What is your opinion of Haven holidays on Caravan park please?

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I have booked our first caravan holiday- after reading trustpilot reviews, I am doubting myself. Please reassure me

Haven 'works' in the way you might like it to, if you're canny.

We went on several Sun voucher (£9.50!!!!!!) deals beck when our DSs were in primary. Back when you could 'extend' a weekend without the truancy officer calling. 😂

A mixed bag.

I'd ALWAYS upgrade to a silver, myself.

Take earplugs. People will be crashing back to their vans, shouting, at all hours.

They vary, but the upshot is, it's Butlins, but not necessarily always in a bad way.

We've enjoyed the water parks (main attraction, go early before last night's parent-revellers have even crawled out of bed), and penny arcades. Kids' entertainment, early, is okay, before the 'ready for a night of it' parents pushing buggies, with exhausted babies within, arrive.

Use it as a base to explore further, dipping into the site stuff as you wish.

Watch your DC on the outdoor play equipment. There'll be kids there who've been taught aggression quite young (very much depends on which site), but I'm not joking. At those prices, there'll be a lot of different 'walks of life'.

Caravan parks are better than fixed villas as they can wheel the old and redundant away, and easily replace it.

Take cleaning equipment with you. Seriously.

Most of our Haven hols worked for us as a family. It depends what you're looking for.

Thank you for the tips.

There is no option for Silver upgrade. We can only upgrade to front row caravan to have uninterrupted sea view at extra £970, and this is called signature caravan.

I was thinking of upgrade to this caravan when we we're actually at the site , hopefully it will be cheaper as they know for sure there is no further booking will be happening or am i dreaming ?

Another silly question, how the toilet system works please.

Do you mean the toilet in the caravan? If so then they tend to just be normal toilets like you’d have at home. Usually in the shower room.

Advice - haven is still doing bookings for swimming so if your kids want to swim book in advance - I think booking opens 6 weeks before your holiday starts. You get so many sessions to prebook and then go to activities reception when you get there to see if you can book more.

@CheesyChipsOnWembleyWay Thank you, I have just downloaded the app. will book in advance.

@Ohhelpicantthinkofaname we don't have to empty the toilets etc, i am pretty sure we don't have to but just want to be 100% sure as we never stayed in a caravan before

No, you don’t have to empty them. I’ve stayed in many all through my childhood and adult life and never had to empty a toilet. They’ve all just had a normal flush.

@Ohhelpicantthinkofaname thank you, I would nt have risked this asking at reception

@Fordian Can we upgrade when we go to the site? Do they allow it?

I'm not sure if you can upgrade on site. I do t see why not Those signature vans are stunning. The view is ridiculous! We nearly got upgraded because our electricity went off. Unfortunately the friendly maintenance man fixed the fault very quickly!! However we have been in other positions on site as we do a lucky dip for cheapness and all have been good.

The toilets are like normal ones you have in your house.

There's not a lot of space in the bedrooms but the main living area is spacious. The vans have always been spotless (almost like new) although we only go out of season.

@stilldumdedumming I can upgrade to row behind the signature caravan by extra £50, does it worth it ?

that's where we are booked for September. And we were there in April. I like it there. It's away from the club and the chip shop. It's a small site anyway but that second row is quieter- which I like. It depends on the age of your children I would say. Will you be using the club a lot. Mind you - honestly it's not a big site.

Is it a van with a big front window - they are nice.

@stilldumdedumming It is predicted to be raining. We will be using clubs but I don't see my children will be in swimming pool for whole day, 2 hours of activities and then we will be off to town or surrounding areas.

We went once (Haven in Norfolk). It was ok. The kids loved the caravan bit. The clientele were a bit scary (bald, white, tattooed men) and dh was quite self conscious as he's not white (nor bald or tattooed!). He didn't experience any actual racism but it felt close iyswim and he felt very obviously different. We've not been again. We have stayed in caravans abroad and it seems a bit more diverse.

Be careful, you probably need to book slots for the swimming pool - a lot of sessions will have already been booked from experience. Sessions are an hour.

You should have received an email about booking activities (assuming your booking includes activities, some are caravan only).

yes we have booked activities