Reviews of Camber Sands Holiday Park, East Sussex

I have just come back from Camber Sands Holiday Park. and I will be making a serious complaint to the Head of the company.

I have not been here for years and have found a big change in staff...and for the reception and management is the worst.

We turned up at 1pm this Monday and My daughter went in for the keys (maybe the accommodation was ready ) they said no check in was at 4pm at the complex she told my daughter, I went in and again the young girl sat at the reception area said no we could not check in. I asked if the accommodation was ready and if it was we would like to go to the caravan, the girl said we don’t do that you have to check in at 4pm, I told you do and I have been here before and many years ago if the van is ready you give the keys, she said we have not done that for years and I told her we only came in June this year and this camp gave us the keys early (van was ready)... She said "Well we don’t do it anymore" with a miserable looking face. I suppose she had answered to many questions...We off I went and sat in the car with the kids boiling hot. our bit off food in the back getting hotter and hotter.

So I decided to go and pay the 9.99 early book in fee..My daughter went in asked if she could pay the 9.99 early book in, she spoke to an older woman lady who went and said she checked and the caravan was not ready so we couldn't (OK)

I went in and ask if they could tell us where the caravan was so we go and park there they said no...Ok by now I was feeling a bit angry THEY COULD NOT TELL ME WHERE ARE CARAVAN WAS!

I called for the manager and the older woman said she was and I asked If I could speak to someone else. she said the other manager was in the office.

She went and to get her (the young girl at the desk said we have not done anything wrong I said I know you haven't) the lady came (she was even older)..I explained everything ( whilst the others were watching me ..she said we can't tell you where you will be because we will be upgrading people all day until the last minute, so therefore you will be moved around as people upgrade...I told her i had never heard of anything like this...she asked me if i had upgraded I told her no...And we had gold. I said looks like the only thing that is important is to get people to upgrade and the camp is making money right up to the last person!

I left could not believe what they were doing....as i was leaving asked if I could have passes then for the swimming pool..young said use your confirmation sheet!????

Off we went back to complex I said to my daughter what they had said, I told my daughter they are not happy with me up there I had asked too many questions and I would not be suprised if they give us a very bad caravan..Spoke to someone else who had tried to book in, they said they don’t know what they were doing in there..i agreed.

Waited..Daughter got in line at 3.30pm let them in at 3.30pm only to be sat down and then told to get in a line to get their keys etc.....by the time everyone rushed to the line my daughter was in the middle and had to wait all over again. She came out of the centre and hour later very unhappy. she showed me the map and low and behold we were put right next to the main road right at the front when you come into the camp..Ok I said let them have their laugh...going to the van, the underneath of my car was nealry ripped off by the new concrete speed ramps which are too high scrapping the underneath of the car and when we did get to the caravan WAS NOT GOLD-WAS A BRONZE- HAD A SHED HANDLE ON ONE OF THE DOORS WHICH YOU COULD NOT OPEN -WENT IN AND THE PLACE WAS A MESS!!!!BACON AND WINE IN THE FRIDGE MICROWAVE FITHY INSIDE AND OUT - PH00 IN THE BOTTOM TOILET-DINING TABLE FILTHY-SHOWER SAND FILTH AND HAIRS -ONE BEDROOM STUNK OF FISH-THE WHOLE PLACE STUNK- loads of other stuff, I saw two staff called them they looked and their faces well, they said get a cleaner...cleaner came..she was there an hour thats how bad it was.

