hours and sold you logs after our operating hours… and we, including our son, came out to assist you after hours in regards to your fire-pit issue! So, we can only say sorry that you found we needed to have more friendly approach when we aim, and achieve, to always.

Signs are there to benefit yourselves as much as us, not only does this help keep our site as wonderful as you yourself say, but also for example we say ‘do let us know if anything needs fixing or repairing’ i.e. the lights - we could have looked at these during your stay to prevent this causing an inconvenience to you. We also find the signage helps more than hinder our guests in terms of reminding them of such things in terms of not only legalities and safety but our operating hours and check-out times… not every guest does read or take notice, but we have this in place to ensure our business runs smoothly, toilets don’t get blocked and the site is a pleasant place for all! So, it was a shame the signs within The Facilities Hut hindered your stay so much and our facilities were rated so low yet commended on how clean and great the services provided! Our facilities are above ratio for our small site and don’t believe we were even at 50% occupancy the evening you stayed, so assume there was no actual issue of being too busy.

We have no expectations for campers as to where they pitch their tent on their pitch as we make this flexible and easy for you to choose as you wish around your own fire-pit - we state this clearly on check-in and appreciate a lot of some do have many a stipulation and strict pitch sizes so, maybe we do need to instil some signs and rules here! I believe you yourselves did in fact pitch directly next to our glamping unit in our non-camping area right beneath the children’s tree swing and therefore there was no fire-pit available as your pitch was not in fact a pitch… yet we allowed you to stay there the one night for your convenience.

As you seem to agree, we run a great place here, so we can only say what a huge shame for us that all was so well yet your review was rating was at a low because it really did quite contradict all of what you enjoyed!

A aimé Where to start, honestly I loved everything. This is a beautiful, peaceful location that has fantastic forest walks and a close drive 25 minutes to a beautiful beach Camber Sands. Their facilities were beautiful with special touches everywhere. If you have kids...this one even has a kids zone which is AMAZING, the kids will have so much fun. The goats were super cute and the space for camping was great, I loved that it was small which meant that there wasn't alot of people around. Highly recommend this venue, I was solo camping for the first time and it was a magical place for it.

N'a pas aimé If I reallllly had to say something, it would be that you had to press the shower button for more water a few times while you showered. But again I understand this helps people save water and not waste it, so not a problem just an inconvenience that I could live with. Certainly wouldn't stop me from visiting again.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : So pleased you enjoyed your stay! Was a pleasure having you and we have since changed the timing setting on the showers... this over time adjusts itself so we could of amended during your stay had we known - but next time hopefully all shall be well!! Steve, Ruth & Harrison

A aimé We were the only campers there at the time which added to the peace and quiet of this site. The hosts are wonderful and helpful

N'a pas aimé Nothing to dislike

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Réponse du gestionnaire : So pleased you found all to be so well and enjoyable... thank you for the review! Steve, Ruth & Harrison

A aimé All of it the play area in the kids woods the little goats the honesty shop it’s just such a lovely place

N'a pas aimé I think an extra shower would be great especially when there’s a few family’s but what they do have is lovely

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for your review, so pleased you found all to be well! We ensure our facilities are occupancy adequate and extra facilities would always be a bonus, but being a very small site, it does work.

A aimé Parking was allocated to your booking and near by for easy unloading. Wheel barrows were provided to help unpack the car.

The host was pleasant and answered the door bell quickly when we arrived.

The bathroom facilities were good as far as campsite facilities go. There was a family wash room which is always helpful when traveling with children. If anything having both wash rooms like this would have been great as it's obviously used by individuals (being a bigger room) as well as families. I imagine if multiple families were staying there would be quite the wait.

The walk through the woods was lovely to the reservoir.

Inside the glamping tent was nice enough and the bed was comfortable and bedding was very clean.

They had an honesty hut / games cubby which was a nice touch and useful for anyone who might have forgotten milk etc they also provided sweets and marshmallows which are a nice to have.

