Riviere Sands Holiday Park

1 reader found this review helpful

Me and the Wife just got back and totally exhausted.We had the best ever greeting from the staff from any of the parks we have ever visited and were given the the keys to the van an hour before we expected. What a great place to see this end of Cornwall from, Land End,Lizard,St Austell and Newquay less than an hour away. The park was not to big with great access to the beach below, coming back up you have a rather large sand dune to climb (Not for the weak). The bar was expensive but then again they all are, We just got some tinnies and wine from Aldi 15mins from Hayle and saved the cash for the daytime. We had a Standard van and it was all we needed(Flat screeen FV TV 50+ Channel's,Microwave,Gas oven/grill).The van did however feel damp at times but 'hey ho' your next to sea!.Used the Bluff Inn on the first night and sent the cold food back only to have the same food re-appear after it had been dunked in some hot oil,did not eat there again.Use the Bucket of Blood down the road but book in advance or plenty of take aways in Hayle.
Had really good time overall, will definitely return.

1 reader found this review helpful

arrived after a 6 hour car trip to our standard caravan to find a large blood stain on the bedding with yellow stain around it (umm nice)rang up and it was changed straight away (yippy)the vents in the kitchen and shower part leaked when it rained so made the kitchen floor deadly to a toddler,shelves were dusty and outside the caravan was covered in fag dimps.there are plenty of other parks around Hale am shure they would be better as the area is stunning

2 readers found this review helpful

We stayed at Riviere Sands in July 2011. We paid for a Prestige Caravan and were very disappointed. We arrived at 5pm after a long journey and numerous traffic problems. No queues to get checked in but when we arrived at the caravan we found we had nowhere to park our car. Unlike most of the other caravans on the park we were unable to park next to our caravan although there was supposedly allocated parking spaces. However there were about 8 spaces for at least twice that number of caravans meaning most of the cars were parked on the road.
When we got in the caravan it was very dirty the carpets and sofas were stained, the plates and cutlery were filthy and bedding smelt mouldy and damp. We ended up buying some air freshner and febreze to enable us to cope with the smells. We had to call out someone to repair the caravan as when we arrived bits were falling off. We paid for a highchair which were not told we had to collect from the hire department which was very disappointing.
The clubhouse was small and could only be accessed by a flight of stairs. Which was difficult when you have three young children and need a buggy wherever you go. This also made getting to the beach extremely difficult although we had some very nice people help us down the steps to the beach. The clubhouse was very expensive and we were paying £8 for two drinks. The one thing which really annoyed me was during the kids shows the staff would parade around 3-4 times a night with toys for the kids and balloons to sell. It makes it very hard with 3 kids to have to keep saying no all the time!!
The only good thing about the place was the staff. During our stay there was a problem with a gas leak - it seemed that our caravan was also one of the only caravans linked directly to the mains gas supply instead of having a bottle of gas outside the caravan. This leak meant that we did not have any hot water or gas for cooking for a day and a half. However, the staff told us as soon as the problem occurred and arranged for us to have access to another caravan for showers and gave us vouchers for meals at the Bluff Inn.
We paid £1500 for two weeks and overall would not say we had value for money.

1 reader found this review helpful

Riviere Sands has its good and bad points.
We were in one of the dearer caravans which had dented tables and fireplaces, scuffs all over the couch and dirty carpets. The site was fine, friendly staff, had a laugh with the arcade bouncer and good services on site, apart from the pool which was a tad small.
The place itself was lovely. I love Cornwall and the best part of my holiday was Kirsty the entertainer at Funworks, I fell in love! =] She's worth booking a holiday for. I went to ask another of the entertainers if she was about so I could buy her a drink but she had gone home =[ Haha.
All in all, gutted to be back in Manchester, wish I was still there. Cornwall 100%!

9 readers found this review helpful

Stayed at Riviere Sands 3 years on the trot and did not want to leave. Really relaxing site not too big and not too small - just right. Hayle high street 2 minutes drive away which includes all the takeaway outlets you could wish for, a large CO-OP and Lidls plus 40+ other shops. All the major attractions are under 40mins drive away, some being just a few minutes drive. Feed the seagulls on site st your peril - don't say i didn't warn you! Do not eat the the Bucket Of Blood pub, our dinner took an hour to arrive and when we enquired about when it would arrive we told in no uncertain terms that we would get it when it arrives! Do not visit Newquay Zoo, this is a total rip off, cost a family of 4 £31.00 and took 40 mins to walk around. Only had 2x lions, 2x zebra, 1x wilderbeast and then scattered with small birds etc - cannot belive how bad it was, and to top it off it was the only place we visited that did not offer free parking, we had to pay an additional £4.00. Want a fab beach, you got to go to Kynance Cove, its so remote and so gorgeous - back check tide times as it'll be a waste of time if the tides in.
Hope that helps you out
PS the outside pool is shut until June

7 readers found this review helpful

Great reception staff, amazing fun stars, wonderful professional lifeguards, beautiful caravan, perfect location, but......................everywhere closes at 5pm, reception, the spar across the road, no cash machine,
for a base to go sightseeing, the views and beach at riviere sands are AMAZING, we spent hours on the beach, exploring, kids had a fab time. If you have pushchairs/wheelchairs/walking difficulties the beach is inaccessable, only access is via steep steps or even steeper sand dunes,(my calves are killing me!)
The evening entertainment in the live lounge bar was amazing some nights, totally crap others, but the kids enjoyed it, my kids are 5&7 and havent stopped raving about Chris and Dawn the funstars, who really do deserve a mention. we will visit Cornwall again, probably not Riviere Sands as there are so many more places to see, but if you read this review and think Haven holiday, everything on site for a child friendly holiday, this isnt the one, Hafan y Mor is at the moment my favourite and will take some beating, check it out.

