Dean park resorts or similar?

[Mixedupmummy]

we usually go on nice holiday but we now have 3 young dc so funds need to stretch further and I'd like to get away more often. I've never been to a caravan park/resort. my husband hates the idea (he's
being a snob) but I'd like to give it a go. seems like adequate accommodation and lots to do on your caravan door step. or is it really awful and cheap for a reason?

Do you mean Park Dean? We have recently done a cheap deal to one and it wasn't great to be honest. Cheap for a reason. It was a good location for visiting family and the surrounding area was lovely. We've been to some nice caravan parks though. Search recommendations on Mumsnet and read reviews before you go. You should be fine and the kids will love it. I think Haven sites are a bit nicer than Park Dean.

Maybe ask for a specific area and Mumsnetters can give you some recommendations. We like Hendra near Newquay. St Ives Bay holiday park had great kids entertainment and is on a fabulous beach. Do you want a small quiet park, or large with all the facilities and entertainment?

We’ve been to 2 in Norfolk in the last year. In both cases we were very cramped on the site, however the teens enjoyed the swimming pool in the summer.

We use Siblu parks in France, owning a mobile home in central France and using their swap system for other visits. We find that we get our own space, blocked off by hedging which is good.

I’m not sure what the price difference would be.

I can wholeheartedly recommend woolacoombe bay holiday parks , they have lodges aswel as caravans - the higher end lodges are lovely!

Also check out hoseasons, they have some lovely low key parks, the cheddar woods one is lovely!

Some Parkdean sites are lovely, some are a bit rough. Trip.advisor first is my advice. We've had some amazing Parkdean holidays with dd

I have been to some nice sites with park Dean and some Horror sites. Depends where you go and at what time of the year.

I’m with your husband my idea of hell. Would much prefer a site with no facilities. Than the hell that is a campsite with a club and even worse entertainment.

Rather stick pins in my eyes.

Trecco Bay is our nearest one and is great for children in terms of facilities. But it is rough as fuck most of the year.

Warmwell is great, has deer that come up to the lodges, roller rink, swimming, large soft play and dry slope skiing and snowboarding.

park dean/ Dean park
sorry I thought no one replied to this and I've just thought to double check.
mixed reviews. I will do much more in-depth research if I decide I'm brave enough.

@lovelyupnorth you made me laugh as that's exactly what my dh says.

thank you all for the recommendations. we're in central Scotland so I think I'd try somewhere up here and wait till the dc are older before trying something further afield. a 3/4 hour drive is my limit atm.

thanks again

They have a lovely one in the Lakes, it's quiet but not far from Windermere. Limefitt? Worth a look?

We’re going to Limefitt at half term. Nice to hear it’s lovely after our grim Park Dean experience at Easter.

To be fair the lakes ones aren’t bad but when’s your paying upto £500,000 for a caravan it should be. They where privately owned up until a couple of years ago. Still wouldn’t get me staying at them.

Some parkdeans are lovely, some not so much - I believe they took over another company a few years ago and those sites are a bit ropey.

We liked warmwell and have been a couple of times. We always pay for the highest level ( my DH is also a snob!), if possible find out if there's some privately owned ones that are hired out as often these are nicer.

We've done a few. Good points - lots to do eg soft play, activities, pool. Good value. Ones we chose were in a great location near beaches.
Cons- my DCs weren't impressed with the tacky entertainment, much to my dismay. Pool areas in the parks we visited were very busy. Two of the caravans were damp and set off asthma in DS so we ended up in hospital one year and quite poorly another time. Can be noisy.

We prefer holiday cottages now but enjoyed our caravan holidays at the time.

Also recommend higher end lodges at Woolacombe Bay and Golden Coast. We went off peak when kids were little - it was fab bring in such a big park with all the facilities but nice and quiet. There's a huge pottery painting centre at Golden Coast which DD loved.

I'd also echo what a pp said regarding searching for privately owned caravans on the site you're interested in. We've got a platinum grade caravan for a week in August that is costing easily £400 less than it would through Park Dean. In addition, you'll be able to see photos of the actual van you're hiring, rather than generic ones. We loathe tacky entertainment, but the last few times we've been, it wasn't compulsory 😀.

Warens in Bamburgh is gorgeous

We've stayed at White Cross Bay a few times in the Lake District and had lovely holidays. We've always booked direct with Parkdean.

They are fine, choose a newer unit eg gold unless you need pet friendly as older ones will be in poor decorative state. Larger parks will have indoor pools, sports halls etc so you can entertain youngsters on wet days, and they have kids activities, usually stuff in the morning split between younger and older kids, then something early evening.

The entertainment tends to be tacky, a cruise ship it is not, but it's fun usually and have heard some amazing young singers getting their first break, often university performing arts students on their summer break.

You can just use it as a base to visit the area of course, but my kids always loved the club house and our youth group says it's the best bit

I always thought Park Dean was the Centre Parcs of caravans I looked into one once and the price of the top of the range van was more expensive for a week in the summer that going abroad.

Haven Berwick is very nice. I’ve just booked a park dean on the sun holiday deal so I hope it’s ok. Have stayed in numerous private sites and so far the haven one has been the best. We avoided the pool and entertainment.

We've stayed on a few Haven sites but none in Scotland, they've all been nice though, well maintained etc.

Look into hiring a private one though and not through Haven, they're cheaper, better equipped and you can research the site plan and look for ones in the area you like, a lot of the Haven owned ones are in rows looking onto the back of another van whereas the private ones are often on the nicer pitches and you can view photos of the actual van. Haven allocate on arrival.

We've only used havens own once and it was so basic, they didn't even provide a loo roll or washing up sponge whereas the private ones often have everything you'll need.

I've only heard bad things about Park Dean and Pontins. Park Holidays is ok (where I've stayed) but very basic in terms of entertainment. Haven has a lot more going on (am writing this from a Haven van right now actually ) and imo is the best of the holiday parks.

I'm in the Caister-on-Sea park and would recommend

We've stayed at Haven and Park Dean resorts and enjoyed both. It's not a luxury holiday by a long shot but we found them clean, well maintained, good fun for the kids and with friendly helpful staff.
The only place we didn't like was a Pontins camp. Once was enough for that resort although the kids still likes it.