Providing a water bucket for drinking water was useful and prevented multiple trips back and forth to the drinking tap.

There were pet goats on the site which my child loved. And the tire swing was a firm favourite.

The website was very informative and I think set up very well to order logs or additional food baskets etc and the hosts were quick to respond to any questions

N'a pas aimé The campsite overall is actually a lot smaller than it appears on the website with the camping field, and bell tents closer to each other than we expected.

The tent inside was comfortable and clean. The tent itself was a bit moldy (which I suppose may be expected having been out all season) but you could smell the mold and maybe preventing this or trying to remove this would increase the 'glam' element of the glamping tent.

The kids play area in the woods was only OK and I appriciate this is in the woods and exposed to the elements but it probably could do with a little better upkeep and maintenance to keep it in a nicer condition.

Kettle and cups were provided but again as an added touch (even if only for the first morning) having tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits available would have added to the glamping experience.

Cooking equipment was provided but lacking a little and I would recommend taking a frying pan, larger plates and cutlery. These were provided but understandably plastic and the plates were quite small.

Cooking facilities were purely camp fire (not your regular bbq) which I'm sure it states on the website but with all the information we overlooked this. Luckily we took a small gas hob but another family we knew did not expecting there to be more cooking facilities with the glamping tent. Unfortunately with a damp camp fire / slightly damp wood it made cooking a meal very challenging.

Washing up facilities there was only 1 sink for the 2 bell tents and the field campsite. Which meant needing to wait a little before being able to wash up. Although a small site it probably would benefit from a least another sink for the campers.

Staying in the bell tent was definitely a more elevated experience than staying in a regular tent but for us it felt there were a few missing touches that would have made it have more of the 'glam' factor especially when paying the increased cost for glamping.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Oh wow what a feedback! We are so pleased you liked so much here at Seven Acre Woods… we put so much love, hard work and thought into our little family business and making it a success! We are actually pleased too that your dislikes are personal and not anything of any fault of our own or needed any complaint about during your stay, but just your own thought process on our business! We are sad these points were detrimental on your stay so much that wouldn’t stay again… but great to still hear you would recommend us - as much of what you dislike so much is loved so much by others!

We make sure our prices are competitive and what we provide would be no less that what we would expect however, can apologise for the exterior of our tents... the summer has hit us all bad and you were our last guests of the Season until the tents get not only renewed but a whole different look next near! Be rest assured, there was no mould within, the wear and tear was all external so the smell was purely outdoor life!

We of course put so much thought into setting up our business to make sure it’s right for all and we are continuously making changes for better… or just for joy!

Thank you for your stay!

A aimé Great quiet site, tucked away with so much to do on the site. Beautiful walks direct from the pitch. We are very local to the site but would definitely return for another long weekend.
Ruth was so lovely and very accomodating as host. Highlight was definitely feeding the goats super cute!

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for your review… so good to hear all was well and you were able to feed Taffie & Torrie! We look forward to hopefully welcoming you here again! Steve, Ruth & Harrison

A aimé The couple the run the camp site were really nice

N'a pas aimé It seems a little regimented for my liking with the passive aggressive messages everywhere also it was really busy when we went and was quite cramped it just seemed like there was too much going on for the space available also the campsite is not flat it's on a hill

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Oh dear, what a shame Seven Acre Woods wasn’t appreciated as many do! We would always comment when we rate so low in an opinion as we do give so much to make our small family business enjoyable for everyone and if we can change the in anyway, then we always would and of course apologise for anything wrongdoing, if due.

Value for Money… we are in keeping with local prices and do always check to ensure - but as it was all much sadly for you under average, then naturally you won’t rate highly.

Quality of Accommodation is your own, so a 2 rating we cannot assist you there - yet lowers our rating hugely.

Wifi we state we don’t provide, so again a 2 rating really lowers our rating hugely.

