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Holiday Reviews > Holiday Parks > England > Somerset > Pontins Brean Sands > Read Reviews
| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs J Measures |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
When I booked this short break for the family over the internet I was quite happy with my choice, the picture made the accommodation look suitable enough for a short stay.
On arrival to the chalet I was so disappointed, there are a number of reasons why, but the main ones were:
1: Sliding doors were absolutely filthy, mud smears all over them, which I cleaned myself, what do the cleaners get paid for exactly?
2: My husband went to use the bathroom only to discover we had no toilet roll?
3: We had spare bed linen left out for us, not clean at all, mildew kind of stains on it, I wouldn't have dreamt of covering my child up with that quilt.
The main point here is, the advert they give out over the internet is not at all what you get once you arrive at this resort.
My son is 2 and a half, all the free tokens supplied on arrival, he couldn't even benefit from, all he could do was use the pool, which also was filthy on the bottom!
Evening entertainment was poor, trying to get something to eat after half eight was impossible, holiday resorts are normally just coming alive at this time aren't they?
A majority of the workforce were foreign who didn't have a basic grasp of English!
On the whole a very disappointing break and I would not return to this resort.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs M Mitchell |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
Ok, High rating not so much for Pontins but Barrow beach was lovely. Rooms are dirty, restaurant service is terrible and moody staff!
Overall went for a weekend break and my four children loved it. Its a cheap holiday and got pretty much what i expected!
One good point is the holiday rooms are very well sound proofed.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Direct |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss E Griffiths |
| Overall
Rating: |
2/10 |
| Comments: |
I have just returned from our annual holiday and as a single parent I have spent the last year saving for it. We paid £650 for a week break at Brean Sands.
On arrival, having spent four hours in the car we collected our keys. The first chalet we refused as the heater was hanging off the wall, the chalet stank of body odour and there were biscuits on the window ledges.
Whilst in the queue to complain one woman demanded her money back and left and another was going mad at the state of the chalet. I cannot understand why Pontins do not close sections of the chalets off and deep clean them as the poor cleaning staff have such a huge job to do in such a short amount of time. The disrespect shown by the occupants on a weekly basis is something that no cleaning operative should have to put up with. I think this is why the chalets are not particularly pristine.
Our chalet was not great and I have to say I wish I had squeezed in my own duvets, covers and pillowcases ( at least I know where they have been!) but we were only using Pontins as a base as there is so much to do around the local area. It was expensive and we spent a fortune, but the chalets were only as clean as the people in them before hand.
Reading the other reviews I agree that the staff were not particularly helpful and I got the impression that they did not want to be there. Outside of Pontins the people were fantastic!
On the whole it wasnt the best holiday I have ever had, but not the worst I feel so sorry for the cleaning team as they have to clean up after those on site that use their chalets as public houses.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Sun Deals |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs A Salt |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
Reading previous comments was I worried - yes! We take the children to holiday camps purely for their entertainment only.
Brean Sands has the full package for the children - entertainment for the three year old - Barney, Quad bikes for the twelve year old. We ate at the camp site and if you like basic but large portions at very reasonable prices this is the place for you.
Across the road a ""brilliant"" restaurant and food is to die for and again prices that encourages you to return as we did - service 5*.
We had a budget apartment which I was dreading but was relieved to find it clean and a good base to sleep. Watch the hot water or is that boiling water from taps with little ones.
The weather was awful but we had a great family break away. Thanks to all at Brean Sands.
Oh p.s. the discount booze shop across the road doesn't sell discount booze better of getting a bottle of wine from the onsite shop.
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| Board Basis: |
All Inclusive |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Thomson |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr Sdj James |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
Dreadfull, we spent a lot of money on it and then the holiday house that we were ment to get for 5 people was miniscule. The place was really shabby and didn;t have any chairs. The gutters leaked and kept us awake, walls are made of paper, bed gorrible and was the worst holdiay we ever had. The kitchen is a counter and oven with a warm fridge, no wardrobes, furnature, t.v, the place is like living in a shed, but with windows that are glued in so badly if you lean on them they would move. The bathroom was mouldy, the furnature was broken, filthy, carpet filthy and felt like it had never cleaned. We never really went in there apart from when we needed to sleep. It was the most aufull holiday. It cannot be explained in words. The food isn't great but some facilities are ok. Very very very overcrowded. The "Challets" are under 2 meters wide and there are so many people crammed into one space you can't get tables in the resterant, swim, or play in the playground. I hate it! Never, go there.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs K Dimond |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
i have 4 children and we have been to brean each year for the last 8 year all the staff are very friendly and helpful. my children allways have a wonderful time and never want to come home. there is allways brilliant evening entertainment for both adults and children . the facilitys are all close by so no long hikes to get places
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss V Annoyed |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
I just came back from a 7 day holiday at Pontins and I was so bored there is nothing to do there at all.
