Pontins Brean Sands

1 reader found this review helpful

the chalet was never cleanes, more dirt in than out, couldnt let our child play far to dirty. complaints were ignored. an ver out dated. staff very rude

3 readers found this review helpful

The only people who would be glad to be in this hell hole are the poor souls who have to sleep on the streets. The chalet was dirty and damp with grubby duvets and pillows. A bed settee that couldn't be slept in due to the springs. Windows with newspaper wedged in the gaps to stop draughts. Filthy carpets, broken fixtures and fittings and lack of equipment i.e. 2 mugs between 6 people. The entire complex look dated and unkempt with litter strewn all over the place. I have never stayed anywhere so disgusting in my life and my family and I left after 2 days as we couldn't stand it any longer. The place should be closed down as it is not fit to stay in.

4 readers found this review helpful

I can't put into words how dreadful this place is. I'll start with the chalets - dirty, mouldy bathroom, infested with flies, old food under beds, no hot water, no sheets, no towels, no saucepan, no bin, cigarette butts outside, cramped, broken curtains, no remote for tv. Staff - reception staff unhelpful, blue coats ok but a bit dim, other staff obviously only working there to pull drunken holidaymakers. Entertainment - pants. Food - inedible. Generally, the place is rough. There were a lot of chav families who swore and shouted at their kids. The public areas were dirty, the arcade has wired all over the floor and sockets held together with tape. The only food outlets are a burger counter open in the evenings in the "entertainement" area which sells cheap, deep fried rubbish, the pub which offers a buffet of frozen food and a chip shop which sells frozen chips! VILE, VILE, VILE!

7 readers found this review helpful

I booked this through The Sun £9.50 Holiday scheme... it actually still cost £150. We went end of Aug 2011.
Brean Sands is a cesspit and I wish I never bothered wasting my money. The chalet had damp, mildew, filthy laundry left in bundles for first 24hrs out in rain. Travelcots also left out in rain!! Bed sheets damp spot stains, dbl mattress old as me (30yrs +) very springy awful. Sofabed frame bowed, carpet damp n filthy, bathroom n kitchen floor filthy, poor selection of cutlery and kitchen utensils which were dirty. Oven door didn't open fully. Fridge door wouldn't shut. No microwave, kettle only plug in point was on low breakfast bar, danger with young children. Had old school style plastic chairs to sit on.Fun factory main bar seats were red but so stained looked black. Extortionate prices for food n drinks. Food was just about passable. Kids entertainment was a joke. No day activities where u leave children. Swimming pool shut for break due to lack of staff, was shut all day on the monday til 5pm, slide not on once. Half activities shut all wknd. Staff were using go-karts on break in uniform. Crazy golf, dog earred n rubbish strewn, like whole place. Security and maintainence looked like they just stepped out of prison. Spoken in an inappropriate manner, actually felt intimidated. Half time didnt know if spoke to staff or some random person. I am going to sound stuck up now... I died when we got there because everyone looked like they were related to Vicky Pollard. People used to make an effort n get dressed up in the evening after dinner for entertainment etc but here no effort made. Evening shows were aimed at adults not children, I chose to take my kids out when the comedian started speaking about sex in the 'family' bar. No wonder my children spent soo much money on the arcades there was nothing of any interest for them to do. All the reps were about 20yrs old and I would like to know who passed half the shows they put on because they were rubbish and half of them couldn't sing, I thought redcoats or whatever are supposed to all have something artistic that they excel in! I worked in a 3* hotel and compared to this it was the Ritz. Disgusting, filthy cesspit which needs bulldozing. I was told by staff it was bought out earlier in the year and is being shut after feb half term 2012 to refurb... one question... why the heck take people's money and let them stay in this dated dump until then. If you are offering accommodation and services u expect it to be clean and the services to actually be available... that is what you're paying for. I think environmental health and trading standards need to be involved. I am writing a formal complaint... which has to be done in writing to the Manager of the Park!! They don't have email and when I rang I wasn't allowed to speak to anyone of any importance. The beach was a pain to get to through alleyways which were covered in dog poo. There is also sinking sand indicated by signs.

5 readers found this review helpful

on arrival security friendly, car parking difficult as bools tournamount in car park 1. Checking in people were coming back to complain about dirty accommodation but ours were fine. Did not expect 4 star as only paid £39 for 3 nights - staff friendly especially with children and people with disabilities. Going back 3 October for 4 nights so hope get same value.

