Reviews of Pontins Prestatyn Sands, Denbighshire

I recently stayed in Pontins with my two children, as my daughter was dancing. We were due to stay Friday - Monday but returned home on the Sunday night.



I was utterly appalled by the state of the accommodation there. We had booked classic.



On arriving at the apartment, an opending the door, it was cold, damp and smelt. On entering the carpet was filthy, and looked like it had never been cleaned in about 10 years. The skirting boards which inch thick with dust/dirt and well the bathroom I cannot even describe the state of that, the bath was filthy and the floor was full of black muck (god knows was it was). The toilet was dirty and so was the sink.



On entering the kicten, it looked ok, but on closer inspection, you know what is coming next..........pure dirty.



Then we entered the bedrooms, they were cold and the bedding was wet, which they later did change for us. One of the windows leaked and was just terrible.



I actually did take my own bedding and pillows and to be honest left them there, as I was too afraid to bring them home, as when we were checking in, someone was checking out and informing staff that he had caught flees in his room, which he had in a small container, we really should have just turned around and gone home them, only our kids were dancing.



Our stay was terrible was I dreaded taking my kids back to them apartments to sleep at night as they were such filth. I really cannot see how they get away with this. You dont mind rooms being basic, but there is no excuse for them not being clean, surely someone needs to check this out with the Health, as they are not healthy. There was a note to say that our room had been cleaned by Kyle and Kylie, well I would like to see what they live in at home ?????????? as there cleaning is much to be desired.



I cannot understand anyone who has stayed there can say they were clean as there was at least 200 of us and we were all of the same opinion. I would never ever recommend anyone stay there.



I will never be repeating that holiday EVER again.

what can i say

filthy dirty grotty smelly and thats just the start,this is the biggest misstake we ever made ,we have been here before and it was great should have left it at that ,staff looked like they didnt want to be there not much hope for us then ,youths running wild with fights and stouting at all hours ,entertainment was very poor most of whitch was the bluecoats doing the shows themselfs bit like x factor out takes, my daughters friend was assulted with a bb gun one night in the arcade and when reported was told what can i do and to complain in the morning this i done and it got me no where , pool was not fit for animals as there were a number of times it was closed while poo went through the filters,had to go out in the evening at 5 .30 just to ensure we got a seat and the bar prices are that high if u dont get a bank loan u can get a drink.there is only 3 good points of my holiday 1,i got to leave 2.one blue coat (brad)who help my teens to enjoy there stay and the photographer who took a truely great photo of my children other thank that this place is nothing more than a dirty badly run prison camp

After reading the reviews on this web site I was dreading my holiday at Pontins Prestatyn Sands. We were going on one of the Sun newspaper holidays, and this site was my last choice, I had never been to a Pontins before. I warned my family how bad it was going to be, after reading the comments here, and off we went for our four night stay at Pontins. What a suprise when we arrived, the site was clean, very well kept, lots of lovely flower beds which we saw being watered regularly, lawns mown, litter being collected and very friendly helpful staff, and we actually got our keys earlier than expected. Our apartment was on an upper floor which we had to reach by climbing concrete steps at the side of the block, I must admit I wasn't keen on those. When we reached the apartment we found it to be basically clean, could do with a good 'bottoming' though, with the beds made up in pristine white linen, the towels provided were also white and freshly laundered. I must say at this point I had upgraded from the Basic apartment supplied by the Sun holidays to the Club apartment. The room faced the Zip wire tower and football pitch, with a lovely view of the hills beyond. The activities were quite expensive, we tried out the four seater bike, thinking £8 was a lot for 45 minutes, but after pedalling furiously for twenty minutes we realised how unfit we were, it was great fun though. The food was good, we ate in the beachcomber diner a few times, and enjoyed every meal, these, though, were also quite expensive. We didnt do the evening entertainment, as we found it too loud and we dont play bingo. The security staff at the main gate were really nice, and we felt safe knowing everyone had to be booked in and out and werent allowed through the barrier without passes. All in all I would definately go again, and would recommend it to friends and family.

