Duinrell Holiday Park

11 readers found this review helpful

Just back from our 4th successive trip to Duinrell with our little girl who is now 7. We travelled from Harwich to the Hoek van Holland via Stena ferry and stayed in a Duingalow. The park has always been good, and it was only this year we ventured to the nearby and very beautiful Wassenaarslag (beach) as there is so much do and see on the site.
Duinrell has really upped its game with promoting their multi-lingal entertainment team into mini celebrities, encouraging the children to collect all their autographs.
Duinrell is still low-key - a mix of a holiday park, amusement park along the lines of Pleasurewood Hills and their brilliant and constantly improving indoor water park - the Tikibad.
We will be booking up for next year.

3 readers found this review helpful

After taking the Dover - Calais ferry, it is about 3.5 hours to the park. Once you get round Rotterdam and get close to Den Haag, Wassenaar / Duinrell is clearly signposted so no drama in finding the park.
Stayed in a Duingelow which was situated very close to the reception. Had most things one needed, except for a "normal oven" which when one is self catering is a big miss. There is a combi microwave, but when you are feeding a family of 4, food preparation has to be done in shifts. Otherwise, they seem fine with everything you need. There is a TV which provides 2 Dutch channels, but you are able to purchase something called smoothie TV for 18 euros for the week which gives access to amongst others BBC1 & 2, sky news and ceebeebies.
The park is well maintained and on the whole the staff are friendly and polite. The pool is very much aimed at adrenalin junkies as it has mostly "turbo" flumes. There are some lesser flumes too but the queue for these tend to be greater. Also there is little space to actually swim. The theme park covers most age groups from a fast rollercoaster to gentle rides for youngsters. On the whole the queues are never too bad, although the toboggan tends to be very popular.
Facilties wise, it has all that you need. Didn't try the restuarant on the site so unable to comment. Supermarket is fine, but a tad on the dear side. Has most of the UK papers there at 8 in the morning if you feel the need to keep abreast of news. Also, have an on site bakery which bakes fine baguettes and crossiants. Used the takeaway twice, dear and be prepared to wait 20 or so minutes in even mildly busy times, but the food is reasonably good.
Evening entertainment is a bit thin on the ground. Having 2 football mad sons, we entered both into the football comps on Sunday and Tuesday evening. Whilst they were very well organised, the quality of the football "pitch" has to be seen to be believed!!!!!. Otherwise there seemed little else on offer which caught our eye.
Wassanaar town centre is only 5 minutes walk from the park and is a lovely town. Has 2-3 supermarkets with the closest being C1000. Also there are 2-3 good eateries in the town including a very fine and reasonable Italian, although it is on the small side so booking a table maybe an idea if you go at a busy time. Further, there is a library in the town centre which has 8-10 internet terminals whould you wish to take a sneak at your mails / check the weather forecast. The site has 2 terminals and charges 15 cents a minute whereas the library charges 50 cents for 10 mins.
The only 2 times we left the park were to go to the beach, about 2-3 miles away. Nice enough beach but not a great deal there. The other trip was to Amsterdam and this was probably the let down of the entire holiday. Took the bus to Leiden and then the train to Amsterdam, walked round for a while and then came back again. Absolutely nothing there and extremely disappointing. Also when I went to pay for the train tickets, they would only accept cash - told the only place they accept card payment is at the airport station! Bit of a porkie I feel.
Overall it was a reasonably good holiday. Would I recommend the park, yes but with 2-3 reservations. Would I return there, probably not.

6 readers found this review helpful

Just came back from Duinrell Campsite (keycamp). My partner, myself and 2 boys aged 2 and 7 stayed in a supertent for 4 nights, staff very friendly and helpful, site extremely clean, staff where in shower blocks all hours of the day keeping it sparkly clean, shower and wash rooms for children where great, there was even a wash room for pets! Kids never got bored and cant wait to go back, we went in theme park everyday which boys never got tired of, and water park was great fun too although they have now stopped the 2 free hours which are advertised, however under 4s go free and at 3.50 euros each its well worth it, we went in 3 of the 4 days and spent a good few hours in there each time. Tent was great if you enjoy camping, beds really comfortable, lights, fridge freezer and cooker all very useful, there is a well stocked supermarket but we took our own shopping for the full week which kept price down a lot, visit to the pancake house outside of site well worth a visit. Booking again for an adult holiday in sept as there is some lovely bars and restaurants in the town (10 min walk)and hopefully going to book may next year with other families and kids. Def a fun holiday for all and well worth the money we paid. If you have small children and not taking a push chair I would recommend hiring a pull along cart from reception area, you can take them outside of the site and we fit both boys comfortably in there for going for walks in the town, this cost about 12 euro for 2 days.

