La Garangeoire Holiday Park

6 readers found this review helpful

La Garangeoire is a beautiful campsite with lots of open spaces, lakes and paths to enjoy. I first visited in 1987 with my husband and since then have enjoyed many years of holidays there with my children growing up and particularly enjoying meeting up with their friends and spending time in the evenings down the Lake stargazing - once a time honoured tradition for teenagers and right of passage when old enough. However we will not be going back. The new owners in the last three years have turned the campsite into an unfriendly place where families with teenagers are definitely not welcome. They are regularly threatened with or actually evicted for relatively minor misdemeanours. There is no provision of entertainment for teenagers or anywhere provided for them get together in the evenings where they can chat and make some noise as we have found with other Castels campsites.
Small children are not exempt from the wrath of the management. I have witnessed them being shouted at by the management and having their bikes thrown into the field opposite the pool for not placing them in the bike racks or riding against the one way system.
In the last few years the number of camping pitches has been reduced and there are more and more mobile homes being installed that are taken up with younger families who do not sit out in the evenings socialising as in days gone by.
The old Bar is lovely and full of character - we have enjoyed many an evening of folk music (provided by a group of returning campers) over the years. Sadly this will no longer happen as some members of the group will not be returning again after their son was asked to pick up bottles he had not dropped. They were shouted at by the management so chose to leave along with another family who have been long standing customers. It was very distressing to watch as other reviewers have said.
In the past the old bar would stay open late so that adults could enjoy a drink. Now it shuts at 12 and the new bar remains open until 1.00 but be warned - the Bar Staff do clean up around you, stacking the chairs and tables loudly and asking you the customers to leave dead on 1.00 am, so that they the staff can have a drink together.
From the rules "Silence is compulsory between 10pm and 8am". Great if you are with small children but no late night drinks around the barbeque when on holiday at La G!
The plus points are that the reception staff are great and always welcoming and friendly, in particular Jean Luc & Marie Helene who have worked there for many years now. The Bike hire and Bike rides are great and well run by Chris. Fishing and Tennis are on offer. The Raft Race is great fun. The pony rides and playgrounds are great for young children and Eurocamp has a Soccer Station each year. The entertainment is mainly aimed at younger families with magic shows, kids disco's, garden games and baby foot. Sometimes they do have local Rock Bands on which are good.
The Pool is the best of the three that we have seen but gets very crowded as it is far too small for the 2000+ guests that there could be in July and August and there are very few sunbeds.
So if you are a family with young children do go and experience the beauty and space of La G - just don't expect the good times to continue when your toddlers become teenagers.

4 readers found this review helpful

Thought I had to comment on the great holiday we have recently had at La Garangeoire in the Vendee. We took our twin axle caravan here in July 08, our first visit to France and we were very nervous and not sure what to expect. However, the site was brilliant - the toilet facilities were spotlessly clean and you never had to queue for a shower, even had baby baths which my three year old was particularly impressed with! The pitches are absolutely huge (and we have a large caravan)! plenty of room for the car, tables, chairs and childrens play equipment. The pools were great however it was a little difficult to secure a sun lounger on times as it was quite busy. Nice little shop on site for morning croissants and bread etc and a huge supermarket about 10 minutes drive away. The childrens park was good and my older daughter one (age 8) enjoyed the childrens club most mornings.
Thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and would have no hesitation in recommending it to others - planning to return to France next year but would like to visit a diffirent region my only problem now is finding a campsite that will meaure up to the high standards of this one!

Fantastic Site, our first trip to France with the Caravan and we had the best holiday ever. Great for families. The toilet/shower blocks were always spotless and modern much better that the UK. My daughter who is 7 had a great time, there was so much for her to do - the pool + slides, riding her bike (although the kids did take over the roads a litle with their bikes !), pony riding, super park, kids club etc. The pool area did get busy in the afternoons and it wasn't always possible to get a lounger - but for the men out there you do not have to wear speedos.
Our Pitch was huge, we could have parked 3 caravans + cars on pitch, most pitches had shade. Cant praise it enough..book early though !

2 readers found this review helpful

We went to La Garangeoire last year with Europarcs. First time we had been on a mobile holiday and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
The mobile home was spacious and well equipped and was sited on a large emplacement with plenty of room for the children to play outside. The pool was great - the children enjoyed the splash pool particularly. There was plenty to do i.e horse-riding, fishing, tennis, cycling, good play areas and children’s clubs. The shop on-site was small but well stocked and I understand it is being expanded for this year. There was always plenty of bread and croissants for sale every morning.
We enjoyed La Garangeoire so much we are going back again this year with Europarcs - they are a family-run company and took a real interest in making sure our holiday was of a high standard.

This was our first Eurocamp holiday. We booked a mobile home for extra comfort. I was really impressed with the Eurocamp staff and accommodation which was exactly what we wanted.
We took our two year old daughter who loved the space to run around (the pitches were spacious and enclosed, ideal for toddlers). The site its self had plenty to do with walks, a lake and a good swimming pool. The site was quiet as it was the last two weeks of the season which suited us perfectly. Restaurant on site was fine but the shop was small and only for essentials. However the local super market was excellent and open on a Sunday!
The weather was a bit hit and miss but nether the less did not prevent us from exploring the local area. There was plenty to do for the rainy and sunny days.
Would really recommend this site for a quiet family holiday.