Im Not Being Funny Or EnyThing But You Are All Saying You Are Not Happy With The Rooms But Come On

Yehh

Your All In The Budget Ones So What Do You Expect You Get Exactly What You Should For Your Money So Stop Moaning



But I Love My Holiday Here This Was My First Time And It Was Grate And I Hope I Go Agen



The Rooms Were More Than Good For Your Money And I Think It Was Realy Clever How They Put All THe People From THe Same Place Together So If You Do Get To No People You Can See Them At Home



The Entertainment Wasnt For Me As Its Directed To The Younger Kids But My Brother Seemed To Like It



The Queen Vic Had Lovely Food And The Arcade Was Grate I Spent Over £20 In There And Had So Much Fun



Nights Were Brill We Went To The Queen Vic For Lovely Food And Went To THe Arcade Till About 11Pm Then We Sat On The Top Of The Chairs On Are Own And Just Relaxed And Listened To The Music



I Love Pontins As Its So Safe So I Get Independence To Do What I Like



OverAll My Stay At Pontins Was A Weekend To Remember Im Defonatly Going To Come Agen !

Our 11th visit over 8 years two main points that cheesed me off.........

1- the bed settee nearly crippled me

2- the entertainment needs improving,i.e, cabaret starting at eleven pm, no good....

the only 1 good turn 'the madhatters' were as funny as ever........

apart from that, apartment was clean, site needs a touch up, perhaps showers installed into budget accomodation...... menu in restaurant needs updating as it has the same stuff on it as it did about 5 years ago....... staff helpful....... and for all you comedy film experts did you recognise that the camp was used in 'Holiday on the buses'? come on mr Pontin give it a re-vamp..................

Having enjoyed holidays to wales and british camp sites when I was a child, now with two small children of my own looked forward to going. WHAT A DUMP! I doubt the sites had a revamp since I went as achild, apartments are filthy. We went CLUB heaven help anybody in CLASSIC or BUDGET. There was that much dirt on the floor I cried. With a baby with me, The thought of him crawling on the floor was almost too much. And you wouldn't beleive the filthy travel cot they gave us, its a wonder my baby didn't come back with scabies. We stuck the holiday out for the sake of my toddler who bizarrely seemed to enjoy it. Me and my husband have never been so glad too come home and safe in the knowledge if this is the state of british camps ROLE ON my foreign holiday next year!

Whata dump dirty filthy not worth a penny everything over priced food poor shop expensive not enough washing machines/driers etc broken glass everywhere staff unhelpfull if you can find them entertainment good if you like bingo nothing much else its just the dirt what makes me sick we booked groundfloor as my wife is disabled the lack off springs in bed made life unbearale no seating in bingo hall sorry i mean entertainment area just crap!!!!!! never again

Here is a copy of a letter of complaint I have sent to the site manger at Pontins Prestatyn.



I booked this holiday for my family in good faith but I now find myself having to write to complain about several aspects as listed below. This was our first experience of a Pontins Holiday and it will certainly be our last, we will not be returning and would not recommend to anybody.



1. On first arrival at the entrance gate we were greeted by a sombre member of staff who gave us a tag to place in our car, no smile or welcome comment made.

2. We then entered the reception area to pick up our keys, once again no smile from reception staff or welcome comment.

3. On first entering the accommodation it appeared reasonable but on further inspection it was filthy and there was a smell similar to that of accommodation being left empty for some time.

4. Lounge/Kitchen area- windows filthy, cooker unusable to ingrained dirt and grease, cooker was also not safe to use due to not being installed safely, it was too close to cupboards, pots and pans unusable (should have been put in the bin), although the fridge was clean it had not been defrosted and there was a build up of ice in the freezer compartment.

5. Bathroom area – window was disgusting, when opened it revealed a build up of dirt in the frame, build up of mould around the bath and handrail, flooring was dirty and coming away from skirting, toilet and toilet brush in a dirty state.

6. Bedrooms area – whilst the bed linen looked clean the actual beds were in a poor state, some stains on quilts and bedding. All skirting’s had a build up of dirt and dust and carpets looked as if they had not been hovered recently.

7. Facilities –

Swimming pool was reasonable but lifeguards spent most of their time drinking red bull and chatting to each other, not really aware of what was happening in the pool. Dining areas, only one open during the day and when asked most staff were unable to give us information on opening times of the others. There appeared to be a lack of staff to clear tables and once again no smiles, the staff looked so miserable. Children’s activities, PGL staff were good but claimed to be overworked and the cost of each activity was a bit overpriced.

Entertainment, Lunars Bar was reasonable but needs updating and a new carpet, staff were once again miserable and there was a lack of table staff to clear tables. Fun Factory, this was the only time that you got a glimpse of a Blue Coat. The only all day event that was open was the Treasure Island Amusement Arcade, that’s ok if you have a fortune to spend.

Security staff, Do you have any, I certainly did not see any and I do think that there should be some security staff to deal with unruly people at night time as the noise some nights was unbearable. Children could not sleep and were frightened. As your reception closes early evening there is no contact with anybody who could help in a situation like the one above.