5 readers found this review helpful

Our second holiday at Duinrell with Canvas.
Mobile home was fine, swimming pool and amusement park were brilliant.
We had children in the party of 5 families ranging from 4 to 14 and there was plenty to keep everyone occupied. Park and campsite always clean and litter free. Very few queues for any of the rides, even though we were there during school holidays.
New ride this year - the falcon - which all the kids loved. Lots of other rides, from fairly gentle rollercoaster to full on waterspin. The staff are quite fussy with height restrictions and some of the kids couldn't get on to the rides because they were a couple of centimetres too short, but I suppose that is a good sign. Also children under a certain height have to wear armbands in the pool regardless of whether or not they can swim.
We spent very little as we cooked ourselves - bbq's or in the caravan, the couple of times we ate out on site were quite disappointing, expensive and not very nice. Supermarket was adequate, there are a few better and cheaper supermarkets in the town.
The changing rooms at the Tikibad are slightly overcrowded, but towards the end of the week we found another much better changing room upstairs, plenty of room.
Visited the museum 'Naturalis' at Leiden - very good.
Other than than the kids didn't want to leave the site, and there is actually very little reason to. 2 hours of swimming followed by 4 hours in the amusement park, supper and we were all really for bed!! If the children are busy then the parents are happy. The facilities on site, such as the play areas and obstacle course etc are open all the time, so even after the rides shut, there are plenty of things to keep the children happy.
Would recommend this park to anyone with children or teenagers. Not exactly relaxing, but days jam-packed with rides and slides. Brilliant.

16 readers found this review helpful

What a holiday!!! The weather wasn't particularly good but there was plenty to do even in the rain. The theme park isn't particularly big but has plenty to keep the young ones occupied even my 1 year old!!! The facilites are clean and well maintained and the pool with all the slides is excellent. There is limited family changing facilities and people do walk in as you are changing.
There are no facilities to change travellers cheques you have to travel to either Leiden or Den Haag as there is only one company who provides this service hence a lousy exchange rate and a hefty commission (nearly 12 Euros for £300 in Travellers Cheques). Prices are expensive in Wassanaar and on the site. We shopped at Aldi and C1000 the local supermarket but again these were not particularly cheap.
If you travel on the Connexion bus service ask for the Family Day ticket which costs 10 Euros for daily travel anywhere with this company. One bus driver charged us 8 Euros each way to go to Den Haag.
I wouldn't use Eurocamp Independent again as you could book direct with the site or via the Caravan Club and save nearly £400. The Eurocamp reps were of no use whatsoever as they kept referring us to the main reception even to book in when we arrived. They also stated that there were no facilities to bathe our 1 year old but a quick walk around the site located 2 brand new buldings with large child washing facilities (Durinell Brochure states these were built in 2007).
The ferry crossing with P & O was again excellent as the service provided by all staff was exemplary. The cabins were complete with towels, bedding and toiletries although you will need a tootbrush and toothpaste. Book your onboard meals before travelling as this will be cheaper. The buffet dinner (curries and carvery are part of the menu) is very good as is the breakfast.
Overall the site is fantatsic our children have returned home wanting to sleep for England.

5 readers found this review helpful

Duinrell Is An Excellent Resort For All Members Of The Family. You Will Never Get Bored And I Strongly Reccomend It To Anyone In Need Of A FUN Holiday!

7 readers found this review helpful

Having stayed at Duinrell every year for the past four years you would think we like it, and your quite correct.
You must book with keycamp for the best price. If you go may or September you can have 3 weeks for about £450 per caravan. Thats for a Villa Grand with two bed rooms and two bathrooms. Sleeping 6. Including your ferry travel.
Euro camp is a lot deared for the same holiday. They charge per person.
We pay a little extra and go from Portsmouth. You have everything you need on site for children. You will have a gas barbi as well as all mod cons in caravan. All free. Never had trouble with noise at night. Maybe its to do with where the vans are sited. Each company as its own pitches.
The villiage is 5 mins away and you can find all you need from the shops and supermarkets. Dont forget to take your bags. They dont use plastic ones. I still shop in England with my Digros bag.
Beer is about £3 for a grate of 24. and you pay more on the deposit charge. Dont forget to take them back for refund.
Even have the umppa pa bands playing and you can sit on lovely benches and watch the world go by.
Our ages are from 12-64. ( I'm 62). Enjoy Duinrell as much as the 12 year old.
Going back in Sept 2008. looking forwards to it..can't wait.

