Totally dissapionted with haven holiday!

uptomyeyes1984

Hi everyone, i posted on here the other week talking about our first family holiday to Haven's at caister in Norfolk, i love norfolk it's lovely loads to do which is lucky because that wasnt the case in the camp site.

we were lucky enough to have booked in january and got a fantastic deal (booking through them) no where near there normal prices. (which is lucky as we would have been mighty pi**ed off if we had paid the £250 odd pound that it would have been) anyway there ws myself and husband our little boy whos nearly 2 and our 3month old, also my mother and father in law in another caravan. we went on the monday and came home today.

I havent been there since i was a kid but we expected more from them. the 1st day we were looking forward to going swimming all the palarva or getting the boys sorted and with no family changing areas it made it so akward not olny that the changing rooms looked like they had never been cleaned. I only managed to stay in the water for 5 mins as it was so cold and they had all the doors open it was not suitable for children.

The only things to do during the day on site was arcades and a few kids clubs. but as soon as it rained everything shut, fair enough if it ws suitable for somethings to stay open but it was like a ghost town so back to the caravan it was and i'm not joking we could have left to come home that day.

please tell me not all the havens places are like this as we want to try somewhere else. anyone else been to this one (or others) and experienced this.

Thanks kelly

Keeping_Positive

They arent great with poor weather and I was very annoyed at all the extra selling they did in the shows ie choc bars and magic toys after a magic show, This meant lots of pestering. These days I look for things nearby off campus (particulary Tesco voucher takers).

annie_d

Our Haven Holiday in Prestatyn was dreadful too. Sounded just like yours. x

tanith

Haven don't run their camps at full capacity entertainment wise in the Winter, It says so in the brochure/website, its usual for most things to be a bit erratic as they don't take on full staff till the proper season starts so if you really want everything working you have to pay full season prices and go in the Summer months... its cheaper for this reason in the Winter even if you paid full price its still cheap because they are not running a full entertainment program. Sorry but did you really need a family changing room for a baby and a 2yr old? The staff are usually helpful and maybe if asked would of closed the doors ..

We have been to several Haven camps all over the UK and for the price paid find them ok.. by no means a perfect holiday but they serve as a base to explore the surrounding countryside/coastline..

mobby-2554

Haven are not the best but okay if you use them just as a base for somewhere cheap to stay!

My daughter stayed in one & the pool looked awful.

dogcat_2

We stayed In a Haven site - last year. It was a cheap holiday - through tokens collected with local newspaper. We found It to be OK, although they charged the earth to go swimming. We didn't bother! The site was lovely and clean - and so was the caraven. We would go back again.

susancs

We went to Haven Caister last July for a week and had a lovely time. We stayed in a chalet and we were fortunate to get probably the only good week weather wise in the summer holidays. The kids (aged 6 and 10) loved the pool, but as the weather was warm got changed in the chalet first and just took off top outfits. We found the beach there lovely and liked the direct accees to this. During the day we did not (apart from a morning swim), use the holiday park as we went to areas like Great Yarmouth and did activities there, also visited local attractions like the Castle etc. We found the evening entertainment good with professional bands in the main ballroom, plus the kids loved the 4d panto (as did the adults). We also went to the Mash and Barrell on occassion for the night time entertainment and to eat. The food was good and we enjoyed the curry night and cavery, plus the onsite chinese takeaway was good. Maybe like the poster above says, as you went out of peak season-many of the activities and entertainment was not available.

We did once go to the Haven in Hastings and it was really awful (in August, so peak season), the accomodation was unclean and we had to have it changed. The park was understaffed and dirty, so hardly spent any time on the site. I did get an apology and offer of a weeks holiday, but it was so bad, would never stay there again. We loved the area, and had stayed elsewhere previously and had a great holiday.

geri1965_2

We went to Perran Sands in May one year on a Sun holiday. Our chalet was grotty and very basic - the mattress actually had stains on it. I don't know about the entertainment etc. as we were using it as a base, but the shop was only open for a few hours a day, which was pretty poor considering there are no other shops within walking distance of the site.

TBH if I was going to go on another holiday like that I'd go to a Parkdean site. I've been to two of theirs now and was very impressed both times.

uptomyeyes1984

Thanx for all your comments i have no complaints with the caravan we stayed in it was fantastic (superior) lovely and clean on arrival spotless. the park was also well maintained and always saw people cleaning up and cutting grass etc... i really dont understand there lack of things to do the park was packed with people and kids. we did explore norfolk its such a great place. and we did expect most or yarmouth seafront to be shut due to the time of year we went.

As for the comment made by someone about the family changing room, i do feel that i needed one trying to get 2 kiddies dry and dressed is always easier with 2 people, i feel they are needed in most place i'm not the only person who would use one (they have these at my local pool) and are great, due to this time of year unfortunatly i couldnt walk back to the caravan wet if it was warm i deffinatly would.

Jack's_mummy

I went to Haven in Hastings years ago and cried nearly every night as I hated it. It was dirty, poorly staffed and on the last night someone set fire to an empty caravan 3 vans away from us:eek:

vikingaero

We booked a couple of years ago to stay at Haven Hafan-y-Mor using our Tesco vouchers. It cost the equivalent of £400 for a Gold Chalet. After booking and paying the deposit with Mr Tesco we read the awful reviews. :eek::rolleyes:

We were really really worried and decided to cut our losses and forfeit the holiday. We still wanted to stay in the area so we looked up pine lodges and google came up with a few private lodges in Hafan-y-Mor!

The Gold Chalets looked really grim. There were no nets and you could see how poorly maintained they were when walking past to the restaurant. The local staff were very friendly, the foreign workers quite cold and offish.

The park was generally poorly maintained and dirty. We were so glad that we were using the lodge as a base only.

The state of the park was summed up to a tee by the indifference and contempt of a receptionist. I was queuing to return the key to the desk at the end of the holiday (you pick up and deposit the keys at the main desk for private lodges). There was one chap in front of me who had arrived that morning being served. He reeled off a list of about 10 faults with his chalet which the receptionist duly noted and said would be fixed. He walked off and I waited to be called over. The receptionist picked up the phone to maintenance and told them the 10 faults but to only repair 2 of the items! Unless it is a private lodge/caravan I would never stay at a Haven.