First Aid, there was no first aiders on site.



8. Miscellaneous – on one occasion your staff knocked over some glasses from a table in the Fun Factory area and whilst they cleared the broken glass from the table they did not clear the broken glass from the floor. When asked by my brother (who has small children) if they could clear the floor their response was “I am not a cleaner”, the broken glass was never cleared from the floor.

You hand out vouchers to the value of £75, thats ok if you drink pepsi, alcohol ect.

Within your welcome pack you include a “Good behaviour charter” but who do you contact in the event of encountering poor behaviour?



9. Finally, we tried to stick it out for the sake of the children in our party as it was their holiday and we did not want to disappoint them but they even wanted to go home. Having tried to clean up our accommodation we had enough and went to reception to hand in our keys two days early, we asked to speak to the site manager but was told that he was too busy in the office to speak to us. Very poor customer relations. Whilst in reception there was two other families waiting to complain and to go home early.



10. I would appreciate some form of refund as compensation for our disappointment and having to leave early, we did try to complain to staff but the response was poor and no action taken. I appreciate this was on the face of it a cheap holiday but does that mean we have to put up with filth and poor customer services. I would recommend that the site be refurbished or demolished and that staff numbers are increased. I would also recommend that staff are trained in “Customer Care” and “Security”.



11. My party included, my brother and his partner along with 1year old son and 11 year old daughter, my mother and my 9 year old son.



12. Photos enclosed for your reference.

Just spent a week at prestatyn pontins{NEVER AGAIN}.

Prrobably the worst holiday we've ever had as a family.

The camp itself was quite big and reminded me of an old

style butlins for those of you who've been back in the day.

Chalets were clean enough but they need to do away with

the bed settee which was like sleeping on a jagged rock.

Entertainment was'nt up to much only one good show all week.

Bingo seems to be the highlight of the week and everyone and

everything seems to stop for it{PRETTY SAD REALLY}.Not much

to do at all either in surrounding areas Rhyl is a bit of a dump,

sewege in the sea, a proper toilet; All the staff on camp were extremley

rude and ignorant and blue coats hardly spoke to anyone.

Nowhere near the standard of wall park where we went last year

which was 1000 times better.Sorry WALES Prestatyn has just made

me never want to come to your country ever again;;;;;

Didn't expect anything but basic thank god I read the reviews before we arrived. First impressions as we walked into the entertainments area to collect keys(already read about 4pm count down so arrived at 3.55pm)was cattle market it wouldn't have been so bad but it really did smell like one . I don't think the carpet in the entertainments area had been cleaned for several years it literally made me heave. Dread over came me as we retrieved the keys!!!!! Actually the classic accomodation was not as bad as I anticipated cleaned to an acceptable level clean bed linen and working sofa bed better than some. Could go on and on I will just say if you are going to use camp as a base to go out for days in North Wales it might just be tolerable.Avoid food if possible fantastic local resturant The lodge inn just before you get in to Prestatyn look out for it great food and much cheaper than eating on site. Finally if you wear perfume put alot on and try and brave the entertainment area they do have some very good entertainers pass through, plus think of the blue coats who have to work in that enviroment every day.I will say for the record I will never subject my family to Pontins ever again an experience never to be repeated

NEVER AGAIN......., made to wait around until 1pm for the room key, the pull out bed was broken at the bottom end, they are charging scandalous amounts of money for pushbikes, £5 per hour, £15 per day or £25 per week, for that price i would want somone to pedal it for me.........the instructors are good with the kids, but for the price they charge i wouldnt expect anything less....... the activities you pay for, you go in groups so on average you get 2 goes of whatever you have paid for!!!!!!!! the play area for children is upstairs , so you have to carry prams up and down stairs, they do have a lift but whenever i asked for the key, no sod knew who had it or where it was..........i had a grown woman urinating outside my chalet door, who was watched by the other people in the chalets who have children including myself who caught her in the act, she quickly pulled her clothes up and ran back inside her chalet laughing and joking with the two grown men who watched her relieve herself....I complained to management who said they would give her a warning.... they cannot do anything as apparantly they do not have cameras in that area, if your child goes missing or anything should happen to your child, it is not on camera!!!!!!!Are our children safe here? you tell me!!!!!!!!.the management said i could use the gate phone to contact the police if i wished, not the phone on reception but the gate phone!!!!!!!!!as far as i am concerned this was nothing short of indecent exposure, if that would of been a man and a woman and her daughter walked past , what would of been the reaction then? because it was a woman it is deemed acceptable.........I DONT AGREE AND THEY COULD NOT PAY ME TO RETURN...

