Berwick Holiday Park

3 readers found this review helpful

Haven - what a dump! We booked through the Sun 9.50 holidays and I`m glad we didnt pay full price for this holiday. The caravan was smelly, I think the smell was coming from the carpet and soft furmishings. The kitchen was dirty, curtains hanging off, toilet seat was wobbly and the shower was uncontrollably hot/cold. Aquabar and Showbar were also smelly and dirty. We really enjoyed our visit to Berwick, Bamburgh, Lindisfarne and Alnwick but I would not recommend staying at this caravan park. I wish I had read the reviews before we booked.

2 readers found this review helpful

Just came back from a long weekend stay at Berwick and can say that I was expecting the worst after reading some of the views and I can honestly say I was totally delighted with what we found. We booked through Sun Holidays and upgraded to luxury caravan to have central heating as we had two small children with us and it was October. Caravan was clean and staff were very helpful and friendly. On arriving our pilot light was out in the boiler and no sooner had we called reception to report a member of security was on hand to fix the problem. We didn't eat out at all as we brought all our own food so couldn't comment on the standard of food. Caravan parks are basic and cheap accomodation. I think if you go with that in mind you won't be disappointed.

After arriving and getting moved as our first caravan had mould, smelled really bad, was dirty, curtains hanging off and fire not working. It was dreadful but the staff at the reception were very helpful and managed to get us moved as soon as another van was available. The second van was fantastic even although they were the same grading superior plus they were no comparison. After a bit of a clean in the kitchen, I was happy and could finally relax. The centre itself was great, all of us had a great time, everyone we met was very helpful. My 2 boys loved it, the town of Berwick is only a walk away and there is a nice range of shops and the beach is lovely. I would recommend the site but would be wary of going again just cause I would be worried what I would be allocated. Its a shame really the only thing that is letting them down in the cleaning team. Food on the park is not great, Aqua Bar bit expensive for what you get and the chip shop was rotten, better going into town where there is a nice chip shop or chinese take away.

3 readers found this review helpful

We paid £750 for a week's holiday at Haven Berwick, taking our 2 year old grandson and booking a Superior Plus caravan. The caravan in the Cheviots section, number 47, was commissioned in 2003. The first impression on opening it up was of a dirty smell, hard to pin down, but caused by carpeting and soft furnishings which were very tatty, worn through in parts and frankly not something you would want to put your face in contact with. The smell persisted all week, despite a quickly purchased can of air freshener and keeping the windows open. The linen on the beds was fresh, but the mattresses appallingly lumpy. The kitchen nad obviously been cleaned, but the floor needed another mopping over around the edges. The shower ran between scalding and freezing because there is no calibration on the shower control dial. I would suggest going into the boiler cupboard outside and lowering the boiler control dial when you want to give children a shower.There were no bathmats, cushions in the lounge or a remote for the very small screen ( 14inch) TV. No Hoover to carry out cleaning of carpets if you wanted to. The policy is obviously that the operator doesn't trust its customers not to thieve portable goods, even though frankly for £750 a week you could buy a lot of cushions, etc.
I did speak to site staff about my feelings, many of which reflect what others have said about the site. I also wrote to John Dunford the Haven Director at Bourne Leisure Head Office. The official line is that staff on site such as cleaners are not doing their job properly if someone like me has a complaint. I found that staff on site were actually very hard-working, helpful and pleasant. What isn't accepted by the company and site managers is that some of the profit from the site needs to be reinvested in such things as replacing or steam cleaning soft furnishings and buying new mattresses which totally affect the cutomer's comfort. I was hoping that either management on site or at Director level might just visit this van and say, yes Mr.Davies, this van needs money spending on it, its our fault you had a bad experience at Haven. Instead of which the line is that maybe my expectations were too high, and anyway its the poor b. cleaners fault for not doing their jobs properly. Neither of those two ideas are correct, and the only thing I can do is warn others not to pay too much to visit this site, or have expectations of comfort during their stay.

