Craig Tara Holiday Park

15 readers found this review helpful

***DO NOT GO TO THIS PARK***
Booked a 1 week holiday in Craig Tara (Haven) - Standard Caravan. Arriving at the park I realised I had made a big mistake, just from the general poor condition of the facilities. The toilets in the main building are scary during the day, can't imagine what it would be like in the evening with all the drunk neds. Accomodation was filthy and was stinking of smoke. The bed linen that was supplied was thread bare. The bed that we had to sleep in had springs sticking out of the matress.
Swimming pool was freezing and get this shuts for lunch i.e. all swimmers out. Duhhhh!!! Ever heard of staggered lunch times for staff.
To sum it up we stuck it out one night without any sleep due to some drunk neds shouting and screaming in the middle of the night and then headed home. No upgrades or a refund was offered by Haven.
The park is obviously run on a shoestring with nothing invested in the facilities, do not waste your money.
Great place if you like drinking, smoking, fighting and neds.

8 readers found this review helpful

We had a 5 day stay at Craid Tara 2 families kids aged 2 to 6years. The caravan was disgusting stinking and filthy, i got the dog blanket out the boot of car to cover the carpet it was that bad. Complained staff were unapologetic but did move us to a slightly better caravan, still stunk and went straight out and bought frebreeze and sprayed it everywhere. Duvet sets we hired were clean but had massive holes and tears in them!!! Park is well equipped and caters well for children the play park is brilliant. The whole park was grubby if it had a good clean would make a world of difference. In the end you get what you pay for, cheap family holiday dont go with high expectations and you wont be disappointed.

9 readers found this review helpful

My kids aged 15 13 9 and7 loved it so did me and my husband we were there for 2 weeks which i thought was too long a week would of been enough because of the weather.the food wasnt bad. our rooms were not cleaned or towels changed there is brushes left in the room but i dont go on holiday to clean.The swimming pool was clean our kids loved it,the staff were helpful if you needed them.You would spend a lot if you use the ammusment or karts we took ours to loudoun castle instead and take your haven booking with you, you get a discount. We are heading back to haven over the halloween break staying in a caravan this time and only 4 nights looking forward to it.most of the night entertainment was fine we did leave one night a singer was on but 1 out of 14 wasnt bad.

11 readers found this review helpful

Me and my family have just returned from a 7 day stay at craig tara friday to friday. We arrived at 4pm and granted as it was when people was starting to get there keys but we where greeted with 5 lines with dozens of people in each to make things worse the 1st 3 lines where soley designated for competitors to a huge dance competiton. After an hour wait we got given a key to all I can describe is a total joke of a caravan Getting in the van was extremely easy due to the doors not bein able to lock inside it mirrors so many of the reviews ive read so i went upto to reception and discussed my concerns to a really helpful young lady we was given the keys to another van and we was assured this was a better grade of van haha wot a joke we opened the door to all i can describe is dog it was an over powering smell we disvovered that the cleaners had made a poor chance at cleaning it and had left the gas fire on to dry up the carpets so yet again me and my partner got our 2 young kids into the car and back upto reception to be eventually be given a key to a van just 2 away from the first van and we was told it was the last van on the site and we had to wait until the next day for a better van to be available so we thought it cant be any worse well yes it didnt smell of dog and the doors locked but we later discovered the stains on all the carpets was actually urine and the stink was unbearable by this time it was nearly 9pm 2 young kids car full of everything we would need and i knew we couldnt stay in that van so we decided going to a travel lodge was our only option untill the next day when we hoped we would get an upgrade so we drove to prestwick airport and eventually got a meal at 21:45. Next day we drove back to be greeted by a site manager called adam to be told we was gettin an upgrade to a top of the range caravan he took us to the van and we voiced our concerns about all the food we had with us that was destroyed while sitting in a car for over a day so we got passes for free meals for the rest of our stay then we discussed the £100 we had spent on a travel lodge so we got offered an extra night stay the kids got bradley teddies and a teddy bear picnic the management team did do everything in there power to make it upto to me and my family so we decided to try and make the most of our family holiday i hope you find my review helpful dont get me wrong the site and the surrounding areas have hundreds of things for all the family but i certainly will never be back down unless another caravan site opens in the area

2 readers found this review helpful

just returned today after a 4 day break caravan was clean and tidy and we had a lovely sea view there was 7 of us in 2 caravavs next to each other boys aged from 8 to 15 they went swimming and amused themselves through the day on go karts
football e.t.c but at night it was a disgrace the entertainment was appalling it only catered for small children we thought the bonga wonga was for children and the atlatic showbar was for adults what a letdown there was only one band on during our break it was all kids entertainment in the showbar it should be adult entertainment after 9 oclock people were leaving due to this as kids were running mad the campsite overall was fine but the entertainment spoiled it for us

