Tomlinsons Caravan and Leisure Park, Skegness

Apologies in advance, this is long review!

After seeing a report on my local news the other night I thought I would review the one thing that, over the last 5-6 years of my life has been a constant, come rain or shine, recession or boom we have visited and stayed at this particular place as our holiday home of choice.

The particular report I was referring to earlier, was the fact that out of all the poor companies in ...
...one of the worst hit areas for redundancy’s), the caravan companies were flourishing.

Now as I have already stated, we (myself, my husband, my two children and various other members of my family, depending who is available on holiday week!), have stayed at this particular caravan site for a while.

The caravan site in question is “Tomlinsons caravan and leisure park”, this particular site is based in our holiday destination ... more

Apologies in advance, this is long review!

After seeing a report on my local news the other night I thought I would review the one thing that, over the last 5-6 years of my life has been a constant, come rain or shine, recession or boom we have visited and stayed at this particular place as our holiday home of choice.

The particular report I was referring to earlier, was the fact that out of all the poor companies in my local area (I live in the Midlands, we are one of the worst hit areas for redundancy’s), the caravan companies were flourishing.

Now as I have already stated, we (myself, my husband, my two children and various other members of my family, depending who is available on holiday week!), have stayed at this particular caravan site for a while.

The caravan site in question is “Tomlinsons caravan and leisure park”, this particular site is based in our holiday destination of choice, Chapel St Leonard’s, a small village based around 1 mile from Fantasy Island, Ingoldmels.

The reason we initially pledged our allegiance to this particular site is due to the caravans and there rotations.
The site themselves state that the caravan that you will be staying in will be a new caravan, due to the exclusivity of some of the higher end sites, caravans are usually only allowed to be bought and kept on site for around 5 years, this is also subject to the caravan being kept in exceptional condition.

This being the case there is a small selection of caravans being available to rent through the site themselves that are privately owned, I have never personally rent one of these caravans, but my grandmother owned a caravan on this site for many years, so am aware of how vigorous they are in condition rules.

The caravans that we normally go for are the top end ones, these are marginally larger in size and much more luxurious than some of the others, I justify this to myself as we only have one “big” family holiday a year, so feel we can afford to spoil ourselves a little!

Before getting onto the caravans, prices, dimensions etc…. I will give you a little information on the site itself and the amenities available in the immediate area.

On site there is the obligatory site office, this is situated at the entrance wall, this may seem a funny thing to point out, but the site that is over the road, Robin hood’s office is situated inside the Tropicana club, this is not always sign posted and our first stop there left us wandering round trying to decipher our way into the caravan!

Anyway I digress!

The site office is clean and well run and is open at around 8.30am through to 4pm. The staff are always pleasant and accommodating.
Myself and my husband took our two kids for a surprise weekend there once, due to the fact that we had to pay for the standard three day break, but couldn’t actually get there until the Saturday, they threw in my son’s (a baby at the time) travel cot and high chair (available to hire for a small fee, around £5.00 each for a week), for free as a goodwill gesture, it was appreciated.

Also on site is a roving maintenance man, again very pleasant and willing to attend to your every maintenance need, whatever the time, should you need him outside of office hours there is a welcome pack in the caravan when you arrive that holds vital numbers for such things.
I tend to use him or the office the first minute we arrive, this I am afraid is due to water in this area, the water hold such a high amount of limescale that the kettle is always furred up to the eye balls, so I tend to change it as soon as we get in there.

On site is also a lovely little campsite club, called the Moonfleet, this is a well run club that, although not huge, is more than ample sized to hold 100 people, with there being a lovely little children’s room full to the rafters with arcade and grabber machines.

Attached to the club itself is a minuscule launderette, complete with three large washing machines and three equally large tumble dryers, you will need a few pounds in change to use them and if you go without washing powder and conditioner, you can purchase this cheaply from the site office.

Finally the last amenity to mention is a full sized swimming pool, exclusively for the Tomlinson’s site patrons.
For access you simply leave a deposit at the site office of £5.00, in return you will be given the key to get into the swimming block, though the building itself is not huge, it is free standing and a welcome reprieve from the flashing lights and arcade sounds of costa del Chapel!

