Reviews of Pontins Southport, Merseyside, England

In a nutshell, our 19-month-old...

Overall Rating:

4/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

Sun newspaper deal

Submitted By:

Mrs C Andrews

Comments:

In a nutshell, our 19-month-old daughter loved the holiday, but my husband and I were shocked at the state of the site and the entertainment available.



To be fair, we paid £68 through the Sun newspaper deal for a Mon-Fri mid-week holiday, and actually spent more than that on one night in a Premier Inn on the Sunday night as we had travelled down early to see the Air Show at Southport. What standards can you expect for £5.50 pppn? It's obvious that money and attention needs spending on the cleanliness and maintenance of the apartments, as they are dirty, in poor repair and ours leaked black water through the bathroom ceiling when it rained (despite having another flat above us!). However, we took the stance that this was only a base for our holiday and we would be out and about for most of the day and evening anyway.



The Bluecoats generally can't be arsed with doing a proper job; their enthusiasm seems fake and their demeanour lethargic - several times they were spotted slouching about nursing hangovers or lack of sleep rather than organising the events advertised (no swimming lessons or art classes, for example). However, they probably aren't paid very much, have to work long hours and entertain an audience of scummy parents and even scummier kids for a week - I couldn't do it.



Our daughter loved the character shows in the evening, although the disabled jokes and 'bums and tits' comments in the songs by Mr Stix made his show rather inappropriate for the young audience. The swimming pool was rather chilly and mucky and the changing rooms were sub-zero and smelled like wet nappies. The bouncy castle, go karts, and trampolines weren't seen the whole week we were there. The indoor soft play area was delapidated, dirty and dangerous - I had to stop 3 children from falling from first-floor level through the climbing nets before showing the supervising Bluecoat that the ropes had been untied and there was an adult-sized gap in the netting 7 foot above a concrete floor. Nobody checks the equipment before use and he wasn't in the slightest bit apologetic. Scary.



Other guests were rude, foul-mouthed, abusive, frequently drunk, had poorly-behaved children and often asked us to look after their bags for them whilst they went outside for a fag ("you're not gonna nick anyfink are you?"). We're not snobs, but it was definitely eye-opening to see how other people live!



I wouldn't ever stay in a Pontins again - and I certainly wouldn't recommend Southport's site.

What a shocker!! Dirty...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Room Only

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

Sun Newspaper

Submitted By:

Miss J Warden

Comments:

What a shocker!! Dirty apartment, floor/carpet filthy, bathroom was dirty, windows did not shut properly and someone had shoved tissues in them to stop the draughts!! Cooker had a knob missing and no handle for the grill (health & safety!!). Fridge - someone had taken the shelf racks where u put milk, light didnt work, fridge not the healthiest smelling. The bin had the last persons rubbish in the bottom as well as Ecoli and some other bugs. Kim and Aggie should be sent there to do micro tests and the place should be shut down, refurbed and cleaned! Was too scared to venture into pool, it was not that well lit, very dated and was scared I may come out with some disease. The pub was ok and prices not too bad. Didn't venture into big entertainment hall but plastic school chairs are not my idea of comfort. There was a majorettes weekend on so full of screaming screeching scousers who took great pleasure at keeping us awake between 2.30 - 6.30. The photo's someone has put on here are typical of what we had when we stayed in the budget apartments, I suppose that's what you get for a cheap Sun paper holiday deal!



Southport itself was lovely, great town centre, great bars - go to Scarisbrook Hotel and stay there instead the bars there are great and staff friendly.

I can honestly say that this is...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mrs J Fielding

Comments:

I can honestly say that this is the dirtiest and most dilapitdated place that I have ever had the mispleasure of going to.

The whole place need bulldozing. ( I wouldn't give a rating if I could)

The security guards were very pleasent and were probably the nicest thing about the place.

The bar was dirty and we wouldn't risk eating in there.

We didn't venture into the room where the entertainment was on as it was full of what can only be described as school dining room.

The chalet/apartment was filthy and looked as though it hadn't been cleaned for years,

there wre spiders webs everwhere, the toliet was disgusting.

We weren't told that there was a majorettes competition on thatt weekend and the place was just overun by screaming children who were sunning in & out of each others chalet's until 4.30 in the morning and started aging at 6.3 am, and I don't know what to say about the paents/supervisors!!!!!

Southport itself it lovely with really friendly people

I would never go to Pontins again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone

Just returned from our 4 day...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

Sunshine.co.uk

Submitted By:

Mr A Williams

Comments:

Just returned from our 4 day stay at pontins... and i must agree the chalets we're Terrible!... the Bath had mold all around the sides.. and the door had a square peice of wood just stuck over the door to cover a hole... rather then replacing a new door..



