Dirty toilets! (Sandy Balls Holiday Centre)

Member Name: TINA WENAHM

Product:	Sandy Balls Holiday Centre
Date:	12/08/07 (1971 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: static caravans

Disadvantages: Tents

we arrived at sandy balls on friday 27th july in the pouring rain we were booked for two weeks in the ready tents. we were told not to insult them by arriving before 3pm as it took them this time to clean the tents and get it all tip top and bristol fashion ( i don't think) the tents we had two next to each other 30 and 31 the first thing we noticed was one of the inner tents had collasped and the rubber bands were perished and we could no longer use them. the cooker was a bit old and the grill pan would hold 1 slice of toast. the whole out side of the tents were not pinned down as all the bands had perished. the zip on tent 30 was not working and after 14days had become a real problem getting up or down. The mud at the front door was at least two inches thick and you could not get into the tents without going through this with 4 children under 6 not very good. we stopped a passing van and a lady said she would report these things. at approx 8.30 we had to make a dash to the on site shop to buy string to replace bands and to get the inner tents up so we could put the children to bed. in the morning we asked if this could be rectifeld and our money for string was refunded!. We asked if we could have something put down infront of tents and on return this was quickly done and bark was put down which did the job. it wasnt until we had been there a week that we were pegged down on the outside (lucky no high winds!!)The toilet block which was northfield was a mess there was paper and rubbish every were , i can understand this is not sandy balls fault as it is the camper which are the dirty b-----s. we were told the toilets and showers were cleaned everyday at 11 o clock so this is the best time to use after they have been cleaned as after this they begin to dirty! very quickly. the hand dryer did not work and it was only after complaining 4 times that finally on day 12 of our 14 days it was replaced i found out from a fellow camper that this dryer had been there the year before, why had no one else complained.we discovered loads of people had complained about northfield toilet block but it didnt get any better in the two weeks we were there. this blocks do need to be cleaned at least three times a day. there was also no rubbish bin so the sanitary bins were always overflowing as people were putting tissues cotton wool dirty nappies all in these bins. I also complained about this and on the forth day a bins was connected to the wall under the dryer. we did have a great holiday as there was 17 of us 12 in ready tents and 5 in their own tent also on northfield, but as we paid £772.00 for each tent we were expecting a better standard of hygiene. We also had to use the chemical toilet disposible room! as we had children that use buckets in the night , this was overflowing all over the floor on three occasions which was wonderful on early morning trips over there ,just before breakfast!! i think sandy balls is a wonderful camp if you are using static caravans of the wonderful lodges but if you have to use the toilet and showers in the block be prepared for the worse, i do wonder if this is the fact that i am a 54 year old granny who has not camped since my children were small but in The Good Old Days campers would not have dreamed of leaving the dirt and filth behind them, perhaps we no longer train our children to clean behind them or do people live like this in their own homes, i do wonder.

Summary: Wonderful camp cleaning need to be monitored closer