3 readers found this review helpful

we have come back for the first time ever 3 days early off our holiday. i was absolutely disgusted with this site and have immediaetly sent a complaint letter as reception said i had to complain in writing. we paid £650.00 for 7 days for 7 of us in a prestige caravan. the top they have on this site other then 2 platinums and these were both booked up. well if this was a prestige i would hate to see a lower caravan. the beds were extremely uncomfortable with 2 haveing springs sticking out. the cleaning was alot to be desired. there were crumbs under the settee cushions and in my wardrobe there was a chidlrens book covered in oil and grease that had just been left. there was a card to fill in about cleaning and i thought well i will fill it in. but when i read it and handed it in it wasnt a complaint form at all it was for the cleaner to have an entry into a cleaner of the month competition.
so then we got ready to go to the showbar at 7pm after getting my 4 children ready to find there was no seats left. there were only 2 serving at the bar so it took my husband 15minutes to get served. i have never had such a flat lager i then had to que again for 15minutes to go complain and get another. the entertainment was rubbish. i paid for butlins for a week beginning of august i paid the same amount and the entertainnt was fantastic but not here. then bingo would be on for an hour inbetween so the kids were bored. the pub smelt like urine and wet dogs. we complained but was told there was nothing htey could do. so after we had been stood for an hour we went into the aqua bar to find it didnt even have any music on. so we went back to the caravan. we then went out at 6.00pm the next night and got the last table. so you need to be out for 5.30 to find the bradley bear show not a patch on billy bear on butlins. my children are 7, 3 and 2x 18months and they were all bored.
i was also extremely dissapointed with the pool. you get this in with your caravan price but with the pool been so micro small you only get 45mins and then you are called to get out. the kids were still wanting to swim. so they had to get changed, get out and then que to get back in ridiculous. also only 2 cubicles with baby change facilites when it is a family place. our local pool has more.
there was nothing much for children to do. the bouncy castle and trampolines were 5.00 so it cost me 20.00 for 10 mins. now again if this would have been butlins you get all the rides and things in with your price.
i will never ever go on a haven site again. i cant believe i had to come home early from my holiday. i was so dissapointed. please do not give them your money you will be dissapointed

Berwick holiday park is one of the best breaks you can go on, the staff are friendly and really polite and crazy carl is just mad, but the caravan we stayed in was lovely, better than i expected. They are quick to deal with situations as the bathroom door handle was borke when we first arrived but within an hour a maintaince man came and within 10 mins he had fitted a new handle.
overall the staff are really nice and the caravan site is beutifully looked after, also the bar was nice.

5 readers found this review helpful

A letter I had to write to Haven
Guest Relations
Haven Holidays
1 Park Lane
Hemel Hempstead
Herts.
HP2 4YL
Dear Sirs
I write to complain about my experience of your park in Berwick upon Tweed. It all started off when booking in at the show bar. We were told that there was only one caravan booked on our reference number (3182425) We explained that we had booked 2 vans in 2 separate telephone calls. The member of staff said that there was two bookings in the name of K. Edwards expected, however as we only had the one booking reference she would have to go to reception and check the position.
On coming back she told us that the two vans were in fact for us and the problem was caused by us as we had only supplied one booking reference although we had never been sent the 2nd through the post. I asked for your customer service managers name as I was distressed by the confusion and your representatives attitude and was told her name was Erika. Your member of staff then told us where our vans were.
On further examination we discovered that both vans were located at opposite ends of the park even though we had requested the vans be close together. I asked why that was to be told that although requests were taken into account they couldn’t be guaranteed. I stated that as I worked in customer service I felt they could do more to help. At this point your member of staff threw down our keys and said “if you work in customer service you will know what to do then” then walked away.
We went into reception and asked to speak to Erika who repeated that although requests were taken into account they couldn’t be guaranteed. I pointed out that as the vans were at either side of the park they could have hardly been further apart. Eventually Erika found a van directly opposite one of the vans originally booked so resolving this issue. I asked Erika how much the wifi was and was told that the service was broken at the moment although they were expecting an engineer at any moment.
We went over to our caravans only to find both vans very dirty (Photos attached) and the bed in the superior plus unmade. We also felt that the heating was insufficient in both vans. This was proved correct when we spent the first night chattering and shivering with cold, even on subsequent nights (having taken quilts from the other unused rooms) we found it bitterly cold.
We were determined to make the most of our holiday and went a walk into town on the second day. On returning I asked at reception if the wifi had been repaired yet to which the member of staff said she was unaware of any problems. I asked the cost of the internet and was told £10 per day or £35 per week, hardly a moderate extra charge as described in your pamphlet. We then went to the restaurant for a meal only to find that there were no napkins or individual pots of milk although we were told these had been ordered.
On going into the on site chip shop the next evening we were told that they had ran out of cartons for large portions of chips although we could have two small portions if we wished. Throughout the holiday we felt the entertainment on offer in the show bar to be of a poor standard with absolutely no adverts for forthcoming shows and attractions. Further we felt that the advertisements for owning your own holiday home were excessive even having posters in the swimming pool changing lockers highlighting perhaps that your company is more interested in securing new owners than ensuring everyone on site has a pleasant stay. The poor service and bitterly cold vans led us to coming home a day earlier than planed cutting our holiday short.
To summarise my complaint relates to the following.
1. Poor booking procedures which led to only one booking ref being sent out
2. Shocking customer service shown by your staff on arrival
3. Filthy caravans with no bed being made as advertised
4. Extortionate charge for wifi and not moderate cost as advertised
5. Poor entertainment with no idea of entertainment later in the season
6. Poor customer service and organisation in both the restaurant and the on site chip shop
7. Excessive sales advertising
All in all we were highly disappointed and did not find this experience up to the standard we have previously come to expect from haven and would not (In good conscience) be able to recommend your company to friends or family. I trust you will look into the concerns raised and provide appropriate response (in writing) in due course.
Yours truly,
Mrs Kathleen Edwards

