Was this "glamping".

[Beamsss]

I booked a "glamping pod" for one night over the weekend. I'll come clean and say I booked it because it was the cheapest accomodation I could find for the date and place I needed.

I've "glamped" three times before. One was in a beautiful bell tent, with comfy double bed, sofa solar lights, bbq facilites, very nice toilet and shower block a few metres away, but no electricity or running water in the tent, all in a beautiful setting with a view. Small honesty box shop for breakfast provisions, nice outdoor seating area, with shade canopy over. I loved it there, and not having all mod cons was part of the charm.

Another was in a yurt in Iceland with underfloor heating, real beds, comfortable armchairs, a toilet and basin with running water, and electricity in the yurt. You did have to go to a block for a shower. So all very lovely, but it was expensive.

The other was a vintage (1970's?) caravan . It had running water, electricity, small cooker and a toilet, but you had to flush by pouring water down. The exterior was set out beautifully with a gas BBQ, picnic table, sun/rain canopy. In a beautiful woodland setting. The shower was a short walk away behind a canvas curtain, and cold, but the place was full of charm. It was also very cheap, much cheaper than this weekend.

I mention all this, because the place from this weekend has responded to previous poor reviews (which I clearly didn't pay enough attention to) by saying guests clearly don't understand what glamping is, but I'd say the owners don't.

So, this was a tiny "pod" just big enough for two single beds and a little table with a kettle, so it did have electricity, and tea, coffee and milk were left. The matresses were awful. You could feel the springs through.

Outside there were two folding metal chairs and a folding table. No attempt to make anywhere comfortable to sit. No bbq or anything to cook on.

Toilets and showers were fairly well presented and clean, a short walk away, through a yard full of farm machinery. There was no where to fill the kettle of or get drinking water except the tap in the toilets.

The site was in a very beautiful part of the country, but the field the pod was in, was not pituresque, being surrounded by old machinery with no view. It was very hot when we arrived and there was no shade at all in the field.

It was "fine" (apart from the beds) for one night's budget accomodation, but it wasn't that cheap (we'd paid about half for a Travelodge the night before), but I don't think it's what you'd expect for something sold as glamping?

Well, it depends what else it said on the description apart from glamping, which is a fairly meaningless word. To be honest, although it sounds poor quality, glamping does seem to be used to describe anything where you don't have to put up a tent yourself.

Yes, I am feeling the need to do a review, which I don't usually, if only because of the truly awful beds.

There wasn't a lot of detail in the listing, but the pictures were a bit misleading. Pictures of views in the area, rather than views from the site, photographs that made it look like the communal facilites were part of the pods.

If I'd been going for longer I'd have looked more carefully, rather than booking on an "it'll do" basis, but even so it was really very basic for the price.

Pods have always looked a bit grim to me. I suppose you get a solid roof which is a real bonus if it rains.

I wouldn't bother arguing over the definition of a neologism like "glamping". If you feel the detail of the description is unfair it's ok to say so. Also you can state factual things without adding judgements, eg "Note that photos 7-10 are of shared facilities, and photos 12-14 are nearby areas of interest" or whatever.

Glamping used to mean what you thought it did - but it's become meaningless now, loads use it as you've described for those grim little arch-shaped huts with no 'glam' about them.

If you had beds and coffee it was glamping. The pods we've stayed in are empty, you bring your own stuff.

Real glamping should involve at a minimum a shelter that is set up for you when you arrive with furnishings including a comfortable bed with decent bedding and some sort of lighting. Mains electricity, private cooking facilities, fridges, private bathrooms are sometimes included but not always. There should always be access to toilets, showers and drinking water. People are paying (through the nose) for an experience that's a bit quirky, and as a result it's become as expensive as a decent hotel room. It sounds like the site you booked onto doesn't quite understand the market and/or are cutting corners to cash in.

Yes, I’d say so. I wouldn’t call it luxury glamping, which is probably more what you’re after. But you didn’t have to set up your own tent and bring all the stuff. Glamping is essentially camping for people who don’t own any equipment for camping or want to set it up, but want the experience of sleeping outside. It doesn’t sound very nice though. If it was the cheapest option though, it sounds like you got what you paid for. Proper luxury glamping can be £150-200 a night.