Les Restanques

This was our first time with P&V and what attracted us was the facilities for children and particularly the kids club. The park itself was very clean and nicely laid out. It is quite large and built on the side of a hill so I agree with the previous reviewer about being suitable for mountain goats.

Accommodation: I had read very bad reviews about the P&V apartments at other resorts so we splashed out on a 2 bed villa, and were expecting something a little more luxurious after looking at the pictures on the website. The villa accommodation came with a separate
pool and twice weekly cleaning/linen change. The "villa" was a terraced cottage in a good location as it was near the centre - pool/shop/kidsclub etc but the downside was that it was very noisy -the amphitheatre was practically at the bottom of the garden with loud entertainment most evenings - I heard a few people complaining at reception that their children couldn't sleep, but it never really bothered us.

The house was nice enough, but as usual didn't live up to the pictures. My husband wasn't impressed at all initially and thought it poor value for money, but I thought it was perfectly clean and comfortable though still quite basic. Beds were nice, though TV was miniscule, and the air conditioning in the bedrooms was rubbish so we had to keep the shutters closed the whole 2 weeks.

Facilities: The main pool area was lovely, lots of sunbeds - though we had to get the towels laid out each morning at 9am when it opened.
The wave pool was good, but the paddling pools were lined with rough concrete leading to cuts and grazes ion my daughter's feet - pool shoes needed! The pool bar was open all day and sold drinks/ice creams/snacks. The life guards seemed very vigilant and even recommended some lotion to my husband for his sunburn. There is a separate smaller pool, if you want to escape all the kids and have some peace and quiet. There was nice, well maintained playground shaded by trees which my daughter (aged 3.5) loved. She also enjoyed her sessions at the Kids Club - lots of different activities, indoor and out and all the kids took part in a show one evening which was great. There never seemed to more than about 10 children at any session with 2 0r 3 staff. One of the girls did speak English, but it was predominantly French - not a problem for my daughter as she goes to a French speaking school, but may rule it out as a possibility for others....

Entertainment was laid on most nights, either at the amphitheatre or at various locations around the site. Circus, wild west, puppets, Bollywood etc. They also had a provencal market one evening. Lots of different sporting activities laid on too, though on holiday our idea of exercise is reaching for the suntan lotion.

Practicalities: The reception staff were useless. I can speak French and struggled, and the level of English was very limited. At the welcome meeting they offered excursions and handed out a leaflet detailing various trips. Trying to book one was nearly impossible. The first time they denied all knowledge of the leaflet, but finally agreed to ring the company. The second time, they took my money but never phoned through the booking - luckily I was a bit suspicious and phoned the company myself. They also tried to charge me again for 2nd week of the kids club, which I'd paid at the same time as booking.

The website promised a commercial centre with a supermarket, tabacconist and paper shop. In reality there is one poky shop, selling a very limited supply of groceries. No veg/salad - hardly any bread - so it sold out nearly immediately. No cigarettes or newspapers at all - so that was a total lie.

There were 2 restaurants open while we were there - a buffet one - at 25 euros a go, or an a la carte one. We tried this only once as there are so many places locally to eat, and wished we hadn't bothered. The service was appalling, they brought us lukewarm soup, with the bread arriving 20 mins later after 3 requests. For a family resort there was nothing for small kids on the menu at all. The kids menu was basically smaller portions of the adult food - though my 3 year old would not touch lamb chops, goats cheese, tagine etc.

So all in all, we had a great holiday - the park is in a good location with easy reach to Port Grimaud, Ste Maxime, St Tropez and lots of beaches. The accommodation was fine, if a little expensive for what you got. The P&V entertainment staff were great - very friendly and professional and the site itself is very attractive. As previously mentioned, it's not really good for buggies due to the number of steps, and it is quite noisy. I would really recommend the place for a family with older children - maybe 3 - 15. It's a shame they let themselves down in a few ways. Improve the shopping facilities, train the receptionists and sort out the restaurants and it would probably be a perfect family holiday location.