Facilities/activities/Customer service/Child friendliness/Cleanliness - we provide play parks, hot showers, constant hot water, facilities cleaned twice daily, soap and toilet paper never runs out, car parks, nature hunts, dvd players, den building, snacks, honesty store, toys, books, games, KidZ WoodZ… all for a small site which we feel favours more than an average.

Our notices are not passive aggressive at all! The reminders by the washing up area and within the Facilities Hut are so they can be easily read and politely reminded to you to ensure your stay and everyone else’s is enjoyed so dogs are not running off leads (I believe we even kindly loaned you a dog lead spike) or fires are kept safe and to remind of our quite times and our QR code to our Online Hello Guide - it’s only to ensure a safe and enjoyable time and to assist you as guests… and has proved to be a simple and common positive help to all.

It is the summer holidays and naturally we can be busy now, but being a small site of just 4/5 tents pitches and 2 glamping tents (and a hut in its own private area as well as 5 Cabins in The Woods), then it can seem a thriving place, but never would we say cramped with the flexibility of pitch locations and always plenty greenery to play or sit out… which may not be flat in all places, but certainly not a hill!

Everyone has views on life and life will never please all, but we are proud we do our utmost to provide the best for our guests who stay here and welcome back so many who enjoy and return and would always look to improve anything that was true. It does upset when we get a 4/10 (and a 6/10 for customer service when we did no wrong to you but only provide friendliness and any help) as our business would never thrive as it does if our guests thought this lowly of us and our site - so we have to comment to ensure such ratings don’t detriment our livelihood that sooooo many love and enjoy what we have created here. Steve, Ruth & Harrison

A aimé Lots to do including borrowing games. Quiet site. Great toilet/shower facilities.
Fantastic information before arrival.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for your review and so pleased you found all to be well during your stay and enjoyed the games, facilities and some quiet time! We do hope you enjoyed and do hope to see your return! Steve, Ruth & Harrison

A aimé Remote, small

N'a pas aimé Dirty shower, not flexible, too expensive

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Oh dear what a shame a nice time wasn’t had especially when all your faults are so often praised by our guests!

We are not able to do much about the location, but obviously opinions on the rural and quietness can differ but our pricing you will find is generally in keeping with other sites and for a family of 4 and there is not much cheaper for a night away in this day and age! Accommodation quality was of course your own tent, so there is nothing we can do about that and the wifi we do state we don’t provide, so a pretty high rating considering.

We are so often praised on our facilities and customer service along with child friendliness and cleanliness so are really saddened you too didn’t experience or sense it. It may be your one night stay arrived after the showers were cleaned and used and you left in the morning before they were cleaned again as I do remember saying to you on check in too that the facilities were just about to be cleaned, as your partner was about to use them, but never have I cleaned the showers and they have been ‘filthy’ and of course we are not able to clean after each guest use - they make the mess, not us and we clean them once a day and top up check twice a day.

We have no cars on site which we have for child friendliness, 2 play parks, a swing, woods, den building, outdoors games, The Cubby with books and games and snacks all which we provided to cater for children which they just love and are part of our activities and facilities we provide here at our little site!

As for customer service, we would never be rude or provide an inadequate service, ever, and are always friendly on guests arrival to greet them and tell them what they need to know and want. I am not sure what it was specifically you found not to your standard as it must have been quite an awful experience to rate so low when we are so friendly and approachable and alway here to answer questions or needs… if you are referring to the fact you wanted a Glamping Tent instead and we were unable to do so, due to them being booked or not ready for check in, then that’s a little unfair as I had explained this to you as is a little out of our hands when you were of course brining your own tent - I take customer service very personally as it’s me you refer to and to rate so low, so am not sure what you expect from people when all we did was be friendly and polite and smile and help?!

We are very proud of what we offer and run here at Seven Acre Woods and with such a low rating, we felt we had to ensure other guests were not put off to come and stay so to give valid reasonings for all your negatives, we hope it will ensure our place is not as awful as you have made out.

We wish you well and a shame you were not able to enjoy you stay here for so many reasons, unlike so many others do.