The bedroom i was in was freezing due to the windows letting in all the cold, the handles we're mostly all broken, and about as sound proof as a peice of paper...



THE GOOD.

the GoKarts was great fun, shame about the staff running it... One was VERY immature.. Acting like a child..



If you are thinking about going here and your taking children aged 8-11 yrs then they will have lots to do.. but for the older kids there isn't really anything other than the Arcade.. which is rather expensive ( Also most of them was out of order )

"after putting money into a arcade game and it not working i went to the change desk and told them what had happend, they just said it didnt work.. didnt bother refunding me or EVEN TURNING IT OFF... they just left it On the Whole 4 days i was there.



As for the Swimming Pool..... the changing rooms are tiny little spaces in which you have a "Garden chair" and a Ripped and broken shower curtain..



OVERALL Pontins is a cheaper version of Butlins, So you do expect it to have some problems, but its just outdated and falling apart.. You would be far better off paying the extra and going elsewhere!



and as for the Fair next door for it... Pfft.. waste of money.. the GoKarts there kept stalling all the time with no refunds offerd. If you do decide to try it make sure you buy your tokens or wrist band from a person at the stands rather then the machine as they dont work properly and ended up losing money cus they dont work.





The only reason i have givin this a 5/10 rather then a 0/10 is because the Children still have fun...

Ive just came back from pontins...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Miss J Symons

Comments:

Ive just came back from pontins southport with my family,we had 3 chalets between us and each and every one of them were dirty and mouldy.it was the worse holiday ive ever taken and will never do it again.if i'd have drove myself to the resort i would have gone home the same day i arrived.The service in the queen vic restaurant was terrible,it took abt 1/1 1/2hrs to receive food we ordered and twice they had ran out of certain food we had ordered and staff were quite rude too.All i can say to anyone thinking of booking to go PLEASE DONT BOTHER.You will be wasting your money and believe me it certainly wont be no holiday.

Well what can I say, we have...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

pontins

Submitted By:

Mr N Daniels

Comments:

Well what can I say, we have just came back from Soutport and would never go back to any of the pontins resorts again!!



Tiles had fallen off above the bath and it was covered in mould. The chalet was a dirty carpet dirty, no equipment for cooking . Floors, walls, durvets, windows, cupboards everthing in the chalet. When i complained, the reception staff were very rude and didn't want to help so I cleaned the chalet myself but on the bright side maintenence were called out to fix the tiles, later that day the handy man turned up with a hammer to fix the tiles ( HAMMER ) what was that going to do realising this he said he would be back in the morning. Guess what he never showed.



That was my lovely trip to southport!!

Arrived Monday Aug 25th... First...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Room Only

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mr P Bailey

Comments:

Arrived Monday Aug 25th... First impressions before even entering the main gates to the complex was "Oh my G....". Having passed security, and driving to park the car, the first thing we noticed was how gloomy the Chalets were.



The indoor kids play area was scruffy, dirty and a carpet in much need of replacement.

The main entertainment area looked out dated, dirty, damaged tables, horrid plastic school chairs and a carpet so dirty you couldnt tell what colour it was.

Food choices included...well, not much really if you like chips and a high colestoral diet. (although they did have an indoor supermarket so you could at least make your own meals)



The swimming pool was dirty, smelly and changing rooms in a state.



The Chalet was sort of clean once you became accustomed to the stale smell of smoke going back those 20odd yrs when people smoked in the rooms.. The chairs were dirty and smelly, floor not particularly clean..other than that, the room itself wasnt too bad. Outside though, different storey. Dirty windows, chiped paintwork, rust on the bannisters, what more can i say ! - place looked like a prison.



As for entertainment...well, i suspect the poor bluecoats being on just above the min wage (probably), that the quality was poor.. We did witness a large family row resulting in a smashed front Chalet window and not forgetting the completely drunk parents who didnt here their smoke alarm going off whilst the kids were asleep - resulted in security having to break the door down!





We will definately NOT be visiting Pontins EVER again.. in fact, if i was an investor in Pontin's, i'd pull out..quick... The place needs flattening and rebuilding.



