Woe is me.
My family and I (3 adults and 3 under 7 children) have just returned from a weeks "holiday" at a Haven Holiday's Site.
The Tale....
We were booked into Apartment 2 at Weymouth Bay Haven Holiday Park on 18th August 2007.
I am disabled (walk with a stick due to arthritis) ... Read review
A review by Aginoth on HavenHolidays.com August 27th, 2007
Author's product rating:
Value for Money
Very poor
Advantages:
None I could find
Disadvantages:
Few Staff, Dirty . Unsuitable for Disabled, Expensive, Badly laid out, Poor Health and Safety
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
Woe is me.
My family and I (3 adults and 3 under 7 children) have just returned from a weeks "holiday" at a Haven Holiday's Site.
The Tale....
We were booked into Apartment 2 at Weymouth Bay Haven Holiday Park on 18th August 2007.
I am disabled (walk with a stick due to arthritis) and my mother has recently come out of hospital after a bout of Pneumonia and suffers from Obstructive Pulminary Disorder. Haven were told of my Disability and inability to walk long distances when we booked.
We booked in at 1330, having paid for Gold Standard Accommodation, and all seemed well, until the map came out to show us where our accomodation was. Now remember we have 2 disabled persons in our party and they had been informed of my mobility problems...the Apartments are about as far as it is possible to get from the central facilities area, I measured it on our car odometer at over half a mile...this is a BIG Site.
Not overly impressed by this we thought we'd make the best of it, after all there was disabled parking by reception, so resigned ourselves to having to drive accross the camp several times a day.
So we go to our accomodation. From the outside the apartment looks excellent, and large, then we open the front door (security provided by abysmal 3 lever mortice lock). That was when we encountered the beginings of our woes.
The first thing we noted was all the windows we're open; odd we thought as it was persistently raining outside and it was only about 14 Centigrade, hardly balmy. We closed them...well you would, and thought not a lot more of it...except there was the occasional waft of a "damp building" smell. The other thing we found was the beds had all been moved away from the walls, again we didn't really register what that meant. We unpacked, grabbed some dinner from the local Chip shop and settled the kids into bed that evening, not wanting to venture out into the foul weather.
Next Morning we awoke to a deeply pervasive musty smell of damp and mould, and my Mother awoke unable to breathe without constant use of her inhalers, thankfully it had stpped raining so we set up a table and chair outside for her whilst we investigated. What we found was abysmal.
- The Walls of the 2 twin rooms were deeply damp to a height of about 4 feet above the floor. - The beds and bedding were soaked from where we had pushed them back against the walls. - The was mould growth in small patches in virtually every corner of the apartment and around all the windows (we missed this upon arrival due to the poor light)
These 3 points in themselves made the accommodation unfit for habitation, and had seriously affected my mothers health overnight.
So we did a full survey of the property....I should add at this point I am a NEBOSH Qualified Health and Safety Officer and my wife is in the Legal profession.
This is what we found.
- Dead insects everywhere, sqashed on walls, desicated around the edge of the carpets etc. - Mould everywhere (all around the bathroom/toilet, all corners, windows) - Cobwebs and dust everywhere
The apartment had obviously not been cleaned properly in months (desicated insects...yuk)
And there's more the aparment was substandard against building regulations. - the Toilet opened directly onto the Kitchen (building regs require a 2 door seperation for hygiene) - the extractor fan vent from the toilet exhausted into the kitchen (against building regs) instead of to the outside of the building.
So I took photographs of all the defects and health risks and we went to the Weymouth Bay reception.
We went to reception at 9am, and refused the accomodation as it was not fit for purpose. We were expecting a bit of an argument, as it is high season, and they obviously would not be able to offer an alternative apartment as they were al occupied. We barely had to say what the problem was before they were agreeing with us that it was not acceptable .
This was quite odd; we got the feeling that they knew that it was uninhabitable before they even put us there! We gave them until lunch time to sort it out. Went back to the apartment, packed everything up again. Tried to explain to the kids what was going on.
Went back reception at 11.30. They offered us a standard class two bed caravan. We refused. They then offered a Gold 3 bed caravan on the next door site (Seaview) until Tuesday. We refused. We suggested they give us a full refund (£969) and we'd find somewhere else, and that we expected whatever happened to be sorted out by midday. We had already lost a day of our holiday.
