Pontins Southport

NEVER NEVER AGAIN.........Our chalet was so damp in the bedroom area couldnt sleep for the smell of must when i moved the bed there was thick black mould mattress and sheets were damp the living area floor was filthy cups and plates were greasy no entertainment for the two young toddlers after four days except on the thursday they had half hour of the croc show . every thing was closed down except the arcades and who wants to spend 5 days in them went home a day early children couldnt eat the evening meal had to go to tesco and buy food should have been half board.
asked for a grill pan oh they brought that but no handle to hold it good money throw down the drain should be ashamed of themselves adults can cope but young children should be better treated than this im disgusted .

1 reader found this review helpful

I have never been to such a run down place as this, first room was covered in mud, old food in the fridge, plates in the sink.
Second room was dirty and stunk but was cleaner just about, there website tells you that they have 70 free things to do but was told that only crazy golf was available. Pool was closed, park was closed, go karts was closed, face painting was closed, bouncy castles was closed the list went on and on. There is a guy there called Martin who was the only good thing about the park as he tried to entertain us but I would advise people to avoid this place and that is not an understatement

my family and I stayed for a week in july the kids who are seven ten and seventeen thought it was brilliant The chalets do need improving as the carpets are definitely past their best though and it was a bit dangerous trying to use the grill without a grill pan handle ainsdale village is lovely and the beach is great if you get the weather and southport town is a great place to visit as well didnt really get the xmas show in the middle of july though very strange the only really negative thing though is some people we met on holiday found a rat in their chalet and left early and i suspect there are plenty more of their brothers and sisters hanging around camp which i admit was a bit off putting for us fortunately we didnt see any of them on our stay but overall we had a good holiday

1 reader found this review helpful

Just returned from our 4 day stay at Pontins Southport and I wish I had read the reviews BEFORE I went! It was like arriving at the army barracks (although they are probably ALOT cleaner!) Our first thought as we arrived on site was OMG it looks like council flats. In our party we normally go to Butlins and Haven but as I got a discount through employee benefits we decided to do Pontins as not been before. I thought (wrongly) that Southport would be nicer than Prestatyn (how wrong were we) so we decided to come here. Never seen anything like it in my life. I've watched Holidays from Hell and I thought it wouldn't happen to me! Apartments look like council flats and everywhere you turn its just unclean and uncared for. The place needs a massive overhaul, new carpets, new toilets, new reception area, new staff, needs painting, needs updating. The chairs in the main entertainment room are blue plastic like a school canteen, your feet stick to the floor, paint is coming off the walls, holes in the sink units and walls, smells of wee, need I go on? Our first room was absolutely disgusting. The floor was stained and dirty with an iron burn in the carpet. The bath was broken and dangerous for our 3 year olds, the bed settee was minging - couldn't imagine sitting on it nevermind sleeping on it, the door didn't stay shut. Our second room was better though and livable. The staff were rude and extremely unprofessional especially in the restaurant / pub. Not enough choice of food and you have to ask for EVERYTHING! Customer service is atrocious. Pool is just really minging and when I saw the state of it I just cried. I would not let my child swim in there. Looked like a health hazard and funnily enough on our third day it was closed down due to health and safety reasons!! On the plus side (!) The Bluecoats were brill, very professional and our kids had a fab time. We just grinned and bared it and in the end had a really good laugh and just got tipsy every evening & laughed about it! Once you get over the initial shock of how filthy is is and if you can stand the fact that you feel like you are in an episode of 'shameless' then its 'ok'. I wouldn't return here again but I would give Pontins another try at another park- just to give them the benefit of the doubt!

