Anyone been on one of the £9.50 Sun holidays?

[SleepyCaz]

Any advice? Are they any good, or are there lots of pitfalls. I know there are extras that you can pay for, if you want them, which is fine. Just wondered if anyone had any experience of them.

TIA :)

[HarrietJones]

I've been. They are basically haven/ whatever. There are charges for bedding ( can take your own) and entertainment passes ( can not buy)

The dates are usually v limited in school hols & better parks have less availability

[SilveryMoon]

We've been on a few really nice ones.
We normally go with Haven.
The Isle of Wight was lovely and Great Yarmouth was nice.
We went to Pontins in Camber Sands which was awful. Words cannot describe just how rank the apartment was or how drab the park was, just awful.
We've just received our priority form, not sure if we'll go this year though. Maybe. But not to Pontins!

[onelittleclara]

After a little research, we have opted to stay in the Parkdean sites rather than Haven etc and they have been fantastic, great entertainment, facilities etc.

[pud1]

I went to solway in Cumbria two years ago. The log cabin was clean and very large, the facilities were good and solway o. Silith ( think thats what it was called) was a nice family place.
Down sides was that the drinks within the park were extortionate, I decded to piss about taking my own bedding, not sure we would have loved it so much if the weather had not been glorious
As a whole I would say they are worth it

[cece]

I stayed at Camber Sands Parkdean resort and it was OK.

I walked past the Camber Sands Pontins and agree with silverymoon it looked like a prison. Ghastly.

[mumatron]

We went on one last year, Parkdean in Newquay. The dc really enjoyed it. The caravan was a bit dated but very clean. The only downfall was the weather.

It worked out to be just over £100 for 2 adults, 3dc with the linen and entertainment passes. That was for 3 nights (fri-mon) mid june.

Only reason I'm not doing it this year is we are going abroad.

[SleepyCaz]

Just seen these replies, thanks all :)

Am going to start collecting the tokens and do more research.

[ChippyMinton]

Some are really good, and some are downright horrible. Beware the early season dates because you sometimes end up paying more for the Sun deal than you would if booking direct (and caravans are freezing in March!).

Parkdean and Park Resorts are usually ok IME.

[Tinkerisdead]

I do them about 3 times a year.

Haven - yorkshire (caravan had mould in it, site was huge, too huge and we got ill with rotavirus)

Parkdean - cherry tree great yarmouth. Really nice. Caravan was dated but club house etc was small enough to be personal but enough facilites. Area was good if prepared to venture out on trips.

Parkresorts - st minver cornwall. Tiny clubhouse, pool etc but set in woods so nice for biking etc. Loads in the area and lovely caravan.

Parkresorts - shanklin isle of wight. If you stay here you get to use the next door site too so far more variety. Excellent caravan although you cant park your car next to it. My favourite site yet as soooo much to do on the isle of wight. Im going back in may. First time ive revisited a site.

Lake district- cant remember the operator but big site lovely big modern site, tons of facilities with a childrens farm on the same road. Nice stuff to do in the area, beautiful place to visit but perhaps no good for pram pushing etc as lots of hill walking etc obviously.

Trecco bay- parkdean. Fantastic site. Only time i havent used it as 'just a base'. Tons in morning for preschoolers, kids club and decent entertainment not just character shows but outside acts etc too. Great restaurants, amusements etc. Loads to see in wales too.

Butlins- minehead. In the sun booklet its not advertised as butlins but as 'minehead' 'bognor' or skegness but it is butlins for cheaps. Accomodation worst ive ever had and prob cost the most in initial outlay but best value as everything on site is free bar the food,amusements and drink. Fair rides are free, shows are free and go on all day. Best value by far.

Also did one near weymouth and that was amazing for the area but i cant remember where i stayed. That time we got an owners caravan and it was nicer than my house. Beach etc was fab. I'll try to find out where it was if you interested in that area.