NOW I WAS VERY UPSET! Spoke to a member of staff( not office) who did not want to be named and they said this is one of the worst carvans on the park, I told the person what had happend at reception earlier today and I thought they would do this but not to this extent...The person said they were not surprised they did it.( does this mean they do this all the time if you complain!?) I had it verified that the van was Bronze not Gold which was on the confirmation sheet...and advised to go to office and complain which i did not want to do as they did not speak to me very well last time and the dirty looks etc and knowing what they had done to us...but i went...as soon as I went in everyone looked at me and my children...a woman who was the assistant General manager, (which I found out at the compition night) asked if she could help the look on her face said it all she knew why I had come the girl was there a man stood next to the assistant GM and behind him a bigger man who was security all looking at me.I showed her the sheet of all the things wrong with the caravan which she pushed away and said the cleaner is dealing with this, Isaid about the handle and the door was not in use ..she said a lot of caravans only have one door and I showed her the confirmation sheet that said gold three bedroom..she said no you have Bronze..your daughter won Bronze...I said the sheet said Gold...she said that was for us to upgrade...I said no...we had this sent weeks ago and I phoned this camp and asked for an extra 3 days leading onto the Monday... The girl said that would be 240 pounds..I said thats more than the four days..178.00 on our form ( though this is amount was free because it had been won) she said its because your in gold..So I declined. The manager siad no you have won a bronze and you know it! she was right at me going at me with these people watching me...I was not going to get angry, though I felt out numbered and she was playing that! She knew the sheet said Gold but would not have it ...she kept saying I know you you have been coming here for years and you have complained before ...I said to her I have not been here for five years check your computer. I have been going to New Beach because my mother died five years ago and we used to come here and I could not come back untill now...she said she knows my mother died?????? I said to the man standing next to me that the handle was a fire risk and i have children he just stared at me and said nothing. She said even if she wanted to move me she could not as the camp was full and they had nothing???????

Well anyway after she started at my daughter saying to her you know the rules ****(my daughters name) and her mouth would not stop...I told she was in deep and I would complain to **** manager camp and head office walked off with the man shouting after us put it in writing put in writing sarcastically.



Went back to caravan cleaner was still cleaning I just burst into tears the cleaner put her arms around me and said not to get upset...she said she was sorry for what we all had been put through.



When the cleaner left she said she would send someone around to fix the broken curtain rail and see about the handle of the door as none of the keys they had fitted.



A lovely man came...very intelligent and polite. I say intelligent because he understood what i was saying about the door handle and we could not open it and if it was not fixed I would call the local fire station and ask if someone could come out and have a look this was for our safety.

He said he would go and see security to maintenance out...came back after about 10min’s less with keys to another caravan (General Manager said no empty caravans on camp???) and said have a look and someone will be ringing you to se if you have taken it, again I burst into tears and told him how kind he was and how horrible the reception people had been to us. My daughter was in the other van when she was phoned and the lady told my daughter she would ring me tomorrow morning

We looked at the van GREAT and we moved in ..BUT WORSE WAS TO COME!

Next day I and my kids were still very upset at how the General Manager had spoken to me and how they had caused us so much trouble and what they did.

I waited for the lady to call no one phoned ..around 11am My daughter phoned and said what had happened they said it must have been ..*****, who phoned you and they would get her to ring, as she was not around at the moment and she finished at 1pm...Waited no call!.

Next day still no call daughter phoned they said **** not in today and we asked for **** another name given to us as customer service, just get someone to ring us she said.

Not long after a call came *****asked for my daughter, she said to my daughter we have an assistant customer services ****** who will talk with you as you your the name holder of the confirmation. My daughter said no this happened to my mother and to speak to her....I told her no I want to speak to the lady who phoned us the night we were moved into the caravan..which my daughter told her and asked if the manager of the park **** was in yet as we had been told he would be into today, surprised the girl asked someone and said no he is on a course. (Phone call over)

BY this time I did not trust anyone on the camp everyone was saying they were this they were that...I had spoken to some people and I was told if you complain they will try and keep you from **** the manager of the park and certain customer services personal...At this point I just wanted to leave, but my daughter had to go without pay for the week for this competition and this was about her not me or the staff managing the camp.

BUT THEN I HAD A CALL AND A MAN SAID HE WAS THE MANAGER OF THE CAMP...AT LAST...I ASKED TO MEET HIM FACE TO FACE AS I HAD A LOT TO SAY AND WOULD TAKE A LONG TIME AND THAT I WOULD RATHER SPEAK TO HIM FACE TO FACE....HE SAID HE WAS VERY BUSY AND IT WAS OK TO TALK ON THE PHONE....I TOLD HIM WHAT HAD BEEN HAPPENING AND WHEN I GOT TO THE POINT OF THE RECEPTION AND THE WOMAN ( ASSSITANT GERNERAL MANAGER) HER MOUTH AND HOW SHE SPOKE TO ME...AND THE MAN SATNDING NEXT TO HER AND THE OTHERS IN THE