Half price summer hols at Pontin's throughout August

StaceyAKelly

Sorry totally disagree, Pontins is not dirty. Yes some of the budget chalets are tatty, but then they are budget. Haven do not provide budget accomodation, their lowest grade accomodation is 4 star!

If you wanna get really petty, I went to Haven in April. My sister and I both booked the same grade caravan (a gold caravan). We were lucky compared to my sister who didnt have any form of heating in it. We both had the privilage of all our electrics blowing in the middle of the night (thank god for mobile phones enabling us to phone security) especially for my sister who was there with out her husband and a 3 month old baby and two other young children. There was dog muck all over the place as they allow animals.

I have kept that to myself before now because no doubt lots of people have holidays booked and have been really looking forward to them and I dont want to be responsbile for ruining them before they get there. That is my personal experience and the next person can go along and have a great time. A holiday is what you make it after all. If you find things to complain about you aint gonna have a good time. As the saying goes, let your hair down and stop stressing over a bit of peeling paint, its a holiday!!!

StaceyAKelly

sluggy1967 wrote: »

My tip for this site would be - try Center Parcs instead! Hubby & I have been a number of times sharing a villa with friends or relatives & it has worked out as cheap as Pontins or Butlins. CP is a million times nicer than other camps, & the kids have a fantastic time (have you ever heard of a 4yr old begging for bed at 5pm because they are so exhausted? That's what our son did!) There are a number of websites which give out code discounts (including this one, and the CP website itself)

That said, I hope you have a great holiday Superjules, don't be downhearted by what others have said!

You know I havent tried centre parks yet, been a little reluctant to venture that bit further with my kids killing each other in the back lol, might buy one of those dvd players for the car and try it later on in the year, are they open all year round?

dmg24

The whole Centre Parcs/ Butlins thing seems to be down to personal opinion. Personally, I find CP a bit scruffy nowadays, but the Gold accommodation at Butlins is fab! x

simes

sluggy1967 wrote: »

My tip for this site would be - try Center Parcs instead! Hubby & I have been a number of times sharing a villa with friends or relatives & it has worked out as cheap as Pontins or Butlins. CP is a million times nicer than other camps, & the kids have a fantastic time !

Center Parcs as cheap as Pontins or Butlins !!!!
You have got to be joking....

I have been to Center Parcs many times ( at staff rates as my partner worked there). It is VERY expensive. Even with 8 people in a 4 bed comfort villa, it would still be more expensive than Butlins or Pontins. Then everything in Centre Parcs ( apart from the swimming pool) costs extra, and its very expensive even compared to Butlins/ Pontins.
Yes its very nice, but its not cheap and to be honest kids would most likely enjoy Butlins more. There are numerous free activities at Butlins ( and Pontins during the school holidays).

sluggy1967

Everytime we have been to CP (November, March, May & July) we have never paid more than £120 per couple. I have always made sure I've used the discounts available & get between 20 & 30% off their full price, never less. We don't bother with any of the activities you have to pay for (except when we went in November we saw Father Christmas, it cost £6 & the toy was very good quality, they could easily have ripped people off for more money than that) because there is more than enough to do there to keep kids amused. We paid to go to Butlins in September 2 yrs ago, it cost us £200 & it put me off for life. (You don't see drunk people in Center Parcs in the middle of the day, you do at Butlins, and the chalet was damp) I've also never been woken up by drunks shouting & banging on doors at Center Parcs.

user10_2

We paid £145 (half price) to stay here. Our party consisted of 2 adults and 2 children (aged 2 and 5.) We never expected luxury and simply laughed off the fact that the accomodation was like a prison camp!!! However, things just went from bad to worse:

1. Swimming baths dirty and smelt of fish...even the lifguards were complaining!!

2. No entertainment during the day - our 5 yr old was too young to take part in rock climbing and too young for kids club! Even if he was old enough, each activity was at a cost of £5 and lasted no longer than 10 mins.

3. Food was chips, burger and chips!!!

4. Resembled a council estate!!!!

We booked to stay here for 3 nights but had enough after 1 night and left!

Dont do it!!!!!

fionaroscoe

In reply to post regarding transferring a free holiday to another person, yes it was all above board I telephoned Pontins with my friends details and they sent out a new confirmation to their address. Think they are just grateful to be getting custom at all.PS ARE YOU SPONSORED BY PONTINS STACY? you seem very defensive to any criticism?And no I dont expect financial recompense an apology would suffice and the promise that they will try to improve their standards so some other poor souls dont have the misery my friend did. If in any doubt about Pontins Southport just take a quick look at the customer reviews on any holiday review site and compare the customer satisfaction to that of Haven sites.Hope this is helpful to any wouldbe Pontins holiday makers, although the main problem appears to be on the Southport site

StaceyAKelly

No I am not any form of a sponser for Pontins, nor do I work there, nor am I related to anyone that does. My family and I regularly holiday at Pontins and feel that you have been completely unfair. Your allegations are complete fabrications. They are stories you have heard and would appear to be a case of chinese whispers. I note that you say you have been in the past yourself so why apply for a free break there if you knew it was a "holiday from hell" ? If you bought some shop brand beans and they were mouldy would you give the second tin you bought to a friend?

Can only suggest that in the future, leave the free breaks to people that appreciate them!

fionaroscoe

The holiday I took at Pontins was fine, if you had read my post properly you would have seen that I did not have a problem with cleanliness at that time. My 'allegations' as you put them are not fabrications they are in fact the first hand experience of a trusted friend. I am sure you have had many excellent breaks at Pontins. I myself would regularly visit Pontins Blackpool every year as a child and have very fond memories of the place. My problem is with 1 site and 1 experience. Please allow me the priveledge of expressing an opinion, after all thats what this site is all about. I am sure the other viewers of this thread are more than capable of deciding for themselves based on their own rsearch and experiences. Thank you for taking the time to reply. I hope you can see my point.

StaceyAKelly

I am merely stating my opinion, you say its filthy, I say it is not!