5 readers found this review helpful

hi i dont normaly do reviews but agree with other people find a different site these caravans are manky.....we booked a PRESTIGE caravan arrived, booked in ... got keys went to caravan what a let down ...........it stunk as soon as you opened the door the toilet stunk of wee and the passage carpet all stained the back on the main dining chair was broken the microwave was rusty inside........yukkkkk...... the heating didnt work we complained to be told oh we can sort it .........shouldnt it be sorted before the guests arrive? as we were complaining another few families came in complaining about their accomodation how dirty it was ....(we have been to butlins and prestatyn during the 7 weeks holiday and their caravans were lovely)the manager came over when he heard us complaining we said how dirty the caravan was and no way was that a PRESTIGE van he did say that van was 1 year old. (IT HAD A VERY HARD LIFE )after talking to the manager we asked for a refund as the vans are NOT what they show on the internet to be told its only a representation on the net ?????? we still moaned and got offered a move to the other side of the site (in a private van ) which was a lot cleaner ....if you not bothered where you put your head down then go but my opinion is a no... no... no ....

8 readers found this review helpful

hi iv been reading the reviews on the craig tara camp sight and i just want 2 say we have never had a problem with the sight we have been going every year since my daughter was 2 and she is now 8 the kids love it so much my son at 11 loved al the things like the footbal coaching and the archary. the night entertainment has been fantastic every year we have been and there is so much 2 do. yes its money if the kids want 2 play the arcades but most wont i think my kids played them once or twice in the full week. there is so much stuff 2 do they dont need 2 play them the park is great for them and so is the football nets my son was never away from them the swimming is free and has loads 2 do it in with al the slides but yes the lockers didnt work so the next time we knew we were going swimming we didnt take ie money and phone with us the staff were always great and had fun with the kids at the niht time shows.. we have stayed in the caravans and they were always fine nice and clean the last time we stayed we stayed in a chalet it was kind of small but we were only really in it at night so it wasent a problem for us. the food and stuff was ok like normal prices think burger king was maybe an extre 40p added 2 the normal price the mash and barrel was great we eat there 2 days on our holiday and the food was lovely for the price. im def booking it for 2010 as iv never had any problems at al with the place or the staff. id say 2 anyone 2 give it a try as a holiday is what u make it we have always had a reat time there and my kids loved it al

9 readers found this review helpful

i have just returned from a four night break from the craig tara haven site, i was quite nervous about going after i had read all the misleading comments on here. i have 3 children aged 7, 3 and 9 months they all loved it and thought it was fantastic! there was so much to do on the site more than any of the other haven sites i have previously been to. Ayr itself is gorgeous and i have never been to a place that caters so well for children. the beach was great and plenty to do cheaply all around the site. The staff where spot on and the caravan was standard and is was just that but it had everything we needed. when people book to go to sites such as Haven i think they expect it to be a prestige site with top notch accomodation, its not n none ov them are its just a caravan site that caters for children. if its not what you want then why go.
we really enjoyed and are thinking about booking for next year.

8 readers found this review helpful

We have just returned from our holiday in Craig Tara. We booked a private caravan rather than through Haven. We were very worried after reading the reviews on here but we thought the site was lovely. The caravan was immaculate and had a fabulous view of the sea. The park itself was very clean. We have a 3 year old daughter who enjoyed the playpark and the small funfair area even though it was a bit shabby, she didn't really notice. She enjoyed some of the morning groups with the entertainment staff. I think you get what you pay for.
If you are looking for a base in beautiful countryside to explore Scotland, Craig Tara is excellent. You could stay on the site all day or be out and about. The Heads of Ayr farm next door is brilliant for grown ups and children. We had a great day there.

10 readers found this review helpful

My family and I have recently returned from our holiday at Craig Tara Holiday Park. I, like most people, had read the reviews about this park, and was concerned that the general concensus was that the staff were unhelpful and that the park and its facilities were not of an acceptable standard. This is completely untrue. All the staff that we came in contact with were exceptionally helpful, our caravan accomodation was thoroughly clean throughout and was in excellent condition, the entertainment complex (including the Splash Zone area) was clean and well maintained and the parks grounds and surrounding areas were of an excellent standard of keeping, with designated ground staff attending to the general tasks of collecting litter, emptying bins and the general upkeep of the park. Would we holiday at this park again? Yes we would without hesitation. So those of you who have read previous reviews about this park, my advise is; go with an open mind and remember the holiday and your stay is what you make of it.