On holiday and found out we are in somebody's private accommodation!

[reallifeboogie]

We are on holiday in the UK on a caravan park. Parkdean site. On arrival, went to the reception and was given our keys and told where our caravan is. All good. Caravan is much nicer than expected with some lovely personal touches that didn't expect such as pictures on the walls, blankets in a basket for sitting outside on the decking.
This was a cheap caravan booked through the Suns £9.50 offer.

There are dvds and children's games, cleaning products under the sink and other things that we presumed previous people had left behind.

Last night around 9pm a car pulled up (we are parked in the space for this caravan) and an irate couple got out and came to the door demanding to know why we were in their caravan. Assumed some mix up and they were guests in another caravan, and had got confused as the site is massive.

Long story short, turns out this is their own private caravan that they own and occasionally rent out to friends and family!

As it was late, reception was closed. Security guard intervened and the owners allowed us to stay the night and they would find a b&b.

At 8am they were back and we've packed up and left the caravan. Reception opened at 9 and all we are getting is "there has been a mix up"
We now have nowhere to stay until Saturday. We will go home but going cost us as we're on isle of wight so need sort ferry.

The caravan owners are trying to blame us and want us to pay for a deep clean and towards use of the gas etc we've used! They said surely we could see it was a private caravan.

What?! How on earth did this happen
how horrible for the owners and upsetting for you

The fault is that of the park / the person who gave you the keys .. They are to blame and they should pay for the cleaning ! They should also be providing you with the caravan that you booked as surely that will be empty now as they gave the keys to the wrong one ?

It is certainly not your fault and you shouldnt pay anything at all. They are understandably annoyed but at the wrong person.
I hope it gets sorted asap and you manage to enjoy the rest of your holiday

The site must surely have another caravan available (as it's still out of season).
If the caravan owners want some compensation they should get that from the site - not you.
The site handed you the keys. Their mistake - not yours.

No way! It's the holiday park that have ballsed up here and the private owners should be having it out with them. Maybe they just gave you the keys to the wrong caravan and there's a different one that has been allocated to you?

Don’t go home yet! Keep on at Reception to find you another caravan, even if it’s an upgrade. It’s not school holidays so surely they aren’t a full site?

The park should be paying for a deep clean as this is clearly not your responsibility so don’t get pressured into that.

I think the holiday park is pulling a scam and has been caught out... (renting out private caravans hoping the owners don't find out)

We are sitting in our car outside reception, waiting for the manager to arrive.

The site is liable. If they doublebooked and no other caravan is available they'll have to pay to put you up in an Airbnb or hotel. Or you book one and gave them reimburse you. Of course you aren't responsible for cleaning.

My god! No way you should go home. I would be furious at the can't site and DEMAND another caravan to stay in. Ask to speak to a general manager or get a number higher up. The owners should not be angry at you. It is NOT your fault. This is completely and entirely the parks fault.

How would the caravan park have keys to the caravan if it was privately owned?

Agreed. I suspect this sort of thing must happen all the time.

Op you say the site is massive, so there must be plenty of other vans you could stay in. It's term time so there's no way they're fully booked.

The van owners are clearly annoyed, but you're not the ones who should be paying for a deep clean and any other costs.

Park Dene are privately owned and as far as I know have a good reputation which they will want to keep. They are liable for the clean and your expenses. They should also find you alternative accommodation. The owners should be going for them, not you. Get stroppy.

Park should be paying for deep clean and finding you another caravan. Some people do rent out their private holiday caravans. Park dean will manage bookings, clean the caravan etc. They keep the money and discount it off the site fees which is cheeky. It sounds like someone has wrongly put their holiday home up for let.

How haa a holiday Park got keys from caravan that is hired out to family/friends?

Cross post

This is what I was wondering?

My grandparents owned a caravan growing up and there was no need for the site to have keys to it as it wasn't their caravan.

Not sure why the owners are pissed at you, it's not like you broke in and decided to stay there.

You definitely shouldn't go home, you've done nothing wrong.

Did you take photos of the caravan before you left.
It's weird the owners said they would find an B&B. It could be they messed up or the park. Good luck

I’d also say in every park dean park I’ve been to there are a selection of show caravans. These are made up with linen and crockery and plumbed in. Offer to stay there 😉

I get that the caravan owners are pissed off but they should be directing that at management. It's a bit unfair to say you should have realised it was privately owned as you had zero reason to think that!

I expect the park has a set of keys they can give family and friends when they go along for a private booking. It’s their error though and they should put it right.

This doesn't seem real?

Surely the owners wouldn't find a B&B if it were their own private caravan? I know I wouldnt.

Also, why would the park have keys to someone's private caravan? Because they wouldn't, that just doesn't make any sense.

The private caravans on site stick out like a sore thumb and you can tell they are privately owned due to the extras and how they look.

Maybe so the caravan owner's friends and family can pick up keys from reception when they stay. Maybe to let cleaners in. For security so they don't get locked out. Whatever the reason I imagine they're rethinking the advisability of it now and wondering if this has happened before.

You could have assumed they were renting out their privately owned caravan.

It is standard for sites to hold keys to privately owned caravans in case of emergency. There could be storm damage, a water leak etc that needs immediate attention. Someone I knew had a squirrel get in via a roof vent and wreak havoc in the van. The site owners managed to evict it and prevent further damage.