Bizarrely, the site insists on proof of identity. If you question this policy you are told in a rude way that you just have to show them your ID or your booking will be cancelled. They can't or won't explain why they need you to do this, when no other campsite in the country does, nor do hotels. I have a suspicion that it's to make sure they don't have any non-english guests as I didn't see anyone who wasn't english, and the area is known for electing an extremely far right MP.
From my pre-arrival experience, I expected a below par site. Boy did they aim lower than I expected.
Camping is not the focus of this site. They sell caravans.
Arrival was very basic. There wasn't an introduction, or advice on the rules, or on activities, or where anything was. A simple "you're on pitch X, it's there, off you go", which wasn't very welcoming.
When we arrived there was no hot water in the shower block. Guests were advised to make the 20 minute round trip walk to their other site where there was a swimming pool, which had two showers with no privacy. It was not really an adequate solution to the problem. We didnt want to drag our kids 20 minutes for a basic shower, so we just made do with cold water.
Water was restored on day 3 of our trip, but the showers are designed so you have to hold the button in to get water. This means you can't have a leisurely shower and instead have to try to wash one handed.
The entire touring site is crammed around the toilet and shower block. This means that out of the 80 or so plots, about 30 are adjacent to the toilet. You have a very high probability of hearing your neighbors poop. It is also lit all night by strong floodlights, which is great for safety I guess, but it means if you are anywhere near the lights, you'll have a super bright light shining into your tent all night.
You get very little space, it's about cramming as many tents as possible into the site, not about giving their customers room to fit their tent, a car, and some outdoor space for playing or sitting. It's clearly very highly occupied as the grass was dead throughout and there were large sections of each plot without any grass at all. I accept there has been mimimal rainfall, but they are not interested in keeping the grass healthy by having gaps in bookings. It's all about cash cash cash for the owners.
The facilities are basic, and the entertainments are very strongly focussed on bingo. I think it was Bingo three times a night each night we were there, except the saturday, which was kareoke. You could hear the kareoke from the tents at the rear of the campsite.
The indoor pool, as I said earlier is on a seperate site, and although it tells you that you must book online, this is not true, only 25% of their capacity is offered online so you are better just turning up. It's 1.25m deep throughout, so it's not suitable for poor swimmers who can't stand up. The lifeguards were more focussed on having fun and not on looking after the guests. Instead of spraying water at the swimmers, they really should have been watching for the safety of the swimmers. If I'd have been on duty, I'd have twice rescued my own daughter who got into difficulty. As it was, they never even noticed her.
If you are travelling as part of a group, you won't get to camp near each other. I was with a family member and our tents were about as far apart as it was possible to be. She was right next to the bins so I felt a bit sorry for her. We at least were up against the fence, which offered some nature and 5am wake-ups from the local cockerel.
All in all, the price does not reflect the service. It's possibly the most expensive campsite I've ever stayed at, and it was also possibly the worst. I'll be requesting a refund for the 2 days without hot water, and given my experience of their customer service, I expect to be treated very rudely, and ultimately have to submit a chargeback request via my credit card.
|