4 readers found this review helpful

after readng the reviews we were dreading our holiday but thought we have to see for ourselves, on arrival we immediately felt disappointed and thought what have we done!yes its run down and in need of updating!although We only had to wait about 20 mins for keys...we got to our chalet expecting the worst but it was fairly clean and tidy and we were relieved and happy as were our friends who were nextdoor, believe me i would'nt of let my kids stay otherwise due to health issues..i guess we must of been lucky! the pool was ok,again needs updating, very disappointed with kids entertainment hour...one night got there for 7pm as advertised and at 7:30 a bluecoat came in and announnced there was no entertainment on!! not nice after getting kids excited! overall i wont ever go back.

1 reader found this review helpful

We stayed here last year and this year - both times there was a Petanque tounament going on so most people on site were involved in this rather than using the facilities. Yes, the chalets are tired, the worst thing is the matresses and sofa bed which are dirty and uncomfortable. Generally the chalet was clean, although it was obvious they only wipe the surfaces and hoover wihout moving furniture as we found the previous occupants belongings under the beds on both visits (nothing disgusting fortunately).
The food has gone downhill since last year and is now inedible wheras last year it was fine. A friend who came with us also forgot to take her cashback from the Queen Vic,when she asked later the restaurant manager refused to accept this was a problem or to see if the till was up £20 at the end of the day - so someone obviously pocketed this.
The pool is fine, but I wouldn't want to be using the changing rooms when the park was busy as it was grubby enough when quiet with only 1 toilet working and cold showers.
There also seem to be small costcutting measures everywhere - not much on there own, but irritaitng when you know how much better things were previously, eg The pool not open when it was meant to be, last year the bluecoats collected kids from main show bar and took them away to entertain them in the indoor play area then brought them back an hour later - this year we had to take them over to the indoor play area and collect them ourselves - a small difference, but irritating as the previous system was better. Last year there was a full pub style menu in the queen vic, this year there was a lunch buffet that consisted of chips, jacket potato, beans, deep fried mushrooms, sausage pieces in some sort of sludge and a breaded chicken pieces that were so dry it looked as if they had been there for days (we also think this last item gave my son food poisoning).
last year I would have given Pontins a 5, this year it gone downhill and barely makes a 3. We'll be looking for somewhere else to take our Sun holiday next year.

6 readers found this review helpful

I have never taken my children away before and we were all so excited. we travelled by train and got a taxi to the site. Alarm bells started to ring when the cabbie asked were we were going and said we seemed like a nice family and he wanted to be honest with us. He then rolled off a list of everything that awaited us. he did give us advise on where to go during the day and to be honest he saved us from the holiday from hell. i had booked a 3 night stay half board in a club accommodation. as i walked up to it i was greeted with moulding sheets and towels form the previous occupier. the stink was horrible. not just out side my hell hole but everyone's. well i thought, it least this means they have been in and cleaned up already. that's good right? wrong.that crap stayed out side for two whole days in the rain and the smell got worse. i followed to find the bins overflowing with rotten garbage, the fridge had not been emptied and stunk. i had to clean up the last peoples crap and quickly. i tried to keep a smile on my face for the children as they raced to see their bedroom. i followed to find the bunk bed on their last legs with the sides all but hanging off. the cot i had already pre paid for at a cost of ten pound hiring fee as stated in the broucher. was no were to be seen. i was then told to go to the hire time shop and before i could be given my cot that i already paid for i had to hand over a further 20 pound to get it. even though i had my receipt from my booking.the heaters were hanging off the walls. their was pooh smeared on the curtains.blood behind the sofa bed on the walls. the hot water was scoulding as soon as u turned the tap on. i had to track down a mantinance worker on site to sought the problem. there was only one plug socket for the kettle which was at child hight on the tiny breakfast bar so forget making a cup of coffee while the kids are awake. i had aslo payed for there to be towels inculed in my booking and there was none. had to go looking for them my self.The running joke in the mornings with other campers was great night sleep huh?. every one had bad backs from the over worn mattresses and had their been enough room to swing a cat we would have all slept on the floor. do not be deceived by the lay out in the brouchers for club accomiddation. you get one sofa and that's you're lot. there were ment to be 70 free activities for the children and there was none!. the only thing that was free was the plastic climbing frames on site. which the fixtures are loose. keep a close eye on your little ones.the swimming pool was closed from the Thursday before we arrived and was still closed when we left on the Monday.due too levels of the colrhine being to high. we kept arriving at the pool was we were constantly lied to about the situation and told too come back at least five different times during the day on the promise it would be sorted. i had kept my cool for so long that i flipped and went too the reicepition on the second days of lies and confronted the women behind the desk and said simply, the swimming pool, all i want to hear is the words we don't know! and told her that we felt lied too and cheated as they had already taken my money and was not supplying the services that had cost me so much. i was relieved to finally get the honest answer so many had wanted over three days of lies. they didn't know when it was going to open.not much of an inconvinice too some. but when everything you had been told was layed on for you was no where to be seen and did not exist. the only thing keeping us there was the hope the children would at least get to go swimming on their first holiday. if we had stayed in the park forget it. i took the nice cabbies advise and took my kids out of the park. unfortunatly i had already lost two days in this dump when i made my escape. but when i did i found fun city down the road which also had a water park and fun fair. this dump was clearly only enjoyed by people who spent their whole time in the pub getting smashed all day and aloud their children to run riot.that is not a family holiday people.if you bring your kids back time and time again you should be ashamed of yourself. chav central it should be called. they are clearly the only people keeping this hell hole open.

