Pontins Prestatyn Sands

3 readers found this review helpful

Having been to the pontins in southport,where you have to wipe your feet on the way out,prestatyn isnt that bad really,it depends on what you pay for it i guess.
Weve had a few relativly cheap breaks to prestatyn,so i really cant grumble,the apartments are out dated,and do need sprucing up.
They have a new ice rink theyre,but be warned they are the weirdest ice skates ive ever used as they kept going to the side,so i couldnt skate properly,but still was fun.
The pool was all right,although a little cool,the kids really enjoyed it,they have 3 small slides which my lot had fun playing on,lifegaurds are fantastic,as some little boy was there,drowning,he was about 7 no arm bands or or anything,apprently the mother and father were outside fagging it whilst theyre child was inside drowning!!!!!! luckily the lifegaurds are very quick and the young lad was ok,no thanks to the stupid parents!
The park has rides,and lots of arcades,but if you say no to your child you wont have to spend a fortune.
Toilets were clean,in fact most of the place was clean,gardens were kept neat,changing room in the baths were clean. The indoor play area for the children was good,although a little shabby.
staff were always friendly and helpfull,dont get me wrong,this park does need a lot doing,but if youve seen southport youll know what i mean when i say this plave is a 100 times better lol.
Also if you take along your own pillows and duvets makes it a lot more comfy,and then you can use it as a base to go wherever you want round wales,if your on a budget and dont expect much you really can have a ball,go expecting a five star then your goinhg to be severely dissapointed.

2 readers found this review helpful

We booked a 3 night stay at Pontins Prestatyn, myself and my partener and our 3 boys, aged 3, 9, 12. We saw the bad reviews after booking the holiday, so i was dredding it!! We pulled up and i was horrified, the 'chalets' were very dated and unclean, we had previously booked a budget chalet but were advised by my brother to upgrade, so we did..to classic, we were on the upper floor. (up outside, concrete steps)..when we arrived our 3 year old was asleep and we had to carry him up the stairs in his pushchair, then return to the car for all our luggage, the chalet was awful..brown stains on the carpet and sofa bed, chairs by the dining table had grounded in dirt on them, the bedding was ripped and the bathroom was DISGUSTING..had a hair-ball in it and that floor hadnt seen a mop in a very long time!!! So i complained and was put in a ground floor chalet, was better and more accesable but wouldnt call it 'clean'. The facilities wer'nt good, we did'nt eat in the 'resturaunt' (which looked like a school cafiteria) the carpets, fixtures and fittings were very dated and dirty and the lunas bar was smelly and in need of a good refit. On the plus side the swimming pool was ok, for paddling and the older boys enjoyed the inflateables, and the night time entertainment was great...the blue coats are wasted there!! Its ok to say that 'you get what you pay for' but we went to Haven last year paying the same price and it was a much more cleaner and enjoyable stay..will definatly be sticking with Haven in future!!

6 readers found this review helpful

After booking a four day break BEFORE reading any of the reviews or seeing any pictures, myself an my partner were really fearing the worst, we even contempated booking somewhere else and writing it off to "experience".
To be honest i'm glad we didn't. Our chalet (club) was clean and tidy(even by my partners standards), the facilities where nothing to write home about but they all worked and reasonable condition.
The childrens activities where very well run and good value for money, with plenty of variety for different age groups. The instructors made a real effort with the kids, they were kind and extremely patient. The look on my sons face after each event made it worth the other, more negative aspects to the holiday park.
Yes, the place is in desperate need of a make-over, it has a real 70's feel to it, but not in a good way!! The two bars have a definite "smell" about them, though this could be solved by investing in some air conditioning!
The evenings entertainment would fail under the trade discriptions Act as bingo and glorified musical chairs are not what entertaiment make! Though to their credit the bluecoats did a brilliant job with the material they had to work with.....
We opted for self catering and thankfully they do have a very well stocked shop which is reasonably priced. Our only foray into pointins cuisine was their version of KFC - not sure if it was chicken or seagull to be honest though!
Overall my son had a brilliant time and didn't want to come home, this is a KIDS holiday remember people, so for a few days forget the negatives and try and enjoy the positives!!

