Haven booking policy.

[Mucky1]

Has anyone stayed at a Haven park recently?
We are due to go next week and I'm dreading it. We've tried to book activities and they're all booked up!
Not one swimming session left that I can find or table in a restaurant to go out to eat. We've been allowed one session at the evening entertainment for the week and that's it.
I'm picturing a week in a caravan in the rain whilst I do all the cooking or we order in Burger King. 🤯
What exactly do we do all week if all the activities are booked solid!! Il go insane.

We stayed at haven 2 weeks ago. Didn't do any on-site activities, don’t know if they were full?
Went to local beaches, farm parks etc
Ate out in the evening or on the beach

Which site are you at? We have a caravan at a Haven in Wales and there’s loads to do in the local area, we rarely do any on site activities and the entertainment on site isn’t great anyway.

Which one are you due to go to? If you post where I bet people will be able to suggest loads to do.

@kowari

The problem being that haven is busy? They should be able to provide activity bookings relative to the number of accommodation bookings.

Covid rules still apply in some areas, (eg Wales) so the amount of slots currently available are less because of that, lots of caravans are privately rented rather than via Haven as well so it’s not really possible to restrict numbers that much.

We were same as you....had nothing before we went...lWe went in June...we went straight to the main activity area ( not reception) ....we got 2 swim sessions booked and the evening entertainment for every night ( mon to fri holiday)....the following day....we booked x 2 free soft play sessions.....and a meal in one of the restaurants...
That was enough for us...we ate out rest of time and went to outside activities...good luck

@LawnFever

Which site are you at? We have a caravan at a Haven in Wales and there’s loads to do in the local area, we rarely do any on site activities and the entertainment on site isn’t great anyway.

Which one are you due to go to? If you post where I bet people will be able to suggest loads to do.

We are going to prestaven on Monday. Thank you all for your replies I'm much calmer now Starting to slightly look forward to it again, I'm a bit gutted about the weather having worked through all the recent sunshine rain on our break away is rubbish but we won't melt I suppose.

We went at half term. We weren’t interested in the activities or the entertainment. They sent an email telling us when we could book the swimming and I was on ten minutes before the time stipulated and they’d already been released and I was lucky to get two sessions! However whilst waiting for one of the sessions, the staff member told the family in front of us to just turn up and see if there were any available spots as people weren’t always taking up their booked sessions.

we are going to prestaven on Monday. Thank you all for your replies I'm much calmer now

Ok, you can walk through the Sand dunes to Talacre bay for arcades, fish & chips (million times better than on site which is awful) there’s a couple of pubs there too, the Pier is nice.

Landudno is a lovely day out, do that one day, pier, donkey rides, v traditional and we love it.

There’s a pool in Rhyl, I haven’t been but look it up, hear it’s good think it’s the sun centre?. There’s a cinema there too if you have a rainy day.

Welsh mountain zoo is worth a visit.

Crofters pantry (on right on road as you drive into the park) do the most brilliant breakfast, don’t worry about food on site it’s all a bit rubbish anyway.

We’re going to the Nova beach bar tomorrow, will report back!

@LawnFever thank you for your reply 😊 just realised we can't check in until 6pm!! Im pretty annoyed about that to be honest it feels like we are losing a day of our holiday.

Double check I think you might be able to get on site earlier, just not into your caravan?

We went to the Nova beach hut in Prestatyn for dinner, we really enjoyed it - pub grub but decent portions, fair price. There’s also a pool, crazy golf and arcades there on the beach front. We walked along through the golf course, it’s about an hour walk so quite far, it’d be a very quick drive.

There’s Dyserth waterfall walk about a 20min drive away, nice pub opposite.

Conwy is a good day out too, the castle is fun and a nice harbour area.

Does that haven have indoor and outdoor pools? The one we went to earlier this year, the indoor pool was booked up in advance but the outdoor pool could only be booked in person on the day. You just had to get down to reception as soon as it opens.

We didn't bother trying the restaurants, just got takeaway from the pizza or fish and chip restaurants if we didn't want to cook, or are off site.