Although they are 9.50, you do have to pay for min of 4 people so for me in a family of three im on the backfoot. I take my own bedding to keep costs down and although you cant usually dodge entertainment passes make sure you only pay for those your using. Im always charged for 4 and have to remove one. Do upgrade your caravan if you can afford to in spring/autumn stays so you get heated bedrooms.

[Tinkerisdead]

Oh i did romney marsh, kent too, it was hideous. Worst ever like a concentration camp. No shrubs, trees flowers just vans. Facilities were shite, beach was nice but the place was terrible. Never going back ever.although kent itself was lovely.

I'll be doing this sun holiday too but think i'm running out of areas

[HarrietJones]

Was the lake district one Flookbourgh?

Anyone been abroad on then?

[ChippyMinton]

The continental ones that I've done have turned out to be Keycamp mobile homes, so a good bargain if you can get one. Book the extra nights though, as they charge an arm and a leg to upgrade one its booked.

We had a weekend in July at Berny-Riviere for £60!

[HarrietJones]

There's five of us so minimum of £100 although it's £230+ normally. How dies the ferry crossing work? It says they are included.

[ChippyMinton]

Didn't use the ferry as we were en route to our main holiday, but have used the Isle of Wight ferry offer which was fine but you are tied to the holiday dates.

I have to confess that there are five of us and the only way I could make the French site/date combination work (I book online) was to book for four people. I was a bit worried about being caught with five but nobody noticed or mentioned it, and the mobile slept seven anyway.

[HarrietJones]

I might try that then. Dd3 sleeps with us mainly anyway & can take a travel cot in case

[PeppermintCreams]

We went for the first time on October Half Term and were randomly allocated Park Holidays Winchelsea Beach. I put specific school holiday dates, but put any park in certain areas as I knew all the good parks would go to the priority bookers. We booked when they did the second offering in late Summer/early Autumn (?) so I think (hope) the good places were booked up in January.

We were expecting the worst so were pleasantly surprised when it was ok. My review is on Trip Advisor. We would go with Park Holidays again (if we had to!), but not that park because it didn't have an indoor swimming pool.

We brought our own linen, and cancelled the two entertainment passes we didn't need. We brought a lot of food with us, but there was also a Co-Op right outside the front gate.

Now we have priority booking I'm hoping we'll get a better choice of park. I've picked Haven ones with good reviews on Trip Advisor.

We are going to book for the Easter holidays using our priority booking code online, and we are also going to use the vouchers to book an October half term holiday again.

I'm hoping we've had the "not so good" holiday and the next ones will be fantastic!

[PeppermintCreams]

Oh my goodness, I clicked on this thread from google, and have just realised I've resurrected a Zombie Thread.

It's 2013 now PC.

[BexieID]

Lol, still all sound advice! You know we've done 3 hols now and I've not had a priority code

We stayed at Havens Seton Sands nr Edinburgh April 2009. Basic caravan and linen felt horrible but park was fine. July 2010 we stayed at Havens Golden Sands in Mablethorpe. Upgraded van and was owner one and best van I've ever stayed in. Park and Mablethorpe were nice. Last year we did the Haven park nr Hastings, name escapes me atm. That was very nice as well and paid for upgrade again.

I have booked a Mirror/Mail deal for May at an independent site 2 hrs from us. Laggan house country park. Will be a bog standard van but its a 3 bed so kids will get their own rooms and be used as a base. If I get a code I might book another wee break in Scotland!

[PeppermintCreams]

BexieID - if you don't have a code you can email/call them for one. If you've ticked the box to say "don't send me offers" then they don't send them out apparently.

[BexieID]

I had email from them this morning stating the deal was back, so guess I must be on the mailing list? Mailed them back asking anyway!

[ImNotaPheasantPlucker]

We found Ruda at Croyde, North Devon using Sun holidays. It's Parkdean now. This was many years ago so don't know what the site is like now, though.

However, Croyde is now my favourite place in the world and it's all thanks to Sun Holidays