Anyone been to the sands resort in Cornwall?

[maddiebean]

We're going next week. I'm so excited! Any tips on getting the most out of hotel facilities, day trips etc (have dd 3yrs and ds 16 months)

Thanks!

Maddie
x

hello maddiebean, we went 2 years ago when dd was 2.5 and had a great time.
She enjoyed it as much as we did, especially the lady clown after tea entertainment.

My only advice would be to take a wind break thingy for visiting the beach, and stock up the fridge in your room with drinks.

It's worth exploring all the beaches around there, not just the closest ones. And treat yourself to something in the hotel spa! Have a lovely holiday.

Thanks milkybar. I'm desperate for a holiday and this seemed liked a good idea because me and dh might get a bit of a break too! What was the food like? I saw a mumsnet review on it and it was the lowest scoring area of the hotel. Was there any beach in particular you would recommend? Ooooh, so many questions

Maddie
x

I thought the 'grown up' food in the evenings was a bit rich, although it was nice there were not very many lightish options. The kid's food was fine, as was breakfast.

The beaches going up the coast away from Newquay were the best - waterlow (where Jamie Oliver's new gaff is)was really nice and some smaller ones on the way to Polseath, but I can't remember their names.

Dd was happy with a bucket and spade and running in and out of the water, but one chilly day we took her to a Old MacDonald's farm, which she thought was super, and I thought was a total rip off!!

You'll have a lovely time x

Went with ds about 5 years ago and know others who have been and returned for several years running. The childcare has changed a bit since we were there but ds seemed happy enough with it. Kids' tea was a bit gof a chimps tea party but we've been to other hotels with a similar set up and seems fairly standard !

We preferred the beach at Watergate to the local one. Cycling along the Camel Trail to Padstow was nice - the path comes out near Rick Stein's deli so you can pick up a picnic there. We visited Lanhydrock house (National Trust) which had a good tea room and grounds, so nice if you happen to be a member already. There is also a steam train ride at Bodmin and a miniature train exhibition at Mevagissey where there is also a traditional fishing harbour and, I think , an aquarium.

Thanks girls. To be honest, a week without having to empty the dishwasher will be treat enough!

Maddie
x

Had a very upsetting stay in August 2006 - this hotel spoilt our precious family holiday time and in our opinion is a complete waste of money. The Hotel did not live up to its brochure/other reviews. The staff appear to be mainly temporary staff working in the area to fund their surfing in Newquay. Many staff did not seem to know what they were doing and blamed this on 'being new' so obviously there is a high staff turnover. The hotel and its staff/owner do not respond positively to criticism and could only answer to their poor service by saying 'most people are happy' with the hotel. They did not provide us with appropriate baby/child food as promised when booking, did not manage to have pre-ordered items available in our room, did not service the room properly - even after pointing this out to the management. The food was substandard and could take up to half an hour for each course to arrive whilst our children got restless. It was often cold and congealed. We had several issues with health and safety. The staff are ill-trained at best and downright rude at worst. Furthermore, there is no lift in the hotel so you have to carry all your luggage upstairs and they will only provide one menu per family - no matter how many of you there are - so you have to share it around the whole family making even choosing your dinner stressful! It is portayed as being a quiet area, however for two nights of our stay there was a rock concert 100 yards up the road, the noise of which was inescapable throughout the hotel; as was the noise of drunken and rowdy concert goers parading past our window into the early hours of the morning.We could go on...The hotel is not worth the money and you would be better of staying in a cheaper hotel that doesn't pretend to be baby/child friendly as this hotel clearly isn't. The catalogue of errors we experienced is endless. As Professionals in our day jobs, we found this hotel very UNPROFESSIONAL. The surrounding Cornish coastline is beautiful, but we would urge families to find alternative accommodation.

pocoyo2005 I'm sorry to hear you had a bad stay. We went at the end of June and had a wonderful time. It's hard to believe it was the same hotel you were talking about. We found the staff (with one slight exception) extremely helpful and professional. It was lovely and quiet and the food was good. What a shame you didn't have the same experience. I wonder if it is to do with the fact that you went at a busier time and they couldn't handle it. Also when we went nearly all the children were pre-schoolers, don't know if that made any difference.

Yes we did go whilst the Ripcurl surf festival was on - although we knew the area is renowned for surfing - we didn't know there was a festival on this week as it was our first visit to the area - we won't make that mistake again!

danceswithmonkeys - you are probably right - they probably can't cope during the busy school holidays - but unfortunately as a teacher, I have no choice but to take my family holiday at this time.
We were very surprised by our appalling experience at the Sands Resort as we had read good reviews before travelling - but our personal experience of the resort is do not waste your precious time and money going there!