Well we arrived yesterday and couldn't check in until 6!!
We'd done as suggested earlier and gone straight to the booking hub to see if they had any additional activities 45mins in the queue to be told nope 👎 they did find us a session in the room that does bingo though 🥳 we got into the van no towels and the fridge was broken and at this point all I wanted was a beer! Fridge replaced towels dropped off so we toddled to the bingo £20 on tickets and a round of drinks bought then the bar shut at 7.45 after the bingo they gave us all a plastic glass to decant our drinks into then made us leave by a fire escape onto the car park I kid you not!! our Eve out lasted 45mins cost £45.
Can't get a swim session so we've booked for the water park down the road which since Iv paid for the use of a pool already I'm fairly annoyed about and at £55 we can't do every day. So to reiterate no sessions available in the on-site pub, club house, swimming, archery etc basically we can sit in the van or go to the arcades as far as Haven are concerned. Luckily we drive so can sod off out for the days. If you are booked to come here cancel!

That's dreadful especially now you have you choose upfront to pay the stay and play prices. You might as well have paid the stay only prices by the sound of it and used the money saved on going to other attractions.

That sounds crap, I know they're trying to claw money back, but they should only allow bookings that allow for a reasonable amount of activities. I'd keep checking if any slots open up, definitely complain though, covid or not it's still a lot of money for people.

We went to Haven in Burnham on Sea last week - it was shit. Howling wind and heavy rain showers 3 days out of 5 and no slots available in the onsite restaurant for the entire week. Didn't even bother to try to book any evening entertainment.
We normally go out and about in the local areas on these holidays so would have rather have just paid for a "stay" break but I didn't have that choice when I booked last summer.

If you're still checking this thread OP, I'd second a pp's suggestion of a day at Llandudno. As well as the traditional seaside stuff you can go up the Great Orm (great views plus cafe/crazy golf/play area/picnic area/toilets etc at the top) either on foot or using the small train or cable car. There's also a historic mine you can visit (underground so good in the rain). There are a few boats offering short and fairly cheap rides.

The Haven site sounds awful. I can understand that they have to work within restrictions but I think they really should have to be more honest about what they can offer.

@FlurkenSchnit

We went to Haven in Burnham on Sea last week - it was shit. Howling wind and heavy rain showers 3 days out of 5 and no slots available in the onsite restaurant for the entire week. Didn't even bother to try to book any evening entertainment. We normally go out and about in the local areas on these holidays so would have rather have just paid for a "stay" break but I didn't have that choice when I booked last summer.

We were at the same park last week and had the best time ever . Rain didnt put us off and we had days at the beach and just did indoor stuff if the rain started. Swam about 4 or 5 times and plenty of activities booked last minute. No complaints at all. Not saying for any other reason other than to reassure anyone else about to stay at resort that everyones experiences are unique.

Is haven where the absolutely dreadful current news report about the murder took place?

@littletinyboxes

If you're still checking this thread OP, I'd second a pp's suggestion of a day at Llandudno. As well as the traditional seaside stuff you can go up the Great Orm (great views plus cafe/crazy golf/play area/picnic area/toilets etc at the top) either on foot or using the small train or cable car. There's also a historic mine you can visit (underground so good in the rain). There are a few boats offering short and fairly cheap rides.

The Haven site sounds awful. I can understand that they have to work within restrictions but I think they really should have to be more honest about what they can offer.

We did the great ome, little flint mine and Conway castle 👍

We also had a terrible time at a haven site last week. Managed to get 1 swim session and 1 evening entertainment. It was awful. No where to eat it was all closed and the sister site was fully booked. And to top it off it looks like we picked up noro virus and have all been unwell for days

This is what put me off booking haven this year and I usually rate them. I’ve been to Cornwall and Wales before covid and it was fantastic, just went swimming when you felt like it specially when both times the first few days there was too hot to do anything else other than do to the outdoor pool. I really don’t want to pay 100s of pounds and have no spontaneity

Do people honestly book haven sites and not leave for the duration?
Local pubs, restaurants, swimming pools, beaches etc?
Do you seriously want to swim and eat on the same site for the entire break?

Sounds horrendous.

Swimming in the same pool and eating in the same restaurant for a week is spontaneous?! @AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii

I assumed everyone viewed them how I do; a cheap base for exploring the local area and enjoying new places. I can’t think of anything worse than what some are describing here

Well we've had our week which wasn't terrible but wasn't great either. We had a a small bbq on the beach on night (just hot dogs) and watched the sun set.
We managed two nights of entertainment and did lots of card playing, monopoly etc in the evenings. We did lots of days out in the surrounding areas and spent more for a week in wales then we would for a week in Dubai I'm sure 😂😂

@Willwebebuyingnumber11 that’s not what I’m saying, we did plenty other things from site as well but for the first few days it was around 27 degrees and was too hot for anything else so we used the fantastic outdoor pool without having to book or being time restricted. Plus the beaches in Wales weren’t exactly stellar to be honest

Off site even**