The Supervisor on reception wen tto talk to the maanger...faced with a demanded full cash refund they decided the 3 bed caravan on the Seaview Camp was actually available all week.
So off we went, and spent the rest of the week in a caravan as opposed to an apartment, not ideal considering my mobility issues, and the fact my wife doesn't like caravans, especially considering our young children... my kids are not just like a herd of elephants but more of the full safari at 6am, and there is no escaping that in a caravan, whereas a cottage offers rooms to be sent to, and doors to be shut on.
Needless to say a long letter of complaint asking for compensation will be heading it's way to Haven this week.
And so onto the a review of the rest of the camp...
Staff - other than the lifeguards there were a total of 11 entertainment and Customer care/ Reception Staff...between 2 sites of in excess of 500 caravans, and maybe 2000 guests.
Swimming pools - Indoor pools on both sites were filthy, and over chlorinated to a level where my eyes were burning after a couple of minutes in the water. The Outdoor pools wer ecleaner, but only because they were hardly used, having had no sun on them in weeks to raise them to a usable temperature.
Onsite Shop - Well stocked, OK prices, totally incmpetent staff who were unable to answer the simplest questions, nor apparently were they trained to used the tills effectively.
Childrens Soft Play - Planted smack bang in the middle of the Amusement Arcades of both sites, very noisy, and deliberately placed to encourage spending in the arcades. The arcades themselves were very loud.
Entertainement venues - Overpriced Drinks from bars which were understaffed (£3.70 for a pint of Cider!!!), constant force feeding of camp mascot merchandise, Very loud (illegally so I felt). Mediocre entertainment, no adult bingo on Seaview Site.
Site Layout - Only stay at Weymouth Bay if you like long dull walks through caravan parks. Only Stay at Seaview if you like Steep Hills. Neither site is at all Suitable for disabled holiday makers
Epilogue: Unsurprisingly, come Tuesday, the cottage was occupied again - I expect they told whoever was suposed to be coming into the caravan we were now in that they had been given an upgrade!
It took until Thursday for my mother's Breathing to fully recover ruining her holiday.
Conclusion: We're looking at butlins next year, and will never stay at a Haven Site Again..ever !!!!
Advantages: Good entertainment with most things inclusive of price Disadvantages: Drinks prices extortionate, British weather
I've been going on Haven holidays for a long time now and have been to a great number of their different sites throughout England and Wales. They used to be part of the Rank Organisation but it was sold off a couple of years ago to British Holidays. Things aren't as good since that happened.
There are only 18 sites to choose from now as many smaller site have been sold off to a company called Park Resorts so if you have been to say Cayton Bay just ... ...it in the Park Resorts brochure. Back to Haven though and where there used to be quite a bit of choice in Scotland and Wales we now have only 1 park in Scotland - Craig Tara, the old Butlins site outside Ayr - and 2 in Wales - Presthaven Sands, just outside Prestatyn and Hafan Y Mor, another Butlins site this time near Pwllheli. The other sites and their locations are as follows:-
Yorkshire - Blue Dolphin, Primrose Valley and Reighton Sands - all ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Good all round family entertainment Disadvantages: Caravans are damn cold unless you go for gold class
This may we wanted to get a family holiday away for a week but having a new baby we couldn`t go abroad so we looked around and opted for Haven Holiday park in Maplethorpe.
As long as you go with an open mind and are prepared to be organised then you can have a very good time as I will explain:
What we first did was to have a good look on the internet and decide which was the nearest haven for us to go to. Bear in mind when doing this work it out ... ...as the crow flies and it never quite works that way. We came up with a price of £84 for a week at Maplethorpe in Silver class accomodation caravan which was a bargain and I decided to book it over the phone. The man was very helpful but one bit of advise would be to ignore what they are babbling on at first as they spout all sorts of prices to you at first but then suprise suprise they come up with the internet price after some fantastic over the ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Value for Money
very helpful
11.06.2005
Quick review of haven-holidays.co.uk Review ofHavenHolidays.comby
hoiday
Very expensivve holiday. Booked a disabled caravan for a 7 night stay cost £856, slept 4 people, then had to pay for the hire of a wheelchair a further £30 plus £5 deposit.This should have been included in the price holiday.
