SuperTroopers (Sandford Holiday Park (Wareham, Dorset))

Member Name: ~*pink-pilgrim*~

Product:	Sandford Holiday Park (Wareham, Dorset)
Date:	23/03/08 (2104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great entertainment

Disadvantages: prepare for housework!

We have just returned from a holiday at Sandford Holiday park and I must say I was impressed. We had a lovely short break and was amazed that the holiday only cost us £90 by saving up vouchers with the local paper.

BOOKING
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I was not entirely satisfied with the booking process but this is more an issue I had with Parkdean as a company than the holiday park. The company who deal with booking are called Parkdean and they currently have a number of sites over the UK.

The offer we had saved up for enabled us to take a holiday any week/ weekend at a cost of £10 per person. We were told there maybe a small charge for linen, housekeeping and general upkeep of the caravan. After paying this small charge of £70 we were booked. We then started receiving final demand notices from the Parkdean staff and I had many calls a day asking me to pay the amount. In the end we paid a £10 admin charge due to a mistake made on their part - still we were looking forward to our holiday so didn't want to risk losing out due to £10.

ARRIVAL
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The park was very easy to find with well placed brown attraction signs on the way to Wareham and leading to the holiday park. Our check-in was handled very well with everything ready to hand. We moved house 3 weeks ago and our booking confirmation was lost in the process. This didn't matter at all and all our check-in information was kept at the reception desk anyway.

The paths leading to caravans are all named after local landmarks, places and nature so it was quite fun looking for our caravan. Each caravan had a small driveway so there was ample car parking space meaning that during the windy, cold and rainy weather we didn't have to walk too far.

We entered the caravan and both of us said 'wow' in unison. The place was huge. Despite the fact only 2 of us were staying there we had three bedrooms one double and two twin with ample sleeping space on the sofas. We had a superb kitchen area and a great little bathroom. It was more than we were expecting.

We walked into the bedroom to find that all linen was packed in a small bag and that we had to make our own beds, I can't say I was too pleased as we had paid £70 for a housekeeping service. There was a note to say that to save time on housekeeping could we make our beds and on leaving strip them again. We were also asked to hoover, polish, clean the caravan on day of departure. Throughout the week we had to clean dishes to eat/drink from them.

There were no towels so we had to go shopping the next day. I was a little disappointed as we had not seen any housekeeping going on at all. On out last day we saw a few people walking around with trolleys picking up the bedding that was left in bags outside caravan so as far as we were aware the caravans are not maintained by another person so that was a slight issue for us.

THE VENUE
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The venue is very nice with a convenience shop, swimming pool, arcade, restaurant, take-away outlet and children entertainment. We only used the take-away, arcade and bar so cannot comment on the swimming pool or children entertainment. We did however see Sid and Lizzie the parks mascot wandering around and if I was 5 again I would have loved it. The pool looked really fun but again it was far too cold to find out.

The take-away was certainly below average and food was of a very poor standard. We did not chose to pay for the parks dining facilities due to the high prices but I am sure if we had it would have been far better. The take-away food was reasonably priced compared to other outlets but it certainly lacked any substance and we were often left hungry at night. We were so disappointed the last few nights we resorted to the local MacDonald's.

The bars were excellently priced with 4 bottles of VK ice at £10, a four pint pitcher of any ale/lager or cider at £9.90 and other special offers. Unlike parks like Butlins and Haven where the staff increase prices to take advantage the Parkdean Corporation are still charging reasonable prices and we were quite happy to sit and drink several pints/bottles a night without breaking the bank.

ENTERTAINMENT
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The holiday so far seems to be rather shocking so why have I rated it 4* I hear you ask! Well the entertainment was first class absolutely amazing and for this reason I am happy to return year after year. In fact on my first night thre I turnmed to my finace and exclaimed I am having my Hen Night here "I LOVE IT" unfortunately Parkdean will not allow group booking so looks like its Butlins for us!

The Parkdean Troopers are the people that give the park and company a good name. I know many say that after a great holiday..."it was the redcoats that made it" but seriously without these people I would have packed up and left on the first night.

The entertainment was very diverse and included every generation. The evening started with kids time with Sid and Lizzie (the mascots seagull and lizard). A few games would be played involving talent shows, games, activities and dancing contests to earn points for Sid the seagull or Lizzie the lizard. All children were split into teams and they earned points each night until one mascot won on the Thursday night.

Following kids time the nightly bingo is held. On our first night I bought several cards thinking we'd have a few games but there really was no need we didn't win anything as it was so hard to keep up with the fast calling. The other nights we won a lot of money, so it wasn't a waste of time at all. During the bingo a DVD is put on to entertain kids. In the evening an adult cabaret is shown. One night we saw "relight the fire" a tribute to Take That and another we had ABBA. We had a few night of film music and a night with a magic/juggling show. The shows we saw whilst we were there was by far the best entertainment either of us have ever seen. IT WAS SUPERB!

STAFF
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Unfortunately the 6-8 troopers were the only nice members of staff we met on or holiday. They were certainly fantastic ambassadors for the park putting 100% into everything. Staff behind the bar, in shops, takeaways and on reception were often 'snappy' and couldn't really be bothered.

On a few occasions the bar was closed early because the staff "wanted to go home" and the arcade was closed "because they wanted to" and we were left at 11pm to go back to the caravan with absolutely nothing to do. it was very disappointing especially as the caravans were so cold and uncomfortable.

LOCAL AREA
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During the day we wanted to go out and explore and there si plenty in Dorset to do. Ione day we visited the harbour of Poole and had fun shopping in the Dolphin shopping centre. Another day we visited Wimbourne Minstrel and had a lovely time at the Model Village.

Our best day had to be the day we visited Dorchester and Weymouth as there was tons to see and do on that day. We visited the Old Crown Court where the Tolpuddle martyrs were tried. On arriving we were shocked to see that it wasn't a museum but was part of the council offices and we were given a pass to visit the court...bumping into the town mayor and councillors on the way. In Weymouth we visited Brewers Quay and looked at the time travel and discovery museums. These were amazing and I would strongly recommend it.

There is always something to do.

SUMMARY
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We were quite sad to leave but this was mainly due to the fun we had on excursions and evening entertainment. We both agreed we'd mi8ss the excellent shows and the area was lovely but we had been let down by the other factors. We hope to return next year and with caravans starting at about £175 per week we are keen to take a group of us up for a nice week away.

Summary: The troopers by name and by nature!