Presthaven Sands & Devon Cliffs. Any good? (Haven Holidays in general)

Member Name: inaminitt

Product:	Haven Holidays in general
Date:	24/04/03 (1118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Presthaven- entertainment, Devon Cliffs- caravan good!

Disadvantages: Presthaven- slightly dirty, Devon Cliffs- too hilly!

Last year, my family decided that a holiday in 1 place for 2 weeks would become boring and so we booked up to stay at 2 different resorts- Presthaven Sands in Cornwall an Devon Cliffs in, well, Devon.

My Dad had a wide age range to cater for. He's the oldest at 42 and my baby sister was just 4 months at the time. Inbetween there were 3 12 year olds (my brother, his friend and my stepsister, me aged 14 and my stepmum who was 40.

We arrived early and so the car was dumped and so were we. We sat down in a corner in the club sipping coke trying to keep my baby sister amused while my Dad joined the already large queue to gain his keys and camp passes. This took a long time, but it is understandable as its the same in every campsite.

When we did get our items we set off to find the caraan that was ours. Eventually we did, but only after several U-turns and many references to the map that came in our welcome pack.

The caravan was your standard holiday caravan. Small, cramped and basic- but aren't they all? We had a fairly large model as there were so many of us and there were 3 bedrooms. The bedsin mine and my step-sister's room consisted of a tiny single bed that I could hardly stretch in and a dodgy looking cabin-bed that you had to climb up a ladder to get into. I generously gave this one to my sister!!

The rest of the site was made up of a restaurant/pub with a wicked Indian night. The food was great, but it took a while to get a seat. There was also a Pizza place next to this that sold take away Pizzas. They were also delishous. There were 2 clubs. One was the family one, meant for the little kiddies. We didn't go in there much as it was so crowded, but it seemed more of a kids thing really! The other club was the best. I think it had the best entertainment I've ever seen at a holiday park! There was 1 night that stuck in my mind. A Madness tribute band. Now, I know Madness were before my time, but eve
n I enjoyed it. Me and my step-sister were well into it. It was a free-for-all, everyone doing the silly little dances that you do when madness comes on (my Dad taught us!) and me and my sister strated dancing on the tables! The best night ever!

The beach was supposedly within walking distance. When I hear that, I expect it to be a couple 100 metres along, with a nice smooth walk. I was wrong. It toook at least half hour to get down the long, steep winding paths down the cliff onto the sand. We all dreaded the walk back which took even longer. My poor Dad (not the fittest of people) was almost dead when we finally stepped back on level ground. The beach itself was good though. Clean, nice sand.

The swimming pool was pretty poor, but we didnt go in there much. The dance mat just outside it in the arcade beckoned to me too much and I spent a good £20 on it! The pool was basically just a rectangle pool- just one poor slide that was hardly thrilling. There was also an outside pool, but it wasn't heated and the British summer was far too cold to venture into the outside!

The second week was spent at Devon Cliffs. It seemed more modern that the previous week's location and it was a similar story with the queues for passes. We were again dumped in a corner to entertain ourselves. We found the caravan a bit more quickly this time, but it was a hell of a long way up a cliff. The walks to and from the entertainment were more like mountain treks and don't even get me started on the walks to and from the beach!! EXPEDITIONS! The journeys back up the hill took 4 times as long as the trips there!

The beach was covered in seaweed and the sea came in quite quickly. But then the poor beach was hardly Haven's fault.

The entertainment was poor. WE could never get seats and it was a mad dash whenever a family left their table. Hardly in the holiday spirit!

The swimming pool was better than Presthaven Sand's. T
he outside pool was heated and lovely, even if we were swimming with pine needles and dead wasps. There was a slide for 4 people outside and another indoors.

All in all, I enjoyed the holidays. But I think I prefer Butlins!

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