Now that I have done my Race for Life I will no longer be writing on ciao.
Now that I have done my Race for Life I will no longer be writing on ciao.
Member since:06.02.2001
Reviews:16
Members who trust:22
As the school holidays draw nearer my husband and I felt we needed a break and decided to go on-line to see if we could find any short breaks in Scotland over the Easter weekend.
We looked at various sites but couldn't find anything that caught our eye, then purely by chance we stumbled across the Haven Holiday's site.
This is a very well laid out site. You are given a choice of which part of the country you would like to look at. Once you have decided a map of that area comes up and each Haven centre in that area is marked with a number and you simply pick the number you would like to find out more about.
We looked at Craig Tara near Ayr
as it had lots of things for the children to do such as swimming, bike hire, children's clubs and an adventure playground.
Having decided where we wanted to go we then had to decide on the type of accommodation we required. We felt that the silver caravan would be best because it was very much a home from home. These caravans have a cooker, fridge freezer, shower, WC, microwave, and bed linen. All you need to take are duvet covers. They also have televisions and radio cassette players and all gas and electricity is covered in your holiday payment.
Now that we had made up our minds where to go, for how long (4 days), and what type of accommodation we wanted I submitted a price enquiry. This came back with the very reasonable cost of £234.As were happy with this I called the booking line with credit card at the ready to book our short break.
I got through to the booking line immediately. I gave the information of where we wanted to go etc and the operator informed me that unfortunately there were no caravans available for the dates we wanted. However, she then went on to tell us which other parks in Scotland still had vacancies for these dates and offered to make a booking. As I was unsure about what the other parks offered I declined the offer and said I would call back.
My husband and I then went back to the site and looked at the alternatives offered. After a short discussion we were both agreeing that the site in Dornoch sounded perfect. I again telephoned the booking line and got through straight away.
The operator again took all my details and then advised me that there were no silver caravans available but they did have a bronze plus which has all the same facilities but the caravan will be a slightly older model. We decided to take this and the price of £180 was charged for this.
As there is a Foot & Mouth outbreak at the moment I enquired as to whether there would be any restrictions on us walking in the area around the park. I was advised that they have not been notified of anything as yet but if there are any changes I will be informed.
I found booking our break through Haven to be very straightforward and stress free. The staff at the booking centre were knowledgeable and able to provide alternatives where necessary. The site itself was very easy to navigate and even gives plans of the insides of the caravans as well as full colour photographs of them. The site also gives plenty of information about what is available at each site and what times of the year things are open.
All I have to do now is earn enough money to keep the kids going in slush puppies for the four days!!
p.s I will update this when we come back and let you know what the site is like.
We have now enjoyed a wonderful short break in Durnoch. The caravan was very roomy and the facilities were excellent. There was plenty for the children to do. The swimmimg pool was well used by my family as were the play areas and dance floor.
This site has now been taken over by Parkdean but will be run like Haven until next year.
If you are looking for a quiet relaxing holiday in the middle of nowhere with plenty of fresh air, long walks and beautiful scenery then this is the holiday for you.
My family thoroughly enjoyed themselves and Iam sure we will head back again the same time next year.
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Aah takes me back......! I was in the 'Haven Tiger Club' when I was little! Ruth.
angel316 29.05.2001 20:44
Great opinion. Im off to Butlins soon and haven't been since they have done the renovations so hopefully will be able to write an article when I return.
Might consider booking another time for Haven, but I tend to go to the places that offer good deals for single parents. Case in point was Butlins that offered a 25% early booking discount and I pay child's price as I am the only adult travelling with tow children, so £189 for half board for a week was pretty good value.
RobinLawrie 10.05.2001 19:27
Excellent op. I missed this the first time round. Nice of ciao to let us re-run them.....Robin
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Advantages: Excellent staff, very friendly and helpful. Good entertainment Disadvantages: Can be pricey if you like the amusements. Lots of energy needed for the hills.
Mar 15th, 2001
(Apr 25th, 2001)
very helpful by (89%):
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