The Orchards Holiday Park

1 reader found this review helpful

Myself, my wife and 3 children age 5,7 and 9 have just had our best Uk break for a long time. The Orchards is a very well presented UK holiday park. We were situated in the Fairways part of the park 8-10 mins walk from the main entertainment complex. As we visted just outside of the peak school holiday season it was not overcrowded and although some have described the outdoor pool as on the 'small side' I felt it was perfectly ample for the number of people wishing to use it whilst we were there. It does have a small slide but it is not always available if only a few people are using the pool. It was fab to be able to have a dip in a clean well maintained outdoor pool here in the Uk at 10 in the morning. Blessed with good weather, it was 35 degrees when we left yesterday helped us have a great time.
The leisure team are fantastic with the kids whether its archery, football, golf or swimming activities you choose to do. The aqua inflatables water session (£5 per person) is highly recommended for the kids age 5+ ( a giant inflatable obstacle course in the indoor pool with members of the leisure team throwing water at the kids as they try to complete the course.
Service and reception staff are great and the park grounds people are constantly maintaining the grounds to ensure it is a pleasurable experience walking through the park.
Although it is officially classed as a small park it does appear to be a decent size, although some areas may get overcrowded in peak times. If your looking to book park activities in the upcoming weeks, I'd recommend either pre-booking an activity pass before you go or booking activities on the day of arrival as they have limits for health and safety reason to the number of people allowed per session.
In the main Showbar it is well maintained (did not see any ripped seats or dirty tables), and it didn't get full whilst we were there in the evenings. Buying soft drinks for the kids- the bottles of 330ml coca cola (glass bottles) are £2 in the showbar but if you buy a large draught coke (1 pint) it is the same price so just ask for a couple of extra half pint galsses to save being ripped off on those prices. Carton drinks (5 alive) are 95p at the bar as well. The spar shop have some reasonable prices but things like Heinz soup are much more expensive per can than your average supermarket prices but some of the Spar branded things are keenly priced. There is a similar store (Nisa Local) around half a mile down the road from the park which is slightly cheaper than the onsite Spar shop and plenty of shops like Tesco and Morrisons in Clacton and Colchester not too far away. Clacton-on-sea is a must vist if it is a nice sunny day too.
Holidays at a Haven park are generally as good as you make them yourself. We were expecting the worst and are plesantly surprised at how good it was. It is not a 5 star hotel complex so if this is the expectation you will be disappointed. A clean, easy to get round park with good well maintained facilities and attentive staff is what I would expect of a good standard park and that is what we got.
Unless you are unlucky your caravan will also have good facilities. We would never book anything below Deluxe standard ourselves personally and would have gone up a level this time if a 3 bedroom home had been available at Prestige level. As it was the only thing we didn't get at Deluxe level was a DVD player and heating in the bedrooms (not required if the temperature is as high as it was for us) in reality.
You will see lots of advertising around the park and in the local area for owning your own holiday home but we were never once asked about this whilst on the park. There are quite a lot of owners on the park and they have their own lounge and pool complex, but we certainly did not get any pressure in this direction. They probably do have sales drives at certain times of the year, but they are a business needing to make money so don't let that put you off as a polite no will always do the trick if you are ever asked and are not interested.
Overall the Orchards is a park I would visit again with the family and based on our experience would recommend it to families looking for a summer holiday in this part of the country.

