Haven or Park Dean resort, which are better???

[Zelda93]

Just wanting to get an opinion on which sites are better .. we are thinking of buying a static caravan and having never done this type of holiday I was wondering which has the better reputation? What I can't get my head round is we could buy a brand new caravan on a Haven site yet for the same price on the other the caravan site it would be over 10yrs old?? We are looking at the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire sites so if any of you have any recommendations pls let me know .. at this point I am just researching in readiness of lockdown ending to go look at the sites so your opinions would be great or if you know of any other sites with children's entertainment, fishing lake and relatively near a beach that be great, thank you

Haven are better sites than park dean. Haven generally have a better 'quality' feel rather than park dean, in so much as a caravan site can have.

I grew up with haven sites, but we went to a couple of park dean sites last year and the year before, and they were shabby, dated and seemed like a downgrade from haven.

You'll pay more for haven, but it'll most likely be a nicer site.

Thank you I appreciate your advice .. the trip advisor seems to agree with you also. The haven sites are actually quite to cheap buy a new caravan on too that's why I thought there may be a catch?

Just do the sums to calculate the total costs over the time you own it, we looked in to it 18 years ago and and the time we could have bought a cottage for the same cost, but the cottage would have gone up in value, I kept an eye on it and its just sold for 5 times what we could have paid. Having said all that the kids will remember it forever money cant buy good family time.

Park Dean sites are so much better. Trecco in Porthcawl, Wales is beautiful. My kids have loved that site and been most years for the last 15 years. They are adults now and still go. Much better quality than Haven.

I agree with @Funf my SB brougham holiday home rather than a caravan as the prices were more or less the same, also on some sites once the van gets a certain age you have to replace

I really enjoy a haven holiday but I cant imagine buying a caravan having never been on one. As pp have said you could get a cottage probably for the price and do you really want to keep visiting the same caravan repeatedly on the same site?

We have been to one site 3 x but then fancied other holidays - it really does tie you. Also now my kids are bigger its not really what we want for a holiday - so it eould have had limited value.

Obviously lots of people do buy caravans on the site but I never quite got why!

Why would you even consider buying a static caravan having never done that type if holiday? You might hate it. Or is it just an investment to let out as a holiday let?

I have been on lots of caravan holidays, there are pluses and minuses. We've had amazing times on fab sites with great facilities, a lovely site, space around the van, good value too.

But equally we have had sites which are noisy, smelly, poorly maintained...the worst was when we were right next to the road, behind the entertainment complex, next to the back door to the chippy, with seagulls landing on the roof every morning at 5:30....so noise at night, noise in the morning, noisy neighbours when you opened the windows during the day..... in fact it put me off for years.

If you are buying purely for investment do your sums, factor in life of the van - as someone said upthread some sites will make you change the van after X number of years. Look at the site fees, how much will you pay each year. Look at the energy providers....how much will you pay in bills.... How long can you let the van out for each year? How long are the facilities open? Are you comparing like for like - a site with an indoor pool is more popular than a site with no pool etc etc. How much are entertainment passes? How much would that add onto a holiday cost?

One thing I dont think has been mentioned we have to be mindful of Covid and how long it could be around and limiting travel and activities, on the other hand some bargains might be about?
I would suggest spending few weekends at a site before you buy many offer this for a reduced rate.
One thing we did is actually calculate how often you can go away, we found as the kids started activities we had less opportunities, its a big investment so it has to be right. We had a Tourer for many years but in the end it was used so little it was cheaper to rent a caravan or cottage instead.

@Funf

Just do the sums to calculate the total costs over the time you own it, we looked in to it 18 years ago and and the time we could have bought a cottage for the same cost, but the cottage would have gone up in value, I kept an eye on it and its just sold for 5 times what we could have paid. Having said all that the kids will remember it forever money cant buy good family time.

I agree with this.

A £30,000 caravan over 10 years plus site fees (£3,000 a year would be at the low end for a Haven site) could pay for a lot of caravan holidays across the year. And you wouldn't be limited to going to the same place each time.