Craig Tara Holiday Park

7 readers found this review helpful

i'm a 16 year old disabled young person, i went to craig tara with my parents. got to park, mum went in to check in, drove to caravan. which was very clean but no heating. only blow heating. but at least i'd be safe, because the last year, i coludn't keep warm, i had to sit near the fire, as i'm partially blind. my parents, were scared i'd burn myself. the blow heating was ok though.
on to the complex
it's ok allthough, the stairs, leading up to the bonga wonga bar, are very steep. if you have a sensory impairment, e.g. stiff legs, i reccomend you go into the live lounge, as there are no stairs, leading up to the door.
there are a lot of people who think arcades, are a waste of money, but if you start a money box up, till you go away, it's worth it.
the mash and barrel bar, is ok. nice and quiet. although, if there's football on, the sound is off. i reccomend you take a laptop, as there's free internet access, and use the site " anything that's on.com"
the pool is treemendous "(in the words of bradley bear)
all you need is a bar of soap, no need for a shower!
the park is great although we spent much of the break going places, and playing games.
the staff allow day visitors up, as long as they're not staying. my dad's mate came up and stayed the weekend but the staff said it was fine for him to sleep in our spare room.
i reccomend you take a copule of board games up for rainy days, cause that's what scotland is famous for!
overall great park.
wee bit hilly in my opinion, but everybody has their own.
one more thing. the shop is pricey. so use asda, tesco morrisons, or sainsburys.

3 readers found this review helpful

This was our third visit to Craig Tara and it certainly wont be our last as we are looking into becoming owners. I have read a few bad reviews which I certainly dont agree with. The staff are great theres plenty to do without spending money ie: swingpark, swimming all the entertainment, beach, walks, bring a ball or frisbee and get the kids some exercise on holiday and they will go out like a light after all the excitement of the day and night.This was the first time we have been half board and the food was great plenty to choose from and more than enough to eat. When we ate at breakfast we didn't need anything else till our evening meal. All in all myself my husband our daughter and son in law and our granddaughter had a great time and looking forward to our next break. We stayed in a prestige caravan which was spotless inside and out.

13 readers found this review helpful

After booking this holiday with my other half, for me, him and our son (22 months), I decided to read the reviews, I was extremely nervous to go to this place as the majority of reviews were terrible, so I went with an open mind.....We arrived and was seen within 10 mins (it was busy too!!) we drove round to our caravan, which was easy to find, an we had a fantasic view of the sea, we got into the caravan and was surprised to see it was extremely clean and tidy, beds made, and toliet and shower cleaned! After reading the reviews many people said how this was never done when they arrived....we unpacked our stuff and decided to have a look around the complex,we found everything easy to find and decided to stay in the park with our son for a while, he loved it! we then decided to have a look further down the complex, we found a mini fair, papa johns, spar, sports centre and the swimming baths. We decided to go swimming once we had settled in, there are 3 pools, with various slides, there are plenty of life guards about, probably too many but you can never have enough when it comes to safety!!
The pools where never too busy but where never empty, the pools are open 9.30 till 12.45 and 2.00 till 5.45 (its shut for sports activities during dinner and after 5.45) there are female and male changing rooms downstairs and family upstairs. The female changing rooms have cubicles, toliets and lockers, the males have open changing area, toliets and lockers and the family have a mixture of the above. They are clean and smell fine, the lockers are 20p each (you get a token, the token is placed in the inside of the door of the locker when your stuff is inside and the door is shut and the key is turned and the locker is locked) I and my partner made the mistake of seeing how the locker works first and losing the token inside, We both went to the front desk and got another token for free. The pool is clean and warm, but once you get used to the water it becomes cooler than it was before.
After swimming we went back to the caravan and had tea from Papa Johns on site, it was delivered within 20 mins! There is also a mash and barrel on site (little pricey) and a burger king...which you dont have to wait in queue for ages!
we decided on our second night to visit the arcade and shows. The last time we went to a Haven holiday pack our son cried at the character shows, but this time loved it, so we went to a few over the time we was there. The prices for the shop and drinks are a little pricey but nothing extreme!!
we ventured out of the complex a few times to the surrounding areas, the town centre is pretty big with a good few shops and car pack prices are cheap too!
We visited The Balgarth around the corner from the Complex, it is a friendly and calm atmosphere but is a little pricey for what you get.
We also visited Heads of Ayr farm park next door, on the website and leaflets it says its not open till end of april, which isnt true, It opens the same time as the holiday park. We went on a windy day and most of the activities are outside, its worth visiting this place when the weather is better, it costs £10 an adult and kids under 3 (I think) are free. Theres a massive indoor play area for the kids and plenty of animals and activies onsite, there is feed avaliable for the animals at 50p a bag you get plenty!
We also visited Pirate Petes, a massive indoor play area for all ages! Bit pricey for 2 hours but my son loved it.
The caravan we stayed in had freeview and was really cosy, The only problem with the caravan was the water....The water had to be constinly turned down to be able to get a shower as the water was hot and turned up for the dishes, But other than this there was no fault with our holiday at all!
Infact it was an amazing holiday!!!!

