Thanks to everyone who has made me green - you know who you are. xx
Thanks to everyone who has made me green - you know who you are. xx
Member since:11.09.2003
Reviews:17
Members who trust:4
Ok well I will be honest with you – we booked this holiday through The Sun newspaper. It was one of those really cheap holidays where you collect the tokens then choose your destination from a choice given to you. You can book a haven holiday online at www.havenholidays.co.uk. There were 5 of us on this holiday (all adults) and after upgrades and extras it ended up costing approx £9 each – which is not bad at all. And am I glad we booked it this way because would be very disappointed and possibly very broke if we booked it through the normal channels. We stayed for 4 nights arriving on Monday and leaving on Friday.
Directions and Checking in Directions were sent with the confirmation booking. It was quite a straight forward journey which took about 3 hours. It was straight down M5 leaving at junction 30. After leaving the motorway directions were not too good but we found the resort pretty easily with only taking 2 wrong turns. We arrived just before 5:00pm as check in was at 4:00pm. Check-in time varied depending on the type of caravan you were staying in. I think off the top of my head they were: 12:00 for Gold standard, 1:30pm for Silver standard and 4:00pm for bronze standard. Check in was simple and straightforward and all personnel were friendly and extremely
helpful. Even though check in times are specified you can arrive at any time and use the facilities (or at least that’s what they tell you) but seeing as though you need an entertainment pass to access most facilities which you cant get until you check in it seems pretty pointless. Our entertainment passes came free with our package (and looking on the haven site this seems to be the norm), but if you do have to pay for them separately they will cost you £8.50 for an adult pass. I’m not too sure about the child's pass as there were no children in our party.
The Caravan The caravan was absolutely lovely. It had 3 bedrooms which consisted of a double bedroom and 2 twin rooms, the living room area also had a fold out double bed under one of the seats, which meant this caravan could sleep 8, although this may have been a bit cramped at other times such as meal times etc. The bed linen, crockery, cutlery etc were provided and the caravan also had an adequate size bathroom with a shower. The views were fantastic with the caravan park situated approx 5 mins walk from beach (some caravans were right on sea front), and the views from our caravan window were amazing. There was a beautiful view of the sea. Our caravan had parking outside of it although I know that this was not the case with all caravans and some people had to leave there cars at the reception parking which could be anything up to a 20 min walk away.
The Entertainment The entertainment was great – if you are a kid – there are lots of activities aimed at younger children which took place throughout the day and also in the boardwalk of a night which included a lot of children participation on and off stage. The adult entertainment in Capones was dire to say the least. The resident band Junction 21 consisted of 2 female singers (whose harmonies did not go together), a male singer, a female on guitar who looked as though she was only there as punishment for a crime and a male on drums (probably the best feature of the group). The best part of their performance was the backing track that was being played. There were other acts that played in Capones as well and these were a lot better – especially the 2 guys who would sing (cant remember the name of this act). So like I say if you are a kid you are sorted and I guess these sort of holidays are aimed more at kids and families with young children. So if you haven’t got any children I would seriously think twice about this type of holiday. Also another disadvantage to all of the entertainment was the fact you had to have the entertainment pass to gain entry to them. We had taken the dance mat (which plugs directly into your tele) with us and we had more laughs playing on this than any of the entertainment, apart from laughing at the cheesy reps, and bad singing.
Food and drink Well if you haven’t won the lottery I suggest you try to eat at the caravan as much as possible and prepare your own meals rather than eat out due to the prices of them. There were a few places to eat on site which included the boardwalk were the prices were approx £2.95 for a kids meal which is not too bad and a good variety, but when it comes to adult meals the average main meal cost approx £8 and there was not much variety. If you didn’t want to eat there, you could choose from the Indian or Chinese kiosk, a burger bar, a fish and chip kiosk or bar meals. Again all of these were above the “normal” reasonable price. The drinks are no better, here are the prices for a round of drinks we bought. And this doesn’t include my mom because she didn’t want to go out, we had a double vodka for £4.15, 2 bottle of alcopops at £3.00 each and a pint of carling for £3.00 = £13.15 for 4 drinks! We only bought these drinks on the first night and on the second and third nights we were a bit naughty and was only buying soft drinks and sneaking our own spirits in to mix with the soft drinks. Naughty I know but it had to be done. There was no point in going on a cheap holiday to pay through the nose for food and drink!
Offsite Activities Devon Cliffs is situated approx 30 mins from Paignton, Torquay and Brixham and approx 1 hour 45 mins from Bude in cornwall. There are lots of things to do at these nearby resorts and although the holiday park want you to stay onsite – a venture offsite to one of the local seaside resorts is a must.
Facilities Facilities onsite include: - swimming pool and fun pool - amusement arcade - bowling - crazy golf - restaurants and bars as detailed above - laundrette - hire shops - shopping zone - beach shop - tanning zone
Although a lot of this review seems quite negative we did have a good holiday but I think that is mainly due to the fact we were all going to relax and weren’t looking for an action packed holiday. This holiday would be great if you have children as there is plenty to see and do and loads to keep the children occupied. It is however a very expensive place with extortionate prices, so be prepared to spend a lot here especially in the arcade which you have to pass through every time you want to attend other attractions. Luckily for me I am quite good on the bandits and won 9 out of 10 times – much to my sisters disgust who couldn’t even get the change machine to pay out!
I have covered everything I can think of and remember but if there is anything else you think I could include or want to know then please let me know.
great review, it sounds alot like butlins, but i think they are owned by the same company bourne leisure?
mummysg 23.03.2005 01:20
Aaahhhh...Devon Cliffs! The view from our caravan was breath-taking! We paid GBP 100.00 for 2 bdrms and did our own cooking, 4days/3 nights. Entertainment for kids was ok, they loved the pool. We've booked a caravan at Combe Haven in Hastings this summer- GBP 154.00 for the five of us. Can't wait!
markinbelv 27.06.2004 19:10
Already booked but its good to see what we're going into. Good review
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
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.
May 1st, 2004
(May 2nd, 2004)
exceptional by (4%):
very helpful by (96%):