Carpet in the living area of the caravan dirty with drink stains and cigarette burns
On arrival gas fire and cooker grill not working,reported immediately to domestic supervisor who did not report it ,hence we spent a very cold first night in the caravan.As my mother is elderly and disabled I found this very annoying
Accessabilty to venues for the daisbaled wheelchair user very good.
Organisation at meal times leaves a lot to be desired
Would not recommend this holiday.
Very poorly signposted
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Check availabilty instantly, £5 discount Disadvantages: Can not always get all discounts available
This Website on the face of it works very well, put in your preferred dates, site you requireand the type of accomdation you require and within moments you are given cost and availability including, it says, any relevant discounts.
The only problem with this that I find if you then contact the Sales Office direct you can almost manage without fail to negotiate an additional discount. Over the last 3 years I have managed to save around £25 per Holiday ... ...Sales department and checking that all relevent discounts have been applied ,this year for example, I was awarded a £15 priority guest discount which was not applied on the internet.
The Website contains all of the same information, photos etc as the brochure, but it doeas save you the hassle of venturing out to a Travel Agent.
All in all the website works well if you are not to bothered about extracting the last pounds worth of saving out of the ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Value for Money
helpful
25.11.2004
(14.01.2005)
Quick review of haven-holidays.co.uk Review ofHavenHolidays.comby
barnfield3
I stayed at Haggerston Castle in October, in what was supposed to be a silver grade caravan. It was grubby and damp, and so cold that there was ice on the inside of the windows. When I complained and asked for another caravan or at least some heaters, I was told there was nothing available, and if I wanted heaters I should go out and buy some. I have written letters of complaint, but the attitude is that I am making a fuss about nothing, and if I wanted comfort I should have booked "gold" caravan.
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Quiet, Relaxing, Loads for the kids Disadvantages: you need a car to get around
..., this can vary from a singer to a group performance,
Overall i really enjoyed my holidays on this site, the caravans that Haven rent out are of a certain quality they range from Gold, which comes with a microwave and early check-in to Bronze which is very basic, but has a late check-in, Our caravan is a gold, but every time we have booked with Haven we have not been disappointed.
I would recommend this caravan holiday park to everyone, especially as you can pick up great deals from Haven themselves or from private owners on the site.
Ok so you may not be guaranteed the weather. but you are guaranteed a fantastic holiday every time.
Greenacres HavenHoliday Park,
Black Rock Sands
Morfa Bychan,
Porthmadog.
North Wales
www.havenholidays.com
www.directcaravanrentals.co.uk...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Many things to entertain all in one place Disadvantages: A little pricey at times
...excellent interiors.
Smoking is NOT allowed in the Platinum models.
NOTE:
All the static caravans come with showers rooms, kitchens, living rooms and either 2 or 3 bedrooms. Most are cleaned to a good standard but things can be missed.
Prices vary as there are choices of 3,4 or 7 night offers, and the style of caravan adds to the cost.
PRICES?
Prices vary dramatically depending on the chosen caravan and the time of year you wish to take your holiday.
During school Holidays are the most expensive times.
(For prices please check the web site at www.haven.com )
NOTE:
Presthaven sands does NOT accommodate tents but does allow touring caravans which can be pitched near the entrance of the park.
CHECKING IN?
Check in time depends on the modals of caravan you have chosen.
Standard/standard plus...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Javea= gorgeous, hot, cheap Disadvantages: a very smelly fish market
..., some of the best sightseeing opportunities can be found while driving through the mountains and taking a glance back down to the coast.
If you decide to stay self catering then Javea offers many amenities to cater for your every need. It even has a Lidl, McDonalds but also your more typical spanish supermarkets and local stores. As Javea is a port town the supermarkets specialise in fish- all manner of fish and shellfish- some still alive, heads and all. (slightly off putting and scary if you're a bit squeamish!)
Before I set off I wanted to know what Javea was supposed to be like and I read this quote - "Javea, is a town of great beauty, magical landscapes, a haven of peace and serenity." (www.spain-holiday.com) If that doesn't make you want to pack your suncream and go, then I don't know what will!...
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This product has not yet been reviewed. 
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