After reading the other reviews, I was extremely concerned about going to Southport. On arrival the first chalet we were given was without a table and chairs, the carpet was very dirty. We went straight back to the reception and asked to be moved. The staff were very helpful and we were given another chalet immediately, the new chalet was a bit better, there was a table and chairs, the carpet was still rather dirty/stained. The rest of the chalet was clean and tidy, just rather run down. I thought as we had upgraded to Club, we would have had a more up to date chalet. All the staff and Blue Coats were lovely, extremely helpful. Overall the site is rather dated and in need of some loving care, but if you put that aside it was very good

2 readers found this review helpful

After reading all the terrible reviews i was dreading my time at pontins.
between the ages of 19-26 i virtually travelled the world so i am well placed to give my thoughts on pontins southport !
50 metres down the road you have one of the best beaches i have ever set foot on ainsdale beach it is very clean and well patrolled by the local coast guards.
a couple of miles down the road you have formby point again another excellent clean beach with a nature reserve to boot.
formby itself is a lovely village inhabited by footballers steven gerrard glen johnson and stuart downing.
these footballers have the choice to live anywhere so they choose to live in formby speaks volumes, there are also plenty of nice places to eat in this aera.
from formby you can catch the train into liverpool for £4.50 return adults 25mins liverpool again really impressed with plenty to do from shopping to the albert docks and various museums.
on top of this you have the added bonus that the people of the aera go out of the way to make you feel welcome.can't fault this has a cheap base at all.i can't understand all the bad reveiws people obviously don't get out and about enough !

1 reader found this review helpful

Upon arrival told most abruptly that couldnt have chalet until 2pm. Fair enough but only food available was the chip shop on site which had the worst fish and chips ever.£4.50 for a piece of processed frozen fish and frozen oven chips. Takes the mickey. When actually given chalet, couldnt believe our eyes. Even Terry Waite had better accomodation. Dirty and stained carpet. Dread to think what with although one stain was iron shaped. Bed linen had fag] -------- burns in the corner. Shower was dreadful.No water pressure and hot water took ages to heat up.Also had to keep pressing button on shower to keep water on just like swimming baths.All inside window ledges had flaked paint on them which worried us with our 2 year old daughter. Rusty shower rail as well. Table and chairs brought fond memories of school and were just as uncomfortable.Crazy golf needed painting and looked dreadful.looked like modelled on one from Afghanistan.We always made sure that we spent the least amount of time on the site as possible.we went into Southport and found Ocean Plaza which had great restaurants and was very nice.Swimming pool looked and was tatty and the water was freezing.First time there heard lifeguard shout at kids using the f word to get out of pool.not good with 2 year old in tow.Found shards of glass and plenty of -------- [fag ends in wood of playground.we will never be going back again.

We were on a sun holiday. Pontins is not a pretty site for sure but our room had a spotless carpet and the beds were clean. The kitchen was equipped with a cooker, fridge and kettle but very little utensils and cooking equipment were supplied.
Tv was extremely small - 14" i think.
No complaints with the bathroom, it was clean.
We found security on the gates to be very good and everyone going out was given a pass to get back in, and this was checked each time.
Big complaint was that on checking in day on august bank holiday there was only 2 reception staff. Took 35 minutes to book in. Thought reception was badly organised.
Southport is great and the beach near to the camp beautiful. The accomodation reminded me of what holiday camps were like 30 years ago but we looked in the window of a refurbished chalet and they look much improved. All in all it was still good value and a good base for visiting the area but you wouldnt want to spend too much time in the chalet.

I have been on many holidays, both good and bad over the years and I never write reviews usually but I just couldn't help myself with this one. This is the worst break I have ever been on. The place really does need closing down as it is an absolute health hazard. The apartment was disgusting, carpets were extremely dirty and the settee/bed had a leg broken off! We then went down to the dinner hall! The plates has moulded food on them as did the cutlery, the tables and floor had not been cleaned and there was still food on the floor from the day before. The actual food was borderline in-edible, we actually went out to eat after that first day as we couldnt face going back. The staff were very rude and un-helpful and the entertainment was rubbish! they did a kids xmas show in the middle of august!!! very strange indeed. Many activities were not open for the kids and most of them you have to pay for. We enede up taking the kids out to the fair in southport as we couldnt face another day in the camp! PLEASE DO NOT GO, IT IS VERY VERY BAD! We couldnt wait to get home, complete waste of a weekend and money! If there was a score of - 10 this is what we would give!!!!!

just got back yesterday and i have to say after reading the other reviews i wasnt looking forward to it but had the best time ever so much so booked for new year 10 minutes ago there room were very basic but didnt spend much time in them as there was so much to do the entertainment on the nights were fab and the staff was very friendly and helpful i would defo go back the hoilday is waht you make it and ours was brill