2 readers found this review helpful

just arrived back from pontins and felt i had to write a review. having read what other people wrote we were dreading it but we were pleasantly surprised. We stayed 4nights in a club apartment with breakfast and tea included and had a great time. Food was nice with different options each day. The bluecoats and staff worked hard all day and night to ensure everybody had a good time. There was always something going on for kids of all ages. The ice rink was up and running and all staff on site were friendly and nobody was rude.
The chalets did look dated but you get what you pay for. if your staying in a budget chalet for as little as £11 a night what the hell do you expect for such a CHEAP price.
There is nothing wrong with pontins itself as a family holiday i would recommend it to other people. the problem is with some of the types of people who go there. for example whilst we were there a family set up a travel cot in the middle of the showbar for a number of nights on the run for a child no older than 2 and left that child sat in there while they sat drinking and playing bingo taking no notice of her whatsoever. why bring your children on holiday if this is what you plan on doing? fair enough if your staying out and the kids fall asleep in the pram, but who would deliberatly set up camp in a bar so they could get more jugs of ale down their neck!!?
On the whole tho had a great time at pontins and will definatly visit again.

1 reader found this review helpful

I have to say that I was absolutely gutted when I arrived I felt like we had arrived at a council estate. I could have cried. We had been sooo looking forward to this holiday. It was beyond awful. We will not be returning. We stayed in the classic accomodation and it was horrendous. We complained and after taking our stuff up to the 2nd apartment, they took me to a 3rd apartment for an inspection and it was equally awful, but the location was slightly better, at the back of the camp instead of right in the middle next to the fair. We accepted this, I didn't want to ruin our family holiday by going home. I tried to upgrade but was told that there was a huge waiting list of people who had arrived on Saturday (2 days earlier) and they were all waiting to upgrade too, just shows you how awful it was. We couldn't even open the windows on the one apartment, they were stuck down with black matter.
The bed settee dipped in the middle and I slept with a bent back.
DO NOT GO THERE UNLESS YOU STAY IN CLUB CLASS, I believe its better than basic or classic.

We went for 4 days and wont be back!
Chalet was dirty. Had stains up the walls, dirt on the mirrors and windows. Grill pan in cooker full of fat, fridge had brown stains in it and sticky on door and mould around bath. Sofa bed bowed in the middle so when we lay on it rolled into each other. In serious need of refurbishment. Activity sites run down as well. Archery and quad racing held on what looks like waste ground. Bars far too warm. Staff very ignorant. Only half decient thing was evening entertainment. You would think with the money they make every year they would at least try to make the place clean and comfortable for their guests. Very disapointing

1 reader found this review helpful

We had booked the holiday in April with an independant tour operator and were really looking forward to our first trip to Wales and Pontins, but after reading the reviews about it, i was dreading it.
When we arrived i thought not too bad, but when i saw the classic apartment i nearly cried, the smell, the dirt of the floors, the disgusting dirty smelly stained
sofa bed was appalling, i went back to reception to complain and got upgraded to club. Definitely better but for top accomodation it was not good enough.
The sofa bed was gross, the carpet was filthy, and best of all there was a stink off the fridge, anytime i opened
the fridge there was a rotten smell, i cleaned it still the same smell.
I just want to point out i paid a lot of money to come from ireland and definitely will not be returning.