3 readers found this review helpful

I booked this holiday through the sun holidays so i know you pay for basic unless you pay for an upgrade. I had read previous reviews just before going and felt nervous but i thought to myself that surely it can't be that bad. Believe me it was. The whole site was in a terrible state. As soon as we got to reception(6pm) and waited for 45mins to check in, i knew we were in for a shock. One side was for checking in and one side was for help. Most of the people on the help side were complaining about the state of the rooms, asking to be moved or for a refund. none of their requests were answered and most were merely told that someone would come up and reclean.
When we eventually got to the room OMG what a mess.
Dirty blood stained pillows, quilts. Heaters falling off of the walls. The sofa bed was like a death bed. Stains all over it (had to put a sheet on it to sit down) and boy how uncomfortable. Carpets were stained and they did not look like they had been cleaned since the previous guests. Outside almost every apartment were dirty sheets and they were still there till saturday night and we arrived on friday.
After seeing the room and then generally how shabby and run down the rest of the site was we decided it was best not to use any of the facilities on offer for the children. So we just used it as a base and went out of the site to eat and for activities for the kids.
We did however use the bar in the evening so the children could have a little boogie and be a little entertained. This also was a bit of a let down. alot of the entertainment was really for the adults and not much was put on for the kids. The blue coats were ok but some were a bit rude and uninterested. The male singer can't sing at all. The female singers were good but a little loud no very loud at times. It also was the same entertainers all weekend with not much variety at all.
Please listen to all the reviews. It was awful. I know their is a few ok reviews on here but believe me one good review in every twenty is not good. Do not go there ever please.
I normally go to haven for less money and the standard is much higher. I will never ever book pontins again.
the two plus sides were the security guys out the front, they were lovely and the area. Weston was lovely. Everything else was a mess.

5 readers found this review helpful

We stayed at Brean Sands for 3 nights in a standard popular apartment. We arrived on Friday to check in and when we got to our room were absolutely disgusted with the filthy carpet and settee (bed settee). There were stains all over it, the carpet had not even been cleaned. The rooms looked like they had not been updated since the 70s!!!!! There was litter all outside along with dirty bed linen from other rooms. We then complained and were told that all we could have was a re-clean as they had no other available rooms. The re-clean literally took 10 minutes so we then dettoled the whole place ourselves and would not sit on the settee without a sheet over it. The site is also filthy, only used the on site toilets once and was not impressed at all. The whole place needs renovating!!! There are so many caravan parks around this area that there is absolutely NO NEED TO BOOK PONTINS!!! The entertainment outside is far better than anything provided on site. The club house was filthy and your feet literally stuck to the carpets and chairs were stained. Please if you have children DO NOT GO HERE!! We only stayed there because we went with relatives and had no money to book into one of the caravan parks or B&Bs surrounding. More than a weekend would have been a nightmare! I KNOW THERE ALL LOTS OF REVIEWS ON HERE BUT TRUST US IT IS AWFUL AND WE WILL BE SENDING A SWIFT COMPLAINT LETTER (of which i assume they receive many). Brean is a lovely area, as is the nearby Weston Super Mare but please please please don't stay in Pontins!!!!!!!!!!!!