Me my husband and two daughters aged 5 & 7 stayed here last June, we booked it through the £9.50 Sun holidays and for what it cost we had a great time.
Don't get me wrong if you want a 5 star, top notch, pure luxury holiday then you won't get it here, but for a cheap and cheerful base to explore the fantastic surrounding areas then it does the job nicely.
Our caravan was fairly basic, I think at one point someone might have been a little bit sick on the carpet in the lounge which every now and again you got a whiff of (I always take febreeze and oust with me on hols just in case)other than that it was fine.
The kids loved the pool and the evening entertainment, and yes everything costs but surely thats what you have to expect on such holidays !!! I have an allowance for these things and I stick to it, if you have any control of your kids then they will understand that "no means no".
We brought all our food from home so didn't eat in any of the eating places, which saved us money.
The beach here is not really one that you can spend all day on.....tons of seaweed washed up and quite pebbly, but still pleasant enough for an exploration.
We visited some fab castles
Alnwick -(where Harry Potter was filmed)
Chillingham -(supposed to be the most haunted)
we also went to Seahouses, and past Bamburgh castle(we didn't go in cos it was a very foggy and misty day but instead we went and had a lovely cream tea in a gorgeous little tearoom, and interestly for my daughter (as she had just done a school project on the subject) the Grace Darling museum is there, and her Grave too, which was good.
Berwick town centre is a mixed bag with some modern familiar shops and some old fashioned independant quaint ones, really pleasant to walk round and not at all that far from the site.
All in all it was fine, and I would recommend it.

5 readers found this review helpful

Do not go to this hell hole. We live not to far from this site and booked in for a family holiday. The caravan stunk and faeces had been smeared on the wall. There was pools of vomit all over the site. The pool had so much bleach in it my husband develped a nasty rash. The engineers came to fix the broken fire and my purse went missing. Police unable to do anything as we couldnt name who had visited. We left after one day and will never return.

4 readers found this review helpful

Myself and my husband stayed at Berwick for the first time. We have stayed at other Haven sites at Haggerston Castle (5 times) and Blue Dolphin. We always book a gold caravan and have always been very pleased with our caravan. Until this time. I did email Haven before booking to make sure that what they now call "Prestige" is the equivalent of what was formerly gold and was emailed back that yes that was correct. Well upon arriving at my caravan i discovered that our carpet was absolutely filthy. I went to reception and they said that this would have been due to the bad weather and they were sorry but they did not have another caravan to give us. The caravan also had a huge slit and hole in the second bedroom wall. We were not too fussed as we would not be using that room but still felt this was unacceptable. The ignition on the cooker did not work either and had a a bit disgusting paper stuck to the cooker advising to use matches. The windows had no net curtains except for one window so there was no privacy and the windows had not been cleaned since the caravan was built i dont think. The caravan did look like a newish caravan but what i would have said should have been a silver. It had pathetic blow air heating in the bedrooms and only a gas fire in the living area. It wasnt the best of weather so we had to have the fire on most of the time. My husband did not want our precious time off work to be ruined so we made the most of it and just tried to forget the state of the caravan but it was a letdown. I have spoken to other people who booked prestige caravans who thought they were getting the same standard as they used to get with gold but also had similar issues. So it seems Haven have duped their customers with the name change of their caravan grades. The next grade up Platinum, is what i think you have to book if you want the same standard as the gold was but be aware this is much more expensive. We have always had good experiences with Haven before so are trying not to let this put us off too much. The caravan could have been a lovely caravan if haven had bothered to make sure it was looked after and repaired/cleaned.