My advice...dont go.

i have visited pontins for many...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Miss N Bethell

Comments:

i have visited pontins for many years, but for the last 4 years have been to butlins instead, this yr money was a bit tight, so we chose pontins, i was pretty terrified, as i had read the reviews, but it wasnt as bad as i was expecting, on arrival, the security guards at the gate, were a bit grumpy, and needed some deodorant, but so far so good, we got our chalet around 4.20pm, but we had requested a ground floor, (for various health reasons), but were given an upstairs one, so we complained, and the accomodation staff were very helpful, we were given another downstairs chalet immediatley, when we got there, it was not ready, but again, within twenty minutes the chalet was cleaned, and ready for us, the chalet was classic, and it was just fine, basic , but very clean, bedding was fresh and clean, the only gripe about the chalet was the sofa bed, i had to sleep on it, and it stunk and was filthy.





the centre itself, was very run down, it hasnt seen a lick of paint for years, in fact it hasnt been updated since i first went 15yrs ago, the fun factory, was a bit of a worry, the food on the floor , was still there from 9 in the morning, and was still there at 6.30pm when we went back for the bingo. i was worried about my 11month baby crawling round the floor. on the plus, the entertainment was excellent, and the bluecoats were amazing , under extreme pressure.

we loved the queen vic pub food, it was delicious, and very reasonably priced.



the swimming pool, was dirty and tired looking too, but the showers were lovely and clean.



on the 5th night, there was a fire in the chalet opposite us, according to the people next door to the fire, the security guards, wouldnt kick the door in, even though they were told, that 3 little children were asleep inside, it took them (according to neighbours) ten minutes to do anything, they finally broke in, and got the children out safely, but that not really their job. the same night, some chalet windows were broken, and that kept us awake for a long time too.



overall, we had a nice week, i am from liverpool, originally, but havent lived there for many years, so it was nice to go into liverpool , the shopping was great , and the trip across the mersey , was very nostalgic, southport is still nice, but the fair, was very run down, and the zoo no longer exists, im not sure i would go back to pontins, rumour has it , its been sold off, maybe thats the reason they havent done any upgrading. i dont know, but i was slightly disapointed with its state, some of the guests, were a little scary, and a bit rough, but on the whole not as bad as i was expecting.

well after reading all the bad...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Room Only

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Thomson

Submitted By:

Mrs S HOWARD

Comments:

well after reading all the bad reviews we dreaded it,myself my daughter and her 3 girls ages 2 and half 6 and 9,we come from uk but live in qatar by dubai,its a 7 hour flight so traveled 10 hrs in all.we loved it.kids didnt want to come home, ok needs bit work coat paint all carpets taken up wooden floors instead,kids play area the fun factory and captains crocs area needs brightning up,but loads to do for kids,food good in queen vic,we stayed 4 WEEKS,yes 4 weeks,bluecoats work so hard,we saw what they done as we were there so long,and they are not appreciated,thanks to them all,we are going back,looking forward to it, if u want the ritz then pay for it PONTINS IS GREAT,

Thank God we only paid £90 for...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Sun Holidays

Submitted By:

Mrs K Taylor

Comments:

Thank God we only paid £90 for this holiday as we booked through the Sun newspaper!!If we had paid brochure price of £490 would have been asking for a refund. It was like looking at a prison camp. Room was just about ok if you left your shoes on and thank God we took our own bedding. Someone said before we went the place was tired. I would have said its absolutely knackered!! Just looking at the rust and mould around the outside of the chalets was enough to turn your stomach!! The 2 15 year olds with us went out and bought hand sanitizer for when they had touched anything!! On the plus side we had a great meal in the Queen Vic, saw a great panto and enjoyed Mr Stix in the lunar bar (great sense of humour!!) If you get this hol on the cheap go and make the most of it. DO NOT pay full price or you will be in for severe disappointment. Would we go again?NO CHANCE!!!

Pontins Southport has been the...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mr G Hodson

Comments:

Pontins Southport has been the worst holiday experince ever. I was just grateful that

I was only booked in for a three night break. Instant reaction on arrival on the camp

was that of utter disappointment. Check in process was very slow and queuing up through the middle of an arcade is very im personal. On arriving in our chalet I was

disgusted the room was very dirty the carpet was soiled in several places, there were

dirty marks and even holes on the walls in the bed rooms, the shower was terrible there

were tiles hanging off the walls and it was filthy. I cannot believe you actually charge people to stay in such dumps, they are not fit to house dogs. We stayed in classic

accommodation which was very poor I dread to think what the basic accommodation

would be like. My suggestion is to knock it down and start again. Terribe experience.

just come back today from...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

sun holiday

Submitted By:

Mrs P Simons

Comments:

just come back today from pontins in southport,after reading the reviews very nearly didnt go,my husband had to go away to work so ended up going on my own with 2 kids.and was dreading it,upgraded to club class before i went hoping it would be bit betta than budget,havin been abroad this summer this was booked through the sun newspaper as a cheapie for the kids before school starts,first impression was oh s*** where have i brought my kids!!!the whole camp needs updating but in all honesty who would be expecting 5 star if its so cheap,overall impression was as it was only a few days u can live with it,chalets are not up too much even the so called club class,the sofa especially was really disgusting but i just threw a sheet over it and made do,the kids loved it even sayin it was as good as going abroad,there is loads for them to do,the entertainment was good both for kids and adults,the queen vic pub was good the food was nice and very reasonable,i cant say i wont take my kids there again as they enjoyed it and that was the whole point of going,i would recommend anyone to upgrade and make do just as i did,its def not the best place and its def not the cleanest( had to clean the chalet as it wasnt up to scratch), carpts were badly stained so had to wear flip flops all the time,but all in all it wasnt as bad as i expected,hope anyone that reads this will be a bit reassured if they have booked to go,plenty for kids to do and that was the whole point of going.

