How much would you pay for a week in a caravan?

[Gardenwalldilema]

We really love caravan breaks, dc love all the onsite facilities etc. I usually book cheapies in term time.
Now eldest dc is of school age I was having a look for a week next August, the prices are eye watering!
Does anyone happily pay 800+ for a week? Does it feel good value or do you end up wishing you'd gone abroad?

I have certain things I try to avoid on holiday- sleeping in the lounge. Not enough toilets. Not enough kitchen space. No full size fridge/freezer. No washing machine....

Our lodge this year (it's just called that because they add a premium to the price - but it is a bit bigger than a caravan) is £1600. We have 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It's on a site so a pool for the kids, next to the beach etc etc 7 of us can go....could be 8 but there are 7 of us.

Equivalent week in the sun for just 5 of us is close to £4000 and that would only be 2 bed property..... and still have to add on the parking at the airport. - I could get cheaper if we bunked up together in 1 room. If we chose to self carer with almost no cooking facilities. Took a night flight. Had a really long transfer from the airport....

But I will be at the lodge, sipping my wine, waiting for Ocado while those going abroad will still be in the departure lounge.

They are different holidays so can't be compared.

Equally you can get cheaper vans and cheaper sites but you get what you pay for to some degree.....

I’ve stayed in a caravan once. It was actually OK inside, but the walls were so thin and it was really noisy. People were shouting, screaming & fighting outside. I like peace & quiet so that experience put me off!

We pay around £1k for a week I think on big sites with tons for the kids to do and on a beach. Very relaxing for adults and way cheaper than centre parks

@LemonRoses

At the moment ours is letting for over £1,000 for a three day break and over £4k for a week. It is fully booked throughout August when we would also pay not to be there.

Wow

Hmmm it's a lot bit of it was a nice caravan with some outside seating and a site with good facilities I'd pay it. Love a caravan holiday and so do the dc. Ignore the snobs

Haven’t done a caravan holiday for about 8 or 9 years but I think the max we ever paid was £350 for a week in August.
We no longer have young children (all adults now) so a caravan holiday doesn’t really appeal. I knew prices had gone up but didn’t realise by how much.

£4000 a week??? That is just crazy stupid! You’d have to be daft to spend that on a caravan!

Would much rather go abroad for that kind of money and we’d still have change to spare

Point is, you can't go abroad without difficulty or risk of your holiday being substantially changed, so it's not an option. Supply and demand, price goes up.

I can vouch that Cornwall is very very busy. It's like height of summer here now and not easy to find accommodation. Another pointer to supply and demand.

If you can't afford it, don't go. There's lots of other beautiful areas of the UK and if they are crazy too, explore new places a bit closer to home.

It's a horrible time still and things don't really make much sense.

Not ours, but for interest

www.parkdeanresorts.co.uk/book-your-holiday/choose-your-accommodation/?schKey=34&product=300&holiday-area=4%7C19&holiday-month=2021%7C8&holiday-nights=3&holiday-dates=2021-8-27&holiday-pets=0&holiday-unit-type=2

Three nights in a three bedroom £1,600. I think that’s a lot.

It is for 3 nights, even accounting for the BH weekend. I had a similar cabin in IOW last year for 7 days in August for £1300.

I understand supply and demand, but comes a point where it rips firmly into taking the piss territory.

They advertise a high price, it won’t go and then it will be rented out in ‘sale’ for a more normal price.

@stairway

They advertise a high price, it won’t go and then it will be rented out in ‘sale’ for a more normal price.

Ours is booked solidly at the higher rental price. I think they lost a lot last year and have to survive anyway they can, but it does mean their market is changing somewhat. The site we have a lodge on is definitely moving towards more lodges and chalets and fewer ordinary static caravans. It is hard for families, people on lower pensions or couples saving hard. I'm equally surprised at the price of camping - you have to be reasonably well off to afford all the equipment, unless you can borrow it then site fees aren't exactly cheap as far as I can see.

@Ifailed

I'd expect to be paid to spend a week in a caravan.