2 readers found this review helpful

i went to craig tara with my family.
i'll break ti down for you.
day 1.
finished school went to park with my mum, dad and my dad's mate.
day 2.
went to arcade for a few games i just like the penny falls, a odd puggy (ayrshire slang for fruit machine) and a odd ticket game
i played this cool machine, wich had lots of games on ti they change it once in a while played take your pick and who wants to be a millionaire
night time
had dinner in caravan which was a chippy from the on site chippy.
my grandparents were comming up i asked park staff and said it was fine.
day 3 went to girvan a town near the park
day 4 went to ayr
day 5 went swimming
nightrime: went to marsh and barrel bar to watch football
day 6 went to arcade
i enjoyed myself
there's a wee ice cream shop on site pricey but ok for mr. whippy
arcade is brill
they have internet access so birng your laptop.
everythign was great!

13 readers found this review helpful

me my mum and my 2 kids were at Craig Tara for a long weekend break on arriving we were told to go to another part of the complex to get our keys they didn't tell us how to get to this part or were abouts it was when we got our keys to the caravan we were given a small map of the holiday park and the person that gave us they keys pointed to were we were to go no other directions were given to us since it was October that we went they holiday park was getting dark when we arrived and it was very hard to find the caravan my mum is in a wheelchair but decided that since we were on holiday she would just take her walking stick with us as we had told them when we booked up so we thought that we wouldn't have to walk to far to the caravan unfortunately we were to discover that we were put away down to the bottom of the site i had to carry all the luggage that we had with us as my mum isn't able to i also had to make sure that the kids were OK as well When we finally found the caravan which was in the ayr bay view area we found that it was cold inside we thought this was due to the place being empty for a while so stuck the heating on as it was late evening when we arrive we decided to go get something to eat and take the kids to the entertainment for a couple of hours thinking that the caravan would be warm on our return we went to the burger king on site to find it was very expensive and when we ordered we were told that they had no milk for tea and that there was no kids drinks left either when we got to the kids entertainment we found that there was nothing on for the kids till 8 o'clock that night so the kids were getting very bored i took them out to the amusements while my mum sat in our seats so she could rest the amusements area was very expensive and i spent nearly 30 pound in 15 minutes with the girls. I went to get the girls one of the big character cups each as i found that getting them juice in that would have been cheaper than buying them glasses of juice all night as i hadn't been here before i asked one of the rep staff were i would get one and this lady was so cheeky she told me that i would get they cups up at the bar and they were for juice and could only get refilled up at the bar in the most cheekiest manner my daughter went to the dj booth to buy my mum sum prize bingo tickets she stood there for 15 minutes getting ignored by the guy that was selling them on my return to the table my mum told that she had been down there for ages i went down to get her and the tickets and when i said to him that my daughter had been there for 15 minutes he looked at me and just laughed as if it was funny that she was just standing there. There was no entertainment for the kids during the day and at night there was only one hour for the kids the fun star reps didn't bother with the kids they didn't do any dances with them or play any games all in all the holiday was a total disaster we ended up coming home 1 day early as the caravan didn't heat up all weekend my kids were going to bed with there jammies on with jumpers and socks i ended up with one of the girls in sleeping with me and my other daughter slept in with my mum just to keep them warm the holiday was so boring for the kids that they asked to come home and said they never want to go there again i wouldn't recommend this holiday park to anyone the staff are so rude there are no entertainment for kids and there caravans are so cold