When i read other peoples bad...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mrs M Smith

Comments:

When i read other peoples bad reviews about pontins in southport i thought they minght be going over the top a little and wasnt too concerned about my upcoming trip,when i got there i was totally shocked and there wasnt anything we were happy about.

There was big long queues to check in and the staff were miserable.The whole place was filthy from the bars to the rooms.I had 1 curtain up to my bedroom window,you could hardly see out of the windows as they were so dirty and what you could see wasnt worth looking at.The bedding had mould on it,the beds were falling apart,the floors were filthy,the fridge was filthy,one of the beds didnt have a duvet at all,the toilet didnt flush.I have never seen any other place as bad as this anywhere.



We went to play bingo twice and the caller messed it up both times it was like he didnt know what he was doing.



We was told there was a bus stop outside the camp,so we went out to wait for a bus only to find there was no service at the weekend,so we had to pay for taxis everytime we went out as it was too far to walk into town,pontins is next to a beach but thats it.



We didnt have children with us but everyone was complaining that there children were bored as theres not much to do and the pool was dirty.



We couldnt face eating on the site as the food looked and smelt disgusting.



I would never want to take children there,and would never reccommend it to anyone.



But southport itsself is a great place,we had a lovely time away from pontins,met some lovely people and had some nice food.



If your thinking of going to pontins think AGAIN!!!!!

We arrived expecting the worst,...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Room Only

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

V.Cross

Comments:

We arrived expecting the worst, security were ok on arrival but you could tell he was reading the "welcome" from a book instead of being personal. Check in was swift and easy. Arriving at the chalet (classic) we were 1st over come by the smell of damp and sweaty feet and a stained carpet, everything else was of an average state, we decided to stick with this chalet. Over the week we used 3 bottles of "fabreze" I would also reccomend getting a plug in air freshener. The cooker had one ring that looked lethel and you could'nt open the door on your own but apart from that the kitchen was also average. The bathroom had the most culture I saw at Pontins in the form of black mould but not excessive amounts. Generally the whole chalet requires a total refit. The other annoying fact was only club class got any draws, presumably the poor don't have clothes to put in draws, so we ended up living out of our suitcases for a week.

We went to "captin crocs pyjama party" one morning which consisted of poorly arranged 80's songs and 2 bluecoats, one of which was clearly suffering from a real bad hangover, the advertised "arts and crafts" would be better advertised as "colour in a picture IF we can find any pencils"

Indoor play area was good for the kids but the carpet was filthy and ripped and the girl behind the desk was struggling to look up from the newspaper except when other members of staff came in for a chat and a skive.

We also avioded the "Queen Vic" pub as we enquired about a menu and after the "waiter (ha)" looked at us like we had just come from space he asked "what for?" This was pretty typical with the staff we did have contact with the, "cant do anything" attitude, however the groundsmen were very good and pleasent, just clearing no money coming from head office for them to really do their job.

Very glad to be home, we won't visit (any) Pontins again however I'm sure environmental health, health and safety and fire safety maybe making a visit soon, least I would love them to.

PLEASE DONT GO TO PONTINS...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Self Catering

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

SUN HOLIDAYS

Submitted By:

wullgray

Comments:

PLEASE DONT GO TO PONTINS SOUTHPORT TRY TREATING YOUR CHILDREN ?? TAKE THEM ANYWHERE ELSE I HAVE TO SAY THIS IS THE WORST SITE IN BRITIAN IVE EVER BEEN ON THE CHALETS ARE FILTHY THE CLUBHOUSE WELL LETS JUST SAY THE CARPET IS MEANT TO BE A BLUE COLOUR NOT STICKY BLACK THE FOOD IS ALL FROZEN FOOD THE POOL LOOKS ABOUT 50 YEARS OLD THE STAFF LOOK ABOUT 12 AND THE MANAGMENT DONT GIVE A HOOT IVE BEEN ON POOR SITES BEFORE BUT THIS TAKES THIS BISCUIT IVE NEVER COMPLAINED ABOUT ANY SITE BEFORE BUT IF I CAN SAVE A FAMILY HAVING A BAD HOLIDAY THEN GOOD ANYONE FROM SOUTHPORT PONTINS WANT TO GET IN TOUCH FEEL FREE IVE SENT 2 LETTERS AND NEVER HEARD ANYTHING