The accommodation was disgusting looked like something from the 60's we went to the queen vic for a meal and had a Sunday dinner and it was disgusting, someone should have told them to cook the food, I wouldn’t give that food to my dog.
The entertainment was rubbish there was meant to be star cabaret on every night but there wasn't it was just blue coats singing the same songs every night and listening to the same songs every night for seven days takes the mick.
All the games in the arcade were fixed and no matter how much you tried you couldn’t win and you have to get to the club really early because there is not enough seats so you have too sit through 45 minutes of bingo I would never ever go there again even if it was free I was very disappointed in the whole holiday experience.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss L Llewellyn |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
A complete joke! The accommodation (classic) was absolutely filthy. How anyone can return to that dump every year is beyond me.
As soon as we went into our room we could smell damp as well as see it. The front was covered with litter and the windows and doors were stinking. Practically everything made of material in the apartment was covered in mould and damp along with the walls.
Our bed settee had a ten year supply of dust on the springs and the mattress was ripped. All bedding was damp and had blood stains all over them.
The cutlery was devastating along with the rest of the kitchen.
No batteries in the smoke alarm and the heaters were not working. 3 people out of the 5 of us were ill during the 2 nights we managed to stay.
We went into the Queen Vic for a meal and the chairs were covered in stiff food which had been dropped on them but not cleaned off. When we put our hands on the table they stuck to them because they were covered in tipped alcohol, old food and sauces.
We left early and will never ever ever return.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
pontins |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr N Carter |
| Overall
Rating: |
2/10 |
| Comments: |
We booked a weekend deal through Pontins, was told no budget apartments left, so had to pay for a classic.
The sales staff told me it was nearer to the entertainment and had "extras.” We arrived on time and booked in ok.
When we saw our apartment we were not happy with the general appearance. It was very shabby and had an awful smell.
One of the beds was soaking wet with urine and the pillows had large bloodstains on them. Also the apartment was as far away from the centre as you could get, so went back to reception, got allocated another apartment. Still not clean but better than the last one.
By this time my 10yr old daughter was crying she wanted to go home so I took her for a walk while my wife cleaned the apartment for about an hour. Ended up spending 2 nights their then decided to leave early as we couldn’t take anymore, as we couldn’t shut the windows as they were stuck. You couldn’t see out of them they looked as though they hadn’t been cleaned for years.
Would like to state we did have a holiday 2 weeks before pontins brean which was pontins wall park in Devon and that was a budget with none of these faults expected Brean to have the same standards as Wall Park, I think the manager should take a trip down to Devon to have a look around to see what he’s doing wrong.
Need I say we won’t be going to brean again we will stick with Wall Park.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Sun Holidays |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss V Angry |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
All I can say is that anyone who rates this anything over 1 must be the staff or management at Brean Sands Pontins to try to convince readers that the rest of us are fussy, mad or liars.
Trust me, I've been a holiday rep and seen some basic apartments in Corfu,( so I know what I'm talking about, I just can't believe this place is actually open to the public in a civilised Britain in 2007.
What do you expect for a cheap weekend, I hear you cry? Well, this is what you'll get and if you think anything of this is acceptable, then good luck to you and you deserve a week here.
An apartment the size of your garage and if you haven't got a garage your front room.
Rusty school chairs, (that should be on the skip) for you to sit on.
Some kind of plaster board jutting out for the kitchen for you to eat off!
Old plasters down the side of the sofa.
Rubbish sprawled across the grass outside your chalet.
Filthy swimming pool and disgusting changing areas.
Inches of dust and grime on the window ledges and sills.
Stained smelly old quilts and pillows to lie on.
Stained carpets, again with inches of dust embedded.
A dangerous looking bunk bed, kept together with staples.
1970's furniture in the main entertainments room.
Cold, disgusting food in the Old Vic pub, (they got the old right).
Rude staff behind every counter.
The list goes on.
I wish I had read the reviews before I went as it would have saved me money and I could have avoided the awful experience.
I've given it 1 out of 10, and that's for the security man who let us out.
So Come on Fellow Holiday makers, join with me, and let’s stamp out Pontins ripping people off!
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr H McSpank |
| Overall
Rating: |
4/10 |
| Comments: |
We weren't expecting much having nabbed a £60 deal for 3 nights in a Club apartment about 8 months ago...just as well, because it by & large the overall experience sucked.
Re the accommodation - the beds were *extremely*uncomfortable...apart from that the accommodation wasn't too bad.
The camp has a real shabby feel to it. The nearby beach was grim...the sea was brown (Severn estuary mud - what on earth Fred Pontins was thinking to make this location his very first holiday camp!).
We have a 4 year old & a two year old. The activities weren't really targeted at that age group (more so older kids).