1 reader found this review helpful

We have just arrived home today from a 7 day break for half term.We stayed in a prestige caravan that was very tidy and well located in Alloway Village,this area was secluded and away from the main complex.What we have noticed from our previous visits to Craig Tara is a steady decline in the standards of entertainment on show.In previous years there has been a resident band (Demand) and the Fun Stars were extremely talented.This year there was a show to warm up called "Ding or Ling" which was funny to the youngsters but was an insult to the intelligence of adults,we also witnessed one of the Fun Star Shows called "Anthology"-this was dire with the male lead being very flat and singing the wrong words in parts,I was not the only one who thought this..Sorry if I appear over critical but you dole out good hard earned and expect something in return.Bar prices were on a par with my local so not bad on that score....As ever the staff were very friendly and courteous.Overall left slightly dissappointed but would return to other Haven sites next year

6 readers found this review helpful

Having been to hafan y mor recently,we went to craif tara half board,we were in the chalets,first impressions of the chalet,i thought i was back at pontins in southport! The setees were really grubby and there was stains all over the carpets too,it was very very dingey in comparrison to hafan y mors chalets,my toddler ran into a chair,and was left with an egg on his head it was that tight!
half board,must admit,there were things that were better than hafan y mor,they done fried eggs for brekie in the morning,also they cook the bacon properly,not in the oven like they do hafan y mor,and the orange cordial actually has some taste,oh and they do mini popadoms with the curry and crossiants for brekkie which hafan y mor dont do,so thats a plus on the food side.
The park grubby in places,buckets in the dining rooms catching the falling water from the roof,the changing rooms in the swimming baths were black on the floor,and i mean absolutely filthy,i only went in too take the little one to the toilets.
we diddnt do the entertainment,although we did take a walk down to the little fun fair which was ok,then onto the park,where there were unlit matches in the wooden climbing frame.
if you go out the park,its worth mentioning that your on a national speed limit road comming towards it and its not very well lit for where you have to turn to get back into camp especially when its dark.
there is access to the beach which is nice,and would be lovely on a summers day.
The staff were all very friendly and lovely,especially the woman and her husband billie at the half board restraunt.
it was ok as a break away,would i go again? i dont know,i always like to give a true evaulition of these places places,perhaps had we gone while it was a bit warmer i may have felt diffrently,but i probably wouldnt feel like i was in a rush to go back if that makes sense.

1 reader found this review helpful

just returned from a long weekend at craig tara , i stayed in a prestigse caravan which was very clean and tidy . its costs a bit extra but i would definatley say to upgrade from the standard caravan if you want decent accomadation .
ate at the mash and barrel a few times it was ok , and burger king which was also ok , except for the rude girl that served me .
there was plenty for kids to do although it is money money money all the time , the swimming was free and the pool was good although the changing rooms could have been done a good clean .
the bonga wonga entertainment was ok for the kids , the music was very loud in between the shows, i thought i was at a nite club at time as you couldnt hear urself think. not really suitable for kids. didnt like the magicain, ment to be for kids but said serveral rude comments which werent suitable for kids ears . the area where the kiddies rides were was also in need of a total overhaul , i thought the rides were very old and in need of updating . the farm next door to craig tara was very good.
unsure if i would go back to craig tara but if u do go make sure u upgrade to a better caravan, remember u get what u pay for !!!

4 readers found this review helpful

i recently went to Craig Tara with 6 adults and 4 kids. i have been to this camp about 7 times but when it was still butlins. i maybe expexted a little more. i dont think there was as much to do nowadays and everything cost money except the swimming, park and beach. this aside i had a great time with my four neices and the cost didnt come to that much. i ate at turnberry gardens and enjoyed most of the meals. the mash and barrell also did nice meals at a reasonable price. the nightlife was good and entertaining but very repetetive after five nights. all in all i would go back there and enjoyed my holiday.

8 readers found this review helpful

I went with my partner to Craig Tara for the weekend, the park is easily found and reception as we arrived was very useful. Checking in was very quick and easy and the staff are all very helpful and pleasant. The park offers lots of different activities for children of all ages and adutls,the entertainment is varied every night and is suitable for children and adults, its very enjoyable. Over all Criag Tara is a fun place to visit and i recomend it to other people for a holiday, that was my second visit to Craig Tara and i look forward to visitng again.