Your comment is pointless. Your answer doesn't offer the OP any advice. Genuinely don't know why you bothered answering it the way you did? It does make you sound like a twat.

echo

LemonRoses I think this year is different. Last year we were able to rent a decent caravan for under £800 a week last minute. Next year if things are normal again people will just go abroad instead of being fleeced. I would just save my money this year and have a genuine staycation if prices don’t shift down.

I have a tourer and I’m finding the same problems tbh. The usual sites we go to are either 4x the cost or don’t accept tourers anymore 🤷‍♀️ I think we’re going to do a few last minute long weekends and save our cash for next year. Hopefully things will have settled down once we’re all allowed to go
abroad again.

I know it's apples and oranges, but all of those shocked and horrified at the cost of a static holiday, do you feel the same way when stumping up £100 pn at a Premier Inn?. Yes, I am talking London prices, but 2 rooms at a PI would be in the region of 1400 per week. No pool, no entertainment, just a room.
Statics these days are actually quite decent ( I was a terrible snob until we tried one with grand daughter a couple of years ago).
We had 4 nights in the Cotswolds, in a two bedroom van, with children's entertainment, indoor and outdoor pool, beautiful grounds to walk in, and paid £280.
We got ours very cheap, in my opinion. £23 pppn.

Sorry, and that was just a couple of weeks ago - we have been going every year for three years now.

stairway I’m sure that’s partly true. I also think the Cornwall crowd may be realising that whilst very beautiful, the county becomes unpleasantly crowded and there are alternatives for surfing and sand.

Ours was around £2.5k a week last year in peak weeks, so I should think prices may well fall again.

I’ve paid £1700 for seven nights at haven this year, yes I know that’s extortionate but I wanted a holiday!

People who are turning their noses up at staying in a caravan probably have no idea what modern caravans are like

I’ve paid £700 for a week, two bed on a quiet site in north Wales, first week of the school holidays.
Full kitchen, well equiped, including full size fridge/freezer.
Main bedroon with double bed has small en suite, second bedroom has two single beds. Good shower room, dining table, TV, DVD player, central heating should it be needed. small outside space with table/ bench. Site is small, family focused, well maintained, play area for little ones, laundry room, swimming pool, gym and bar/restaurant.

I’m a big fan of Premier Inn, but even cheapest rate would be £350 a week and none of the facilities.

I’ve got 4 nights Mon-Fri booked from the august bank holiday this year and that was about £385. I went for a newer van as some of the reviews of the older slightly cheaper ones said the beds were bad! I thought that was reasonable for sleeps 4 in peak season this year but I would hesitate to pay more per night.

I think that price is about right OP - and ignore the goady snipers who seem to get some sort of cheap thrill out of insulting this sort of holiday.

This ^

Is obviously affected by where it is. Prices vary considerably in different parts of the UK.

Well done @Comedycook for calling out the nastiness.

I am now at a stage in my life when I'd rather have a nice quiet cottage, but when the dc are little, having everything on site is a real bonus, and the rain on the roof isn't anywhere near as loud in the current statics as it was in the old tin cans we used to stay in. However, just because I no longer need the facilities the OP is looking for does not mean I then think "Oh, I'll sneer, here".

@Thatswhathappens

I’ve paid £1700 for seven nights at haven this year, yes I know that’s extortionate but I wanted a holiday!

I would too if I had the money. Hopefully the prices will come down a bit again in time. Have a great week!

The problem with spending so much in the uk is if it pours down. 2k on a fancy caravan is ok if you get the weather.

DH and I did a week in a static a few years ago. Mattress was ancient and as thin as a slice of bread, the whole caravan was unlevel and when you got into the bed your head was down bank. It smelled musty and was generally quite tatty. We asked for a move but nothing else on site, in fact we were told this was an upgrade as the original van we'd been allocated flooded.....

We came home three days in and both agreed hotels are the way forward for us now. Thats not a snobbish view I add, when we were younger and took the kids we'd have pitched in and got on with it but I think we're both at the stage where no sleep doesn't help.

We looked at hotels this year. Ended up staying in a beautiful one for around the same price as a week in a van would have cost us.