This site in general is a beautifully kept site, with the grounds being as well kept as the caravans themselves, as we always stay in the higher end caravans, there is specific area for these with each row of three caravans being separated by a beautiful wooden gazebo, you would be surprised by how many times one of the members of my (adult) family has got to drunk and fell asleep in one of these!

Now onto the caravans themselves -

All caravans are classed as the “Rose Award”, but vary in space and bedrooms. The prices I am providing are upto date as of now, with price list on the sites website being updated in march, I have put the cheapest through to the dearest price on the caravan, these of course are subject to peak weeks which are usually around the kids summer break.

Rose award caravan holiday home - 28’x12’ wide, 2 bedroom, (sleeps 4) - £240 - £390.
32’x12’ wide, 2 bedroom, (sleeps 4) - £260 - £430.
35’x12’ wide, 2 bedroom, (sleeps 4) - £280 - £460.
35’x12’ wide, 3 bedroom, (sleeps 6) - £290 - £470 *
36’x12’ wide, 3 bedroom, (sleeps 6) - £320 - £490 *

Caravans with wheelchair access are also available, these are the same sizes as stated, but with a mobility ramp instead of the obligatory steps.
These are particularly beautiful, due the front of the caravans having what can only be described as a double pation door at the front, thus making these caravans very spacious and light.

2 Bedroom, (sleeps 4) - £250 - £430

A small selection of onsite bungalows are also available, these are sectioned off in there own exclusive little area of the site, these also have there own designated picnic area ith tables and chairs, as I have never used these I cannot comment on the quality of accomodation, though if they are as well kept as the caravans I assume they are again of a hight standard.

3 Bedroom, (sleeps 6), - £270 - £440.

All the above are also available for “mini breaks”, these are either 3 day breaks, midweek or long weekend, or Monday - Friday.
Be warned though these are not available in peak times or bank holidays.

The prices stated are for a weeks stay, though if you decide to stay for two weeks there is a slight subsidy in price, though this is only around £10.
The * caravans on the list are the “luxurious” caravans, though the only difference in amenities as such is the fact that you get a bit more space, and also a LCD television.

Every caravan has a fully stocked kitchen, with microwave and full size fridge/freezer. Digital television is standard within all also, there is also a cd player/alarm clock.

With the 3 bedroom caravans there also 2 bathrooms, with the main one being on-suite to the main bedroom, only downside is the fact it has two doors, one from the main corridor of the caravan and the other from the bedroom, trust me there is nothing worse than one of the kids wandering in unexpectedly after taking a dump, not only do they frighten the shit out of you, they expose the one they have just left in there! I normally lock the door to the bedroom, I can cope with having to walk the extra few steps to access it from the corridor!

These are beautifully kept caravans, all decorated as a home from home, the level of cleanliness is exceptional, though as you are expected to vacate by 10.30 am, and the next guest not being able to book in and collect their key until 2pm, the cleaners do have a considerable amount of time to get ready again.

All the bed linen is provided, though when you book the caravan you will be sent a detailed booking form to fill in, this will cover guests staying, names and ages, linen needed, any extras ie high chairs, pets (there is a small selection of caravans available to accommodate pets), and also car registration numbers.

This is due to the fact that though there is parking available around the site, it can be difficult to get a space during the weekend, so you do tend to park next to your caravan. This is a no-no, as the cars churn up the grass you can only park there when loading or unloading luggage, so to check people are not parking and going to the beach the cars are checked often.

Another thing to mention is the proximity of the beach to the caravan site, the entrance that you will drive through to enter the site is right at the end of a dead end. If you walk up the slight incline around 50 yards from the site you will be amazed to find yourself on the sea front…. I am sooo childish, as soon as we have unpacked the car I take the kids up there just to get a lung full of salty, briny air, this in turn lasts me on the first day until we walk along the sea front from the pub eating our bags of chips!

For a list of “things to do” visit - www.aboutbritain.com/towns/chapel-st-leonards.asp

Or alternatively read my review on Chapel St Leonards!

For more information on this site visit - www.tomlinsons-leisure.co.uk

Many thanks for reading this mammoth review, I hope it was of some use! x

 

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