Top tip...for evening meals use the pub about 2 mins car drive along the road for an evening meal. Clean, reasonable food, not badly priced & very family friendly - it's called the Beachcomber.
I can see why everybody prefers Centre Parcs...this is bottom of the barrel stuff.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr L Davies |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
We arrived at Pontins hoping for nothing more than average, basic clean accommodation that would do us as a base to spend some quality time with the family.
They didn’t deliver it! Problem started at 2 o’clock when our priority check in scheme meant that we were herded into a mile long queue in the arcade and left to wait listening to screaming kids, whilst people around broke open cans of super strength lager to relieve their boredom.
Customer service and attitude of the staff throughout our 3 hour stay was shocking.
We are not ones to complain but the state of our apartment beggared belief - we chose to go club and paid 239.00 for three nights. The smell when we opened the door was degusting, stale cigarette smoke, and beer.
The floor was dirty, with food! Under the bed settee, as was the bathroom and the bedrooms. Not fit, or big enough to kennel your dog, let alone let my little boy play on the floor.
Final straw was the chippy on site - we decided to make the effort, have tea and think about what we were going t do.
All the food was reheated from lunch and looked foul- go to the one over the road.
Pontins is all about expectations and if you are the type of family that likes to crack open the beer early doors and stay drunk for the duration then you will love the place.
Similarly if you are not too bothered about hygiene and sleeping through the night then I’m sure you will see the plus points. The facilities for kids are very good, plenty to keep them entertained which is a plus point.
We lasted three hours, went to reception complained, refused another apartment and got a full refund in cash - what surprised me was that I was fourth in the queue on people complaining about similar things.
Disappointed to say the least, as were my family who has looked forward to our little break.
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| Board Basis: |
Room Only |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Sun Holiday |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs K Hartwright |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
Excellent holiday but didn't spend much time in our room! (Paid to upgrade to classic, still very basic but clean and adequate, didn't go on holiday to sit in all day).
Entertainment brilliant, our two children aged 20 months and four years loved it. Staff helpful and friendly. Swimming pool good, safe shallow area for toddlers and changing facilities clean.
For the amount of money we paid for our holiday we were pleasantly surprised and would visit a Pontins site again, having visited Butlins before we found the children’s entertainment at Pontins Brean Sands far better-the adult entertainment was equally as good.
Around and about are numerous places to visit, the Animal Farm close by kept the children entertained for a few hours.
On site shop a bit pricey especially for items such as alcohol, but out of main gate & to left is a larger, cheaper shop which sells a wider variation of items.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Pontins |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss M Price |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
Should there have been an overall rating of zero I would have selected that.
My family & I had opted to stay in a club apartment for 4 nights. We arrived and our apartment was still being cleaned so we could not check in.
When we did get in the room we were horrified.
The place was filthy - yes you heard me right, the place had supposedly just been cleaned. The whole place was disgusting!
The room smelt fausty, the mattresses had big rips in and the stuffing was coming out, the bed settee was old and battered smelling damp and had wires protruding (fantastic when children are in the apartment), carpet were all stained, towels old and mouldy bin full of cigarette ash.
When trying to discuss our issues in a reasonable manner to one of the receptionists. I was disgusted with their standoff attitude “nothing we can do as all rooms are allocated” is what they said.
Upon returning home and looking at the apartment layouts in the brochure, it is quite clear to us that we were put in a budget apartment which was masked as a club apartment by putting in extras, like microwave & iron etc and not a club apartment.
We came home a day early; we could just not stay any longer even for the kids.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs K Ellis |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
Have just returned from Pontins today after lasting 15 minutes in the complete dump! Paid £159 for 2 nights in a Club apartment.
I am not sure if I was being a bit naive but was expecting something fit to stay in.
As soon as I opened the door to the apartment (which I have to say is exactly the same as budget but with electricity) the smell of damp hit me!
The chalet itself is smaller than my garage with a dirty set of sliding doors on which are covered in bird poo! I didn't even go in to the bathroom as had seen enough. I went straight to Reception and asked for a full refund. Both the Reception staff and the Manager were really helpful and realised that nothing would change my mind, they didn't even try. I received a full refund and returned to my home comforts...Hoorahh!
I have to say that is my first and last experience of Pontins. We only went because our 2 year old daughter is a huge fan of Barney (the big purple dinosaur) and Pontins advertise the show which I thought she would love!
When I looked on the website it states that Barney is only there for certain shows. He is infact there every day for 6 weeks! The website is very misleading on a number of things! Alarm bells should have rung with the lack of information and pictures on it.
I can't believe that Pontins can actually charge some poor unsuspecting person over £900 for a week’s stay, it is scandalous and should be stopped!! People nowadays work too hard and deserve to have what they pay for!
It should be renamed POO-NTINS cause that is all it can be resembled to!
Wish I had read this site before I booked.
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