3 readers found this review helpful

I read alot of the reviews before going and was slightly concerned...... I need not have worried!
We went on a Sun Holiday, so was expecting it to be basic. We were going with friends who had upgraded for an extra cost. We called The Orchard in the morning of Arrival before we departed to ask if we could be sitated nearby to our friends, was told they could see what they could do but could not promise anything.
When we arrived, at 2pm we were welcomed by Lynn one of the staff who was really friendly and made an effort with the kiddies, we sat in the Bar area and relaxed knowing we could not check in until 4pm. We were asked if we wanted to check in early rather than waiting around which was a result! We were chuffed that we had infact been put close by to our friends !!
The accomodation was great !! We stayed in 24 The Hollows. Everything worked fine. Water was hot. It was clean. The caravan seemed quite modern. Shower was good. Heating worked fine. Only downside was rips in sofa, where people shoes have torn the sides - but that's to be expected after a while.
The Mash and Barrel pub onsite has a large menu to suit all. The Pizza takeaway was good and they even deliver to your caravan if you want a late night snack ! We got a curry from the Balti house in St Osyth who deliver to your van. We chose to order in from the curry house rather than the Chinese onsite. We drove past in the day and it didn't look all that - but I can't comment on the food, it might be really good.
The entertainment was great. Cheeky Charlie is really great with the kids / adults too. Make sure you get threr in good time for the evening - we turned up late one night around 9pm as been out during the day and all the tables were taken. We had to wait around for a while until there was one free. The drinks are slightly pricier than your local and watch ytou don't get overcharged - happened to us, which we noticed and it was duly sorted. Mentioned this to Haven in feedback.
We had great weather which also made the trip even better. The pool was great and had a large area for sun worshippers - the only downside was there was no sun umbrellas, which when you go with kiddies it is quite important. I have fed that back on the questionairre.
The Spar shop onsite is pricey - If you head into Clacton, you'll find all the major supermarkets. We popped into the local Somerfield in on the way into Clacton and stocked up on the supplies.
We went to Clacton for the day, the tide was in sadly. But the Pier was good fun - so much for the kids to do. Don't however expect good fish and chips from the restaurant at the end of the pier !! Luckily I saw another customer having it - the fish was the frozen type you can get at the supermarket ( which is fine don't get me wrong ) but when you are at the seaside you want proper fish and chips right ? It was pricey and not a good standard. Good cockles from the van at the end of the pier !!
All in all it was a great weekend - we didn't use the caravan much as was out and about, but the facilities were good and I can't really say anything bad about the Haven experience. When you check out, it's at the owners reception near the entry to the site, not where you checked in. We made that mistake.

i have stayed in many haven sites over the last 20 years and have had many great holidays as the children were growing up. we now wanted a break not far from home but as a couple. the orchards was a complete disgrace to the haven name. Run down chalets and derelect shops with smashed fronts(usafe for children to play in). the main complex had been maintained but beyond that haven needs to take a long hard look at this site. the first caravan we had seemed ok until we woke with insect bites the following morning, i think maybe a lousy dog had been prior to our visit. receiption staff were very apologetic and moved us without question to a very nice caravan to complete our weekend break. had i taken children to this site i would have been extremely angry but we took ourselves away from this run down squat and made the most of our break elsewhere.

4 readers found this review helpful

Myself, wife and six year old have just returned after an easter 3 night break. It was terrible! When we arrived, the so called car park was thick mud and people were getting stuck. There was nowhere else to park.Went into reception & asked for the £5 earlier check in that brings you forward from 4 to 2 o/clock as agreed on the phone day before.Had big argument as they said this was now £10 as we did not do it day before(was not told this on phone!) Surely the worst thing to do to someone starting their holiday is to rub them up the wrong way as soon as they enter the gate!!!We eventually paid the £5 charge.went in the showbar to check in and have a drink, bearing in mind the season has only just started, the seats were absolutely filthy, stained and disgusting! some even had holes ripped in them so you can imagine the outlook in there.Got the keys to the caravan, that was fairly good & clean.Had a stroll over to the pool, well although it was clean it was the size of it that was a joke! so small for the size of the park.we didn't bother going swimming when we see how crowded it was which is unlike us as we always have a dip in the pool. There is NO indoor play area for kids & the outdoor area is small and half missing. The entertainment was another thing that was a joke aswell,singers & bands that were like karaoke singers. Gameshows run by young divs that could not hold a crowds attention for long & everyone got bored and was talking over the top of them. Food in the 'mash n barrel' was ok but nothing too special. The caretakers & maintenance guys would start up 2 stroke engined machines,leaf blowers etc at 8 am around your caravan which is a bit inconsiderate. When it came to departure day, the time to leave is at 10am, by 10-15 we had the cleaner guy knocking on the door putting us under pressure to get out as we hadn't quite finished. Surely 11-00 would be a bit more realistic to chase people out! When i read a lot of the bad things on here, i thought surely it cant be that bad, its a 'Haven Park' I SHOULD HAVE READ THE REVIEWS AND TAKEN THE MAJORITIES ADVICE!!! We have stayed at many nice sites ie; Vauxhall Gt Yarmouth, Hoburn Bashley New forest,Oakdene New forest,etc so we know a good site when there is one. TAKE MY ADVICE: DO NOT GO HERE, IF YOU DO, THEN DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YOU!!!!!!!