3 readers found this review helpful

This is a fabulous family holiday. Depending on how you book you can bring your own tenant/campervan, stay in a site tent, varying degrees of comfort caravan or in Duinrells very own Duinhostel or one of the Duingalows. Included in the cost of your holiday is the theme part suitable for the hyperactive toddler right upto your beer swilling teenage son. The pool is excellant with plenty of slides to thrill the family adrenaline junkie. For the more athletic, there is an adventure type thing where you can do archery and climb through the trees on ropes. The local town of Wassenaar is literally across the road with an Aldi and the local high street supermarket and a market on a Tuesday,so you dont have to pay over the odds at the site convenience store if you dont want to. Because this is a family site, the entertainment is mostly during the day so there is nothing to do at night except go to the Irish Bar in Kikkertuin, so you can drop in on your neighbours for a few drinks and a laugh at night which after the day you'll probably have is all you'll be fit for anyway! We've stayed in a 6 berth tent, two different caravant types and are going back this year to stay in a Duingalow, cant wait!

We have just returned from a week’s holiday in Duinrell and we were very disappointed. I can only describe it as a Little Britain - Butlins or Pontins style so if this is your thing then you will love it!
The Bad Points: Access. We took our own caravan as many people do but found there was no ‘waiting area’ in which to wait whilst checking in. We had to park in a very busy car park that was used by visitors to the theme park, which entailed manoeuvring barriers and negotiating a car and caravan around a very small area. A stressful task in itself and less than ideal in a caravan park!
Expensive. I found the pitches expensive compared to other Dutch sites and even though we had an XL Comfort caravan pitch, it was very small.
Noise! We were situated in Middenveld, which was a stones throw from the Pub and Shop and right behind the dustbins! Every evening there were youths congregating in this area doing what kids of that age do... drinking, shouting, swearing etc. We expected after 11pm 'quiet time' would be enforced but no, it was often 1am before we had quiet. Numerous complaints by other campers amounted to a half-hearted patrol by the security staff but they weren't asked to move or to be quiet. Now, please don't think I am a 'fuddy duddy' - I am only 37 and have 2 teenage girls myself but silent hours are silent hours and out of respect for everyone else on holiday, I feel this should be respected.
On-site. We found the majority of the reception staff were unhelpful, the campsite shop was very expensive though well used, as there was always long queues at the checkouts. The Buffet Restaurant was expensive, the food unpleasant.
The good points: The Irish Bar had a good atmosphere with a wonderful bowling alley though it was very busy and I can imagine during peak season would involve large queues in a very small area. The kids loved it!
The theme park itself has something for everyone and with unlimited free entry, definitely the highlight of the holiday. The water ride is highly recommended!
The Tiki Bad was impressive with very good slides though again, will be very busy during peak times.
So, to summarise, if you are going camping/caravanning abroad for the first time, want lots of on-site facilities and don’t mind a busy, noisy environment then you will like Duinrell. If however, you go on holiday to have some quiet family time, where people respect other guests then this is not the place for you! It honestly felt as if our caravan was right bang in the middle of the theme park!

3 readers found this review helpful

My 3 yr old son and I travelled to Duinrell in Sept 2006 for a week - just after the schools had gone back.
We stayed in a mobile home, 2 bed/2 bathroom, booked through Canvas Holidays.
Cost of accomodation was around £200. We flew down with jet2.com from Manchester (early morning flight). Flight time was about an hour and cost was approx. £100.
We then took a train from Schiphol airport to Leiden and then from there a bus to Wassenaar. Ten minute walk from the bus stop to the campsite. A number of companies operate here including Keycamp and Eurocamp.
The weather was hot all the time we were there, had a great time. No problems with transport, accomodation or meals. I found that the dutch descended on the place at the weekend but during the week it was fairly quiet although, you will always encounter school organised trips around the fun and water parks.
Food, well when the little one demands chicken and mushroom, chinese it is then, there are two in town. Takeout if you wish.
I would definately recommend a visit especially if you have children, there's the water park, theme park rides etc.