To ask how Pontins is still able to trade?

[pinkpetal2]

So I used to go as a child/teen to the Camber Sands Pontins resort last went in 2009. From 2005 now it has become so bad across each resort.

The reviews on trip advisor are terrible absolute shambles. Yet people still go? I understand it's very very cheap for a week. However the place isn't safe, management have told people to go away when you make complaints and they don't seem to ever be in trouble anywhere?

Watchdog have done reports, environmental health have carried out reports yet it still stands

Last year a ceiling collapsed on to people and injured 18 people at Brean sands and they are still thriving with bookings.

The whole place is really run down the accommodation is infested with bed bugs and mice it's really sad. They still have the green baths and sinks etc from the 70s.

I just don't understand how they are still operating? Every post I see from their Facebook groups are full of complaints and people walking away. I find it bizarrely fascinating to read.

When we last went in 2009 a manager we spoke to said they was being left to be run in to the ground so they could say it doesn't work anymore, knock them down and place hotels there.

I know people take the mick out of Butlins but I feel they really do provide a nice British seaside holiday experience and have fantastic entertainment, with Covid they have made a festival type outdoor entertainment thing at the moment it looks great.

Pontins have rooms that haven't been cleaned in months full of mice droppings? And you still have to pay for electric and bedding. I just wondered if any one has ever worked for them or knows how they get away with treating customers like this? It's been years now and hasn't changed.

Well the near by beach looks nice.

I think that’s the only positive thing I found after looking at trip adviser.
Words fail me

I don't understand how it's still in business either. The reviews of the Southport one are

Last year we stayed in an immaculate holiday let for 4 nights in Yorkshire close to Haworth/Bronte country for not much more than £50 a night. Safe, quiet street, all the conveniences of your own house, and decent public transport links if you need them. We got a supermarket food delivery on the first evening, then did packed lunches and went our every day. Kids loved it.

If I was rich I'd love to buy it and just revamp the whole thing. It is such a shame as they have great potential but they are so grotty, it needs knocking down and rebuilding!

We've just come back from there.

It's ideal if you want to listen to other people's music (probably more than one at a time) and people screaming at their kids for about 18 hours a day. The only time we had quiet before 1am was when security came round as they'd had reports of domestic violence and they came round to check.
My dc were quite horrified at the way some of the parents spoke to the children, particularly the small ones. I was more shocked by the family along from us who were all outside the chalet smoking-the two younger couldn't be older than 12yo.

But the place was cleaned, and then they put a seal on the door to show that it had been cleaned. We only used it as a base, and went out for the day to further afield (and less busy) beaches. And it cost us around £200 for a family of 5 whereas the caravan park down the road we prefer was £800.

No we wouldn't go back, but it wasn't the absolute pits that we thought it might be.

I was at Butlins last week, it was very clean, hand sanitiser everywhere, one way arrows, an army of cleaners waiting for the shows to vacate so they could clean the tables before the next show started. Went to pontins once, and it looked exactly like it did in the holiday on the buses film and hadn’t been cleaned since then either 🤣

Bognor outdoor stage

Ever heard the saying "You get what you pay for"?

They go because it’s very , very cheap. It’s cheaper than camping! It’s filthy but the kids don’t realise. So if you haven’t got much money you put on a brave face, take some bleach and smile through it. I’d say it’s a bit neurotic to call it a health hazard.
A holiday is what you make it. I could never obide those people who acted miserable because things weren’t how they expected. Just get stuck in and stop ruining everyone else’s fun.

@Mrsjayy

Is the blackpool one now knocked down?

When I went there was fag ash on the beds 😂 Gross but funny, a story to tell. Should I have stormed off home?,or sulked and spent the weekend on trip advisor, ruining the atmosphere for the kids?
I just cleaned it up, winced and carried on.

Also, Pontins still has chalets with greens out the front so for those few people left in the World whose children don’t have to spend their entire life with an adult stuck to their side, it’s a good way of meeting up with other kids.
You may have all forgotten but holidays were shit unless you met some new friends, they were the holidays you remember.

I went with dd about 10 years ago. It was like and I still remember the smell.from the chalet. We left straight away....vile

Butlins and pontins were once much of a muchness but butlins recognised the need to change and shit down a lot of their resorts to concentrate on the main 3. In doing so they’ve created 3 successful holiday camps and updated to hotels. Don’t get me wrong Butlins is hell on wheels but it’s mostly clean, modern and has loads for the DC to do.
Pontins is old, grubby and tbh I’m surprised it’s still standing never mind trading

When I was a kid Pontins was considered to be a posher Butlins

Just had a look at their website and you have to pay extra for electricity! One of the benefits of the slightly better cabins is “free electricity “

I’ve never heard of that on a holiday...

I booked a sun holiday to the one at camber sands a couple of years ago but just couldn't face going when it came to it. It was very cheap so didn't lose much money. I just knew from the moment we arrived i would.spend every waking moment wanting to leave and couldn't face it. That's not a holiday in my book.
The chalets honestly look like a grubby council estate (no offence) that people would go out for their way to avoid. For knows why anyone would actually choose to be there.

A friend goes to Southport three or four times a year - she talked me into going a few years ago, she said it was very basic, but clean enough, and a decent base for exploring. Her house is always spotless, so I believed her.
I was in the chalet thing for less than an hour before I'd packed up and left. There were syringes under the bed, mouse droppings in the corners, black mould on most of the walls, and the whole place felt like it had a thin layer of grease on it.
Never again.
At least twice a month my friend asks me if i fancy joining her on a cheap weekend in Southport. Nope. You couldn't pay me to stay there!

I think it’s nostalgia, I booked a holiday to pontins when my eldest 2 were babies. It wasn’t too bad really, but I don’t think I’d go there again.

@Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches

Just had a look at their website and you have to pay extra for electricity! One of the benefits of the slightly better cabins is “free electricity “

I’ve never heard of that on a holiday...

Butlins used to charge for electricity back in the 90s. We've certainly stayed in holiday cottages, in some cases quite nice ones where you're putting 50p in the meter.

However we didn't pay for our electricity at Pontins this time. Dh went to pay at customer services, because they hadn't given us the correct information and there was a long queue. He waited 90 minutes, and because he'd waited so long the nice chap gave us free electricity.

Actually the funniest thing was when we tried to phone the out of hours emergency number. We got through to the reception of the local hospital. They'd printed the wrong number on all their welcome packs. Apparently the reception had been inundated with calls.

That’s hilarious about the hospital!

Brilliant thread. Camber has such an amazing beach yet property prices are still pretty cheap (despite being close enough to London for the dreadful second home owners). I think this is the guess because of pointings.

I also don't understand why on earth anyone would choose to go. I understand it's cheap, but why pay to stay in a hellhole? It would be my worst nightmare and I'd rather not go on holiday than go there. It's an absolute disgrace...

1984 we went to the Blackpool Pontins, we checked in and after seeing the accommodation we checked out again. No refund offered or given.
It was dirty, the cot for our Son was dangerous and we were told that he couldn't eat at the same time as us, he either had to go into the crèche
for an hour or to stay in the chalet on his own. (But they would listen out if he cried). He wasn't allowed in the club house after 7pm.
It should of closed then.

I use to live right by one and despite the horrendous tripadvisor reviews it was pretty much always busy there !
It’s right on a brilliant beach, with good bus routes and you can walk into town.

It’s cheap as chips and The Sun does it even cheaper.
Nothing would get me in there !