1 reader found this review helpful

Pontins Prestatyn is an absolute dump which needs to be demolished. Before we even saw our room i felt gutted as it looked like we had arrived at a run down council estate. Our budget room was a health hazard which i wouldnt have let a dog stay in, the smell hit you as soon as you opened the door, the whole place was covered in mold, the sofa bed was broken and was covered in stains and the bathroom was disgusting. I complained immediately as i was not prepared to stay there with my 9 week old son as i was seriously worried that he might catch something. After some battling with the staff we were upgraded to a classic room which was slightly better and had a shower instead of a bath, so i thought at least i wouldnt have to touch anything when washing. However after unpacking we found that the tv didnt work, the bedding was filthy, the shower ran out of hot water after 5 mins and the place was over run with ants. Thank god we had taken our own cot! I cant comprehend how the management feel that these facilities are acceptable. We heard several families complaining and all were met with the same disinterest. We decided to make the most of it and see what the entertainment was like but everywhere we went was filthy and stank of wet dog, feet and sewers. The diner looked like a hospital canteen and the prices were expensive. We decided to get out of the park and see the surroundings...well the beach round the corner is non existant, just concrete and sea and Rhyl is just as much of a dump! Sufice to say we left early...i was sooo glad to get home, just upset that our family holiday had been a disaster and that i had wasted so much money. I will also be writing to their Head Office...address as follows if anyone else feels the need:
Ainsdale House
Pontins Ltd
Southport Holiday Centre
Ainsdale Beach
Shore Road
Southport
PR8 2PZ

6 readers found this review helpful

Where to start, ive been going to pontins for the past 3 years and this year will be our 4th. we go as a group with a few other family members so the kids can all play together. We always book club, which arent the ritz but are clean and basic, we have never had a problem. I wouldnt stop in any other ie budget or classic, as they do need refurbishing asap, but i believe that thats what they are doing over the next few years.
The chalets have everything we need, club has the toaster, microwave, fridge freezer, ironing board and iron etc. But we dont want to spend all day in the challets as we are on holiday.
Entertainment
We love the fact that the entertainment starts from 8.30 and kids can have breakfast with the characters. And god forbid if its raining, theres always something on in the ball room to keep the kids entertained. (we did go to haven once, it rained all week, kids hated it, not much entertainment on, and they asked to go back to pontins)At night there is 2 rooms open so that when the bingo is on, one of us takes the kids into lunars to carry on the fun and games while adults have a game of bingo.We have watched some great shows over the years, and the bluecoats work so hard to make it entertaining.
there also have amusements, which keeps the kids busy collecting tickets to exchange for prizes, yea you have to get a lot of tokens to win anything decent, but our kids love it.

Food from the whistle stop, bit like kfc has always been nice, never tried the burgers etc, but its good value for money, same with the fish and chip shop, fish isnt processed like someone said, The shop is reasonable aswell and if you are in club you get a free paper everyday.
But basically, its what you make it, we have spent alot more going to haven and butlins etc, and if the kids are bored it becomes a nightmare of a holiday, but if the kids are happy, they stay with the bluecoats playing dancing etc, and you have a relaxing evenings etc.
It does need refurbishment badly, and that what they are doing, once this is all done, it will be even better,

4 readers found this review helpful

I have only read the reviews below AFTER comming home!
If I had checked first I honestly do not think that we would have gone....
Somebody below had likend it to Shamless the TV series and I was not to be dissapointed!
The place is an absoulute dump... There is no kinder way of putting it although I could use a few "stronger" words to describe it!
Budget was appaling, Classic was pre war and very dirty and Club was nothing more than acceptable...
The place is rundown and very dated.
The food is awful and very basic. The park offers little in the way of disguising the fact that it looks like you have stepped back in time to the 1970's! I honestly do not think if we had not ugraded! - and paid for the pleasure I may add! That we would ever have let our little boy stay one night! It was only the fact that we had driven 250plus miles to get there and the option to have a club apartment that we lasted all of 48 hours! we should have left on Friday but left on Wednesday afternoon...
If you go make sure you take cleaning products, YOU WILL NEED THEM! If you are taking kids I would also take your own duvet/pillow, I doubt you would want to let them sleep in Pontins sheets!
The Entertainment was ok, Its not the best but it was accepatble.
I would never recomend this "holiday" to anyone!