Hardly a haven (Haven Holidays in general)

Member Name: LisaW82

Product:	Haven Holidays in general
Date:	30/04/09 (568 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice caravans

Disadvantages: Expensive once there, poor acts and ongoing building work

Having left it too late to book for our Easter break at Butlins, we decided that we would try Haven instead. We had heard good things from friends and as there is a big camp at nearby Cleethorpes we though that that would be a good and reasonably cheap option. How wrong we were.

First things first, anyone expecting Haven to be reasonably cheap to go to will get a shock once there. Sure the actual caravan is reasonably priced and they are all to a good standard, but once you are there everything seems to be drastically inflated. My husband actually resorted to going out of the camp to buy his beers in and then stayed in the caravan till he had got a little merry, drastically reducing the cost of the night out.

The plus points are that there is plenty for the kids to do, though nowhere near the amount you get at Butlins and the daytime entertainment does seem a little on the poor side. The swimming pools are tiny but clean and easy to take a baby into. The play areas are OK and well maintained, if a little small.

Now for the negatives. On top of the price of drinks and food, you have the appaling standard of entertainment (thank god for bingo, at least they couldn't get that wrong), the building site that was there, presumably to improve the relic that they called an outdoor adventure playground (though that may not be a problem now as I last went 2 years ago), the walk from one end to the other was too much every day as we were stuck in possibly the furthest caravan away from the entertainment and the staff were nowhere near as friendly as the famous Butlins 'Red Coats'.

I did find the entertainment at night especially bad and I think some of the worst X-Factor auditionees wouldn't look out of place there. We ended up strolling round the arcades at night by the end of our stay as it just repeated every night. If this was addressed, along with the whole experience being made cheaper and the staff given training in pleasantries I think the camp we went to could have some more appeal.

If you can, I urge you all to choose Butlins, or even abroad, ahead of going to Haven and it saddens me to say that.

Summary: A poor mans Butlins in every way