Oh my god, where could I start. It was like I was an extra on the set of Life on Mars...!



Turned up with an open mind, but within minutes the reality of this camp struck. Made to wait like a child for some room keys, the area you wait in sticks of damp & stale beer. Also the fact that you squelch on the carpet.



Then after the big fanfare of getting the room keys the Nightmare at Pontins really started. The room is FILTHY, DIRTY, OLD, DAMP, BROKEN and have I mentioned FILTHY..! Examples are dirty carpets, damp & mould around the fittings in the bathroom and mould up the curtains. I could not bring myself to use the toilet as it looks as if it was last cleaned at Armitage Shanks.



Everywhere we went there was just a feeling of dirt & grease, hence we never ate there. This may sound a bit rude, but I feel that the staff membership of Mensa may have expired. Anyway hence the reason why we never stayed more than 24 hours in the god forsaken place. Was meant to be there for 4 days and left after 20 hours.



I would honestly say though that some of the PGL staff were very good with the kids. Also the paid activities through PGL with the kids were well worth it, just shame that they are that minging place.



This might seem harsh but the place needs to be demolished and then rebuilt to modern standards. To end this, how have people rated this place 10/10...? Maybe I was on Life on Mars...!

Pleasantly surprised! Having read previous comments expected "Hell on Earth". We paid budget and no doubt we got budget - but it was a base and nothing else!



The chalet was basic but functional apart from the bed/settee - if you want a good nights sleep take the airbed - the bed itself was more than useless! Kids bedroom small, but I'm assured two good, comfy beds. Bathroom in need of decoration but does exactly what you would expect - but no shower. Kitchen area, no problem. Decent sized fridge, oven/hob and a sink unit - nothing more, nothing less. Living area - basic TV with usual terrestrial channels - small screen but did a job. Carpet, not spotless but clean - what could you expect for budget - it wasn't booked as the Ritz!



As I mentioned, used very much as a base. In the nearish area Snowdonia (Llanberis) is a must - amazing scenery and the mountain railway has to be done! Llandudno was another very worthwhile trip - good shops, plenty of places to eat, nice pier. Rhyl, very nearby has plenty of entertainment to keep kids amused on the sea front, especially the crazy golf. Colwyn Bay pleasant and pretty but a little disappointing on things to do. And finally Prestatyn itself - lovely beach, possibly the best in the area, but not much else to do unfortunately.



If you are not used to basics this holiday probably isn't for you. If you can see through cosmetic defects and just enjoy what it is (sorry, Pontins is not known for its luxury status!) you will be fine - but please, remember the airbed!

I have been going to this campsite for 12 years since my daughter was 2 and a half. I have always found the site very clean and tidy. if i had a problem with the room it was sorted straight away. the bluecoats were always cheerful and pleased to help even on their day off. myself and daughter always have a good time . the bars were an average price no dearer than people pay at the clubs. food outlets were always clean. we got on well with all the staff and i helped them out if they couldnot get a judge for the comps which i did not mind after all they always need a judge so the comps could run.

We have just returned from a 4 day break to pontins prestatyn in wales. It was our first time at a pontins camp having previously always stayed at haven camps.

We arrived at 2pm but couldn't collect keys until 4, but were free to use facilities on camp and have a look around. It gets very chaotic at 4pm when everyone rushes to collect keys, the blue coats count it down to 4 to make it like a major event but really every one just wants their keys and check out there apartments!

We had booked a classic apartment and requested to be near all amenities, we were well positioned near reception, fun factory, behind the h20 pool so only a min walk from all action. the apartment was reasonably clean, (i still cleaned again i always do!!), had clean bed linen, bath & shower, fridge & colour tv. we had a first floor apartment reached up flight of concrete steps. the windows were filthy inside & out but we noticed all apartments were same! overall apaprtment was fine, somewhere to eat & sleep!

The camp had loads going on, evening entertainment was ok, plenty for kids, quizzes and talent shows for adults, & on our last night ben mills from x factor was performing and did brilliant set.

We went by car and went out each day visiting nearby Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and the Great Orme at Llandudno.

We had a lovely week weather wise which always helps.

It was our first visit to Pontins & Wales and we would return.

Overall Pontins is ideal for a cheap & cheerful holiday, you can't expect 5 star facilities, but is a very enjoyable place to visit.