 |
L' Océano D'Or Camping Site (Jard-sur-Mer, France)
by carlz2001uk
Let me first start this review by saying I am currently still on holiday writing this review while my memory is still fresh and secondly a little about why we booked here. Last year we stayed in South Brittany in an amazing campsite with Keycamp in Benodet. It really was perfect and we were desperate to repeat the holiday but with a ... little more hotter weather. Last year we had one decent week but a second rainy and generally miserable week so we decided we needed to venture further south. Determined to stay near a beach we settled on the Vendee as any further South was really clocking up the miles and the journey time from our home in West Yorkshire, so the Vendee it was. This limited us slightly as we wanted to book with Keycamp again - we were happy last year and also gained a 15% discount for going back with them, so the only campsite that seemed to hit all the right notes was the L'Oceano D'Or, rated 5 stars.
Arriving:
After a 5 hour journey time in the UK, a ferry to Calais and a 9.5 hour drive (avoiding toll roads) we wearily arrived at the site. We parked up and ventured to reception to check in, only to be told by an uninterested member of staff we needed to turn right then left. Okay we thought, we were being sensitive, we were tired after all. Arriving at the Keycamp reception (a caravan) we were greeted by a fairly unpleasant staff member who didn't greet us, just said 'what's the name'. I was getting a little impatient with the unfriendly staff but bit my tongue as the rep showed us to our caravan. We had upgraded to one of the luxury caravans this year and I have to admit I was very impressed on our arrival. As a repeat customer we had a lovely bottle of red waiting for us and the modern luxurious caravan was very refreshing. We were slightly perplexed at why we had been put in a caravan away from all the English and next to the reps living quarters but hey no, we're on holiday.
The pool:
Feeling slightly let down by its 5 star claims, we started our explore and soon discovered the pool was... A pool with 2 slides. We had been slightly spoilt last year at Point St. Giles with a lazy river, a domed inside pool area, several slides, children's activity areas in the water, etc, but the pool was unfortunately just that. There is 1 absolutely tiny children's pool area with a tiny tiny slide in but this gets so overrun with children its not much use. It should probably fit around 3 or 4 children max but often has around 20 in. The pool area is fairly unclean too, with only 1 very dirty unisex toilet for the whole pool and bar area. There is 1lifeguard but I only noticed him on day 4, and he certainly isn't easy to spot in an emergency. The pool is open daily 10 - 7. Another thing to mention is the lack of shade. The past 5 days have been 35 degrees at around midday and with parasols only making an appearance yesterday we were fairly unimpressed. With fair skin and 2 small children, we desperately needed shade but when they did make an appearance they were small and pretty useless.
Bar area:
Another letdown I'm afraid. In need of a bit of tlc and definitely in need of an update. Home to all of the evening entertainment and a pass through to reception, web area, small games room and tv room, it isn't as my h of a 'hub' as I would have expected but the bar isn't overpriced (around 5 euros for 2 small Stella's) and the staff are pleasant. The entertainment has been hit and miss on an evening, one night we had 7 line dancers, they were okay but not everyone's cup of tea, while the next night was a strange dj who played 30 seconds of one song before turning it off and putting on another, it did turn into a good night once he played the whole of a song! Tonight we have muscles and chips night (in the middle of an arena -bit strange) and later a Caberet. We've also had a whole night of a ping pong competition and a karaoke night.
Play area:
The playground (if you have children) is the best thing going for this site. It's fab. A pirate ship in the centre with ropes, firemans poles, ladders, slides, etc all coming off here there and everywhere, with a set of swings, a robe climbing frame with suspended seats and lots and lots of sand. It is pretty impressive but there are some rough older children that hang around so we don't let our girls play unsupervised. It is also worth mentioning that there are no kids clubs during the day. While we don't want to ship the children off for hours each day, it is nice for them to make friends and do creative play for an hour each day but unfortunately that isn't an option here.
Extras:
There is a pizza shop, a very small convenience shop and a boules area. A key fob to enter the site by car means your car is pretty safe lol, but young children could frighteningly get out of the site very easily. Luckily we are at the other end of the site. There is also a football pitch and a basketball area.
There are 430 pitches so a fairly big site, but the pitches are small. We cant park down the side of our caravan but do have a big decking area. Dogs are allowed on site so this is something to bear in mind.
The site is situated in Jard Sur Mer which is a little village area. A beach is about 15 minutes walk or a few minutes in the car. A Super U supermarket is a few minutes walk so handy when you check in are told that men must wear speedos in the pool! My husband was mortified as this wasn't the case at the site last year but each one is different.
All in all for the price (we paid £1500 for 10 days but am unsure how much is the caravan how much is the site) we are a little disappointed. The site is most definitely not 5 stars. We have travelled fairly extensively and can safely say that is can't be 5 stars. Even in comparison to last years site it should be rated as a 3 star. I feel the site is massively missing out in areas and could look at providing more facilities, clubs, sports events and entertainment.
* out of interest I have checked to see the price to come as a family of 4 next August for 7 days. For a super tent the price would be £550. A luxury 2 bed caravan will set you back £1100 while a 3 bed caravan with decking will cost £1050. All without the travel costs included.
Perhaps we were slightly spoilt last year in what was most definately a 5 star site but i feel this site could have offered so much more than it did.
Read the complete review |
 |
Martello Caravan Park (Essex, UK)
by AzzR
Having just come back from a day out in Walton I decided to have a drive round the site and I was absolutely gobsmacked. I've never in all my days seen anything like this place, it is like the owners have just upped and left and the site has been sat for years. Old filthy wrecks of caravans all over the place, most with boarded up ... windows etc, all the buildings either shut/deserted or falling to bits, the grass looks like its never been cut, caravan ruins dumped all over the place, kids hanging around causing trouble even though it was in term time. All the rubbish bins overflowing with refuse more than ive ever seen anywhere before. I live on a poor council estate in ipswich and i just couldnt believe my eyes.this is just the start. I was so u believably amazed that this place is actually open. There was no sign of staff or anything, reception shut. All the signs look like they have been there years and years. It honestly looks like the place was suddenly deserted in the 80's. Shocking is an understatement.
Read the complete review |