2 readers found this review helpful

been going there for the past 4 years it has been really great every time.love it so much we have bought one one the site.all i can really say its a good holiday break and you will love it.they have a outdoor swimming pool and a indoor swimming pool and the club house is great in the evening 4 kids and adults and they have arcades are great.the ferryboat is also a great plce 4 a family...lauren

2 readers found this review helpful

we have been on holiday with haven the last few years and tried a few various parks, so i thought i knew what i was expecting...how wrong. will not be booking with haven again after this holiday.our party consisted of two teenage girls and my son 3. we arrived at the park august bank holiday weekend. the busiest of the year.the car park was full on arrival so cars were starting to use the signposted overflow car park. i noticed a few people were having trouble driving in the gravel.we followed these in, parked and set of to the club house to collect our keys. on arriving at the club house was quite disapointed at the size and condition of the place. very small and tatty, unlike other haven resorts.we went to the loo. the ladies was vile. it stank, was filthy, but was still upbeat looking forward to our holiday id saved for all year.
we collected the keys then made our way back to the car. to our horror & embarressment we got stuck in the gravel.the more i tried to get out the deeper i got.the stones were flying on my car chipping the paint. the bumper of the car was level with the gravel.i was upset and decided to go to the reception. i told them what had happened and said they might want to look at sorting their car park out. the young lady didnt seem at all concerned about what had happened. i got no apology. she arranged for a tractor to pull the car out. the tractor driver was a nice man, he said he also said the car park was ridiculous and needed sorting out but they wouldnt do anything about it. he said he had pulled two cars out of the gravel previously that day ! i couldnt belive it !
after getting the car out there were stones rattling about under the car. i managed to get most of them out but there was still an awful screeching noise under the car. i felt angry so went to reception again. i spoke to the young lady again and said if there was any damage done to my car i would want them to pay. all the staff just closed ranks & stood there staring at me like i was a piece of [--]. an older lady came over i thought she might offer an apology but no. when i mentioned what the tractor driver had said about pulling other cars out of there that day, she said no, thats not right implying i was a liar !! she said it was MY FAULT for parking there even tho there is a huge sign saying car park !!!!!!i bit my lip but to be honest i could have smacked her i was that angry.she would not give me head office number ...i stormed out..
the next day the car was STILL screeching so i went BACK to reception and told them i wanted them to pay for a mechanic to look at my car as it wasnt right. they refused and as i stood at the desk , the young lady id just spoke to said "can i help you then?" i was disguseted and in tears at this point. i could see i was getting nowhere and just called out the RAC as usual they were great and fixed the car. there was loads of tiny stones in between the break discs. he had to take my front wheels apart.
ANYWAY other points are the caravan was fine so that was ok. the pool was too small..but it had to be closed as someone pooed in it and it was all on the side of the pool along with the dirty nappy a parent had just strewn there. it was disgusting, why do some people behave like animals on holiday. felt sorry for the poor lifeguards who told me it happens all the time.
they mugged you off with the drinks like they do everything else so we took our own into the clubhouse.
the chinese was very good and we had some nice days out around the surrounding area which is beautiful.
i would go back but would not stay at haven ever again after the way i was treated. i will still be complaining to head office about the awful way i was spoken to. the kids did have a nice time tho so thats the main thing.