5 readers found this review helpful

after arriving from an 8 hour drive we was quite surprised at how small the park is. Check in was fantastic, the staff very plesent and we was allowed our prestige caravan earlly, witch helped as it was raining and the children gettin very bored. The caravan was lovelly and clean with fresh bedding on all the beds, i had arranged to hire a bed rail and a highchair, after inspecting the caravan i noticed they were both missing, a quick trip back to reception to be informed i had to collect them from the hire shop, would of been nice to of been told at check in, but once collected they were in perfect conditon although very hard to figure out how to put the bed guard on. The park itself is very clean although very small, the pool is lovelly with helpfull staff when i enquired about the use of some arm bands. the entertainment staff are fanatastic although after watching the same show 3 times a week it can get very boring. Now to the bad points, the onsite fish and chip shop is disgusting, serving frozen chips and very over priced, the bluff inn is also over priced for what you get and not a lot of choice on the menu, plus its not actually on the park, neither is the shop. the beech is lovelly if you can get down to it, this park is no good if you have a pushchair, one way to the beech is full of steap steps and the other is with sand dunes, theres no way to get a pushchair down eaither with out a lot of hard work. the laundertte is a joke, after my son had a accident one night, i waited untill 8:30, when its suppose to open at 8 only to walk in to find you have to walk all the way to the other side of the park to the shop to get some tokens, i gave up and just went to reception instead and collected a clean bedding set. overrall the park is lovelly, with fantastic staff but not suitable for famillies with small children, as there is not a lot to do apart from swimming and if like mine they just scream at you after 5 mins, theres no point even doin that. going off the park is the only thing to do really, but with cornwall being so exspensive you need to take plenty of money, we went to a couple of tourist attractions, spent a fortune to get in to find there all very small and your finished looking and doing everything an hour later. we would go back to cornwall again but only when the children are a lot older so we can enjoy the county walks and the cliffs on the beeches a lot better.

6 readers found this review helpful

We arrived at the park at 11am but we could not check-in until 2pm. The Bluff Inn is just down the road, we were aloud to wait there until check in. Its a lovely pub with stunning views, food is great and the staff are friendly. Although, if you are northern like us you probably wont like paying £5 for a glass of wine!
First impressions of the park were that it was very basic. We have stayed on Haven sites before that were quite large and spacious. The caravans on this site look squashed together with only enough room to park your car outside. The centre is small. It consists of an arcade, park, small pool area and the bar upstairs. All the staff are friendly and helpfull.
We stayed in a Prestige caravan, we had a sea view and we were quite impressed by the size inside. It was very clean, spacious and looked quite modern. (Although nothing like the picture on Havens Website) We hired a high chair and travel cot and they both were excellent value and looked brand new. The only let down was that there was no tables and chairs outside, you had to rent them with a £30 deposit and £15 charge for crappy old plastic furtiture! The larndrette is also a ripp off, £6.50 per wash and £1 for every 10 mins for the dryer!
The beach is stunning but very difficult to get to, especially with a 10 month baby! The access at the Bluff Inn is far easier but still not great.
St Ives is Nearby and has lots to do. Corbis Bay is 2 mins away and we found this was the best beach.
We paid £300 for a week here, i think its basic but great value for money. If we paid anymore i think i would have been let down.

5 readers found this review helpful

after having a long weekend break at riviere sands iv decided to write this to let you all know whats great and whats not so great about this place, the good points the site was clean and tidy the carrevan was lovely and clean, the complex was brilliant everything together and the Funstar Team were brilliant (Chris And Gary were fantastic its not rocket science and magic) now heres the bad thing, in the old days haven were very in your face, funstars were simply there to sell merchandise and all staff were encouraged to take your money off you a bit like being mugged at knife point, you end up without money and feeling sorry for your self but now Haven is more like a fake door to door sales person who takes all your money without u even noticing so this has got to be better right?? well of cores its not now you dont realize that haven has taken all your money till your at home after you've left after you can say something about it, so is haven still a money garbing corporation that hides behind a big friendly tiger? Yes it is however they do seem to have an eye for staff, all the bar team were brilliant, james and mike just to name 2! and of corse the amazing new look funstars chris gary kirsty and zak were all brilliant with my son and all the kids on park that week, so would i go back? Maybe would i spend a single penny in there shops bars or pub? NO WAY !!

6 readers found this review helpful

have just returned from a short break with my wife, we had a fantastic time, the park was very clean, our accommodation was excellant (prestige 2011). had read some of the bad reviews before we went about the staff, accommodation, prices etc, but found all of them to be unjustified, the staff worked very hard & were very friendly, the beach was amazing & situated next to the park. cant wait to go back.