Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I am BU. Holiday parks and 'chavs'!

426 replies

Waltermittythesequel · 23/05/2016 19:47

My dsis has informed me that I would be mad to book a Haven holiday in the UK since it will be full of rough people and chavs.

I have never been so I have no idea of the type of clientele.

I'm honest enough to admit that the thought of being surrounded by Jezza Kyle types is a little daunting.

There'll be dh and I along with our 3 dc and I just don't want to fork out a lot of money and feel uncomfortable and unable to use the facilities.

I hate judging people based on how they look/sound etc but she's been before and has really worried me!

OP posts:
BonitaFangita · 23/05/2016 20:39

Try this site for private holiday park lets

Osmiornica · 23/05/2016 20:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BonitaFangita · 23/05/2016 20:41

Haha x posted, but happy to help Grin

We've done it a few times and always had a good time

velvetspoon · 23/05/2016 20:41

Completely depends on the park itself.

I've been to a few different Havens, all in Southern England - the one I liked best (which was the least chavvy - although this is going back 10-12 years) was Seaview in Weymouth.

I've also been to a few Park Resorts sites which have been pretty ok in the main.

I've never seen any violence or trouble at any site, however some of the Havens definitely had more rough people than others....

Worst place I've ever been to was Pontins in Camber Sands. Filthy accommodation that hadn't been updated for 30 years, horrible people. Actually Butlins in Bognor was similarly shit; Haven was a paradise compared to either of those!

MeganChips · 23/05/2016 20:42

We have stayed at loads, they vary. The most expensive site we stayed at had probably the roughest clientele.

The entertainment can be illuminating but on the whole they are fine. We only tend to use them as a base but the DCs beg to go to the entertainment every night.

We just get drunk and play bingo!

MunchMunch · 23/05/2016 20:44

We've been to Haggerston Castle loads of times in both static (bils) and touring caravans (ours), we love it. Last year we went to Blue Dolphin in Yorkshire which we also loved so have booked up again for this year. We are common but keep ourselves to ourselves as did most other families we encountered.

Where else would we get a weeks holiday for 5 with all entertainment included for £120? We're using our own touring caravan but still!

TheOnlyColditz · 23/05/2016 20:44

Caister is LOVELY. Nice beach, Great Yarmouth very close, nice chip shop and some lovely parks for the kids.

I like Haven holidays, but Ds1 will not tolerate the entertainment, or the people, and ds2 is scared of mascots, so we spend the money on a cottage in the arse end of nowhere. I'd go to Haven if I could.

AmysTiara · 23/05/2016 20:48

Worst site Ive been to was a Parkdean site in Dorset. Haven was much much nicer than there. Quay west in New Quay Wales is a beautiful Haven site.

DixieNormas · 23/05/2016 20:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mumofthemonsters808 · 23/05/2016 20:49

I'd save your money, once was enough for me, really not my sort of thing:seagulls jumping on the roof at 5am, tiny 80s portable Tv, pissed up people at the entertainment with their kids running wild, swimming pool that busy you couldn't move, overpriced crap food, playgrounds chockablock. I could go on, it was that awful we come home after two days. Yet, I speak to people who rave about how good they are, I suppose it's each to their own.

Cerseilannisterinthesnow · 23/05/2016 20:51

I always loved haven holidays growing up and went to blue dolphin last October and thoroughly enjoyed it (was Scottish holidays though so wasn't that busy)

We are going to perran sands, Cornwall in July and I'm really looking forward to it, it's just what you make it I suppose

KP86 · 23/05/2016 20:52

We went to Butlins earlier this year and no chavvy people in sight (well, maybe a few, but more than you'd find anywhere else).

I say go for it. A holiday is what YOU make of it.

Just5minswithDacre · 23/05/2016 20:57

I thought that word had been banned from MN?

BringMeTea · 23/05/2016 20:59

Why do people keep suggesting Centre Parcs? OP is asking about Haven. If she could afford Centre Parcs she might as well go for a fortnight 5* in Thailand (for example). I have no idea if OP's budget would stretch to CP but it is weird to suggest it.

AND. I think everyone knows what OP is asking. No one wants to spend money on a holiday where they might feel intimidated either in their own van/chalet or using the facilities on site.

Lots of helpful suggestions though OP. I am sure you will find something suitable. Happy holidays!

TooManyMochas · 23/05/2016 21:02

I'm very working class by background (grew up on a proper dog rough council estate) and completely understand what the OP is getting at. There are people - like my family - who happen to be low income, and maybe wouldn't meet some Mumsnetters' anal standards regarding grammar or cuisine, but are totally decent human beings. And there are people who are just profoundly anti-social in a particular way that usually overlaps with being low income. I spent my entire childhood watching the latter make life shit for the former, so I have zero desire to spend my holidays with them :-p

Babyroobs · 23/05/2016 21:02

I have been on a lot of Haven holidays over the years when my kids were young, and yes there are a good deal of chavs. We tend to stay clear of the entertainment areas in the evening and just use the site as a base and use the swimminpools etc. The worst place I ever went was Butlins Skegness, I really feared for out safety there !!

NameChanger22 · 23/05/2016 21:03

I had a look around a Butlins once, I didn't stay there. It was exactly as I imagined it would be and not my kind of place at all. I'm not posh, I never stay anywhere luxurious, in fact I've stayed in some really grubby places around the world. But I draw the line at Butlins.

member · 23/05/2016 21:05

I booked a private hire caravan on a Haven site near Tenby a few years back, it was absolutely fine, nice in fact Shock. The "clubhouse" had wooden floors rather than sticky carpets and was clean with passable food. We didn't tend to go in the evenings when the entertainment was on as it's not our cup of tea. We tended to use the caravan/park as a base to explore the area & had our car with us.

If you book a huge park which promises multiple forms of entertainment/no need to have a car/go off-site, then you're liable to have a bigger chance of coming across people and experiences you're not keen on purely because of the numbers.

SheDoneAlreadyDoneHadHerses · 23/05/2016 21:07

My auntie owns a caravan on a Haven site in the Lakes and it's bloody lovely. Fair enough, you get families on holiday so it's never going to be a refined experience, but if you go knowing that then you're grand.

I've done a holiday to Butlins as a single parent and that was HORRIBLE. DS loved it but I hated every bloody minute of it. Same Difference and George Sampson from offa BGT were playing. Families queued for the bars from about 5pm.

Haven was positively luxurious in comparison!

usual · 23/05/2016 21:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BringMeTea · 23/05/2016 21:11

'Chav' does not = working class to me. Very far from it.

DioneTheDiabolist · 23/05/2016 21:12

We went to Haven Blackpool last year. It was brilliant. The highlights were archery, pool kayaking, learning to build shelters, light fires and forage for food. We didn't go to any of the evening entertainment.

A word of warning though: DO NOT ORDER THE CREAM TEA!

Original poster
Waltermittythesequel · 23/05/2016 21:14

and lets face it chav means WC on MN.

Not to me it doesn't.

OP posts:
Mavisblewitt · 23/05/2016 21:14

We've been to a John Fowler holiday park in Bude, it was ok, bit rough and ready but the kids loved it, especially the evening entertainment but me and my other half found a quiet table in a dark corner and put up with it until the kids entertainment finished then back to our caravan for some quiet time. Hendra in Newquay was lovely, nice pool and a Morrisons just down the road so we ate most of our meals in the caravan which was quite a long way away from the bar / restaurant / pool so nice and quiet.
However we have since discovered Siblu parks in France. Totally different! Great facilities and no problems. We stayed in Brittany and had a fantastic week.

Last year we went to Germany and stayed in a mountainside lodge, there was a lovely swimming pool, shop and restaurant further down the mountain. I loved that holiday!

I don't think I would want to go back to another UK resort again, but if I had to, it would definitely be Hendra at Newquay 😊

frumpet · 23/05/2016 21:14

Have been on three Haven holidays , the site at Great Yarmouth was the best , quiet and clean , lots for the children to do . The one near llandudno was also nice , unfortunately they had a dance competion on the same weekend we went and the parents of the girls partaking had booked seperate vans at opposite ends of the park , so they couldn't hear the endless tappity tapping up and down the caravan until the early hours , unlike us !
Primrose valley was nice too , we booked a lovely private van , with every mod con and a fantastic wrap around decked area , where we sat and read and chatted and drank wine whilst watching the procession of every type of humanity make its way down to the club house with an assortment of very frazzled young children in tow at 11pm at night . They then woke us up pissing up the side of the van , bumping off the van and shouting for Shirley to let them in .