1 reader found this review helpful

ive read a few of the reviews on this website and i cant believe what i read!!!! either they dont get out much or they are lying for some reason because when i went there it was terrible! the hygiene was a disgrace especially when its suppose to be a family place where kids are constantly playing! i was there for a 4 day break and i even thought about going home early because of how dirty it was...the chairs were filthy and stained,the glasses were dirty,the carpet and everywhere had awful smell,the toliets i dont think were cleaned for the 4 days i was there!!they were in the worst state ive seen with sanitry bins balancing on toliets,bins holding toliet doors open and dirty tissue blocking most of them up!!! it was discusting!! and i no i wasnt the only one to think it i heard quite a few people complaining but the whole place seemed to be run by a bunch of misarable kids... to me no one really cared!! for somewhere that i thought was ment to be fun for a holiday just opened my eyes to how discusting and unhygeinic somewhere could be...i will definatley be sticking to going abroad for my holidays.......it was a disgrace!my advice is dont even go there!!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

Well what can I say, I have stayed at a few different Havens with my family and our first impression of this was not good but actually we had a great holiday, but mainly because the sun was out and we spent most of out time laying and playing by the outside pool. The showbar is very run down but the entertainment is great for the children and thats what makes the holiday. The funstars are were all fab. You get what you pay for and as long as you don't set your expectations too high you really won't be dissapointed, as you would expect the bar staff are really unmovitated which can lead to long queues in the show bar, but hey hoo you get this in most holidays here or abroad. As like most Havens the Aquajets did not work in the indoor pool and the slide was broken. Note to self if you want to book up any activites, book on the day of arrival to avoid dissapointment.
We would return to the orchards but only in the summer as it is a small complex and there would not be too much to do for the children if you were restricted to being inside as the indoor pool is quite small. Despite a number of dissappointments we had a great time.
P.S. - don't expect traditional fish and chips - the chippy is rubbish.

1 reader found this review helpful

We spent a long weekend at The Orchards and have to say it was fantastic!! we have four daughters aged fron 4 to 10, after reading some of the previous reviews were a little disheartened and wary about going. However we were pleasantly surprised and rest assured the standards of every aspect of the park must have greatly improved since these reviews were written. The accomodation was modern, spacious, well equipped and clean. The park itself was clean well maintained and very well equipped. Everything we could ask for was met! As for the staff, they were superb. From the receptionists to the entertainers, everyone of them was a star!!! The kids were well catered for and with the entertainment running through the day and into the late evening they never once got bored!!! The entertaining staff were absolutely brilliant and were great with both the kids and the adults. I can not praise them enough. The kids were heart broken to leave.
It is a great park, relaxed but secure and there was plenty to do. I would definately recommend it for any one with a young family who wants to enjoy a great break, and we will definately be going again soon!!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

Prior to going on holiday to The Orchards, I read the reviews on this site and had some concerns. The only thing I can say, is that they have clearly improved the standards for 2009!
We arrived at the site early and were greated at the entrance and directed to the car park. We went to reception who advised us that although we were too early to check in we were able to use all the facilities on the park until our check in time. We went to the Mash and Barrel for some lunch and was pleasantly suprised with the choices available. The food arrived quickly and was delicious!
We collected our keys from the main entertainment complex and although it was busy and there was a large queue, the staff there were working quickly and efficiently and we were seen after only a 15 minute wait. I was nervous when we arrived at the caravan, because of some of the reviews on here, but when we entered the caravan I was so pleased! It was light and airy, spotlessly clean and smelt fresh. Our beds had been made prior to arrival which was a nice touch. The only issue I had with the accommodation was that it wasn't as close as I would have liked to the main complex, but it was near the golf course and fishing lakes - I guess you can't have everything!
All of the staff on site were friendly and clearly went out of their way to ensure you were enjoying your holiday.
The site itself was very well maintained and looked imaculate - very picturesque. We will certainly be telling everyone how great our holiday was and would recommend The Orchards to anyone! We returned home fully refreshed and can't wait to go back!