We usually go to Lynton and Lynmouth, North Devon for our family holidays. This year I thought we would try something new. After spending weeks agonising over where to go. We finally made a decision. Haggerston Castle, Northumberland near Berwick-Upon-Tweed, staying in a Silver 3 bedroom caravan which sleeps 8 people. We managed to bag a good deal, the price was £366 inc bedlinen, and funworks passes for the whole family, a bargain I thought. Normally the price would have been double this amount. The week booked was for August the 11th 2007 to August 18th 2007. We chose this site because it promised lots of on site entertainment, amusement arcades, clubs, bands, restaurants, convenience store, Burger king, fish and chip shop, even a Chinese restaurant, and activities for all the family, plus lots more, whatever the weather. It also had a 5 star rating. Being a large family of seven, of varying ages this sounded like the ideal holiday.
We set off on our holiday in the early hours of the morning, arriving at 8.am on the 11th August 07. The length of the journey was 5 hours long with one stop for breakfast. Everyone was excited and raring to go. On our arrival, we thought it looked really nice. We had to wait until 9.am for the information office to open. We couldn't get the keys to our caravan until 2.pm, we knew this already, so had a quick look around to get the feel of the place. I had a chat with another family with children of varying ages, who had just finished their holiday and asked them if they had enjoyed their stay on the Haven site. What they had to say on the holiday site wasn't very complimentary. This worried me a lot. They hadn't spent any time on site at all. Just used the caravan as a base, and visited other places instead. Every thing went down hill from there.
On returning to the Haven site I went to the main office for the keys to the caravan, only to be redirected with map in hand elsewhere on site to join a queue. ( you basically had to queue for everything on site.)This definitely resembled a cattle market. Clutching the keys, I was then handed a large bag of bed linen. I am sure it was a black bin liner. Gathered the family together, key, bedlinen, and map in hand went off to find our caravan. Thankfully it was well away from the entertainment centre. It generated a lot of noise in the evening.
The caravan looked ok from the outside, until you got inside. You were greeted with dirty carpets (yes, I know we have had a lot of rain, but that is no excuse.) It looked like it had seen better days. Looking round the caravan I started to get that sinking feeling.
We decided, ( more worryingly our children agreed with our decision) that we didn't like what we saw of the site, but we were going to make the best of our holiday. We did use the on site facilities. It wasn't to bad. The on site convenience store was a bit on the expensive side. We shopped mainly in Berwick-upon-Tweed. We also spent our days visiting Holy Island, Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Seahouses, Edinburgh. There were a couple of lovely pubs/restaurants nearby, which served great food and was excellent value for money. We enjoyed these activities far more than being on the Haven site. This was not our idea of a ideal family holiday. If you are thinking of visiting this Haven site, please don't let me put you off. This was just our opinion. TRY IT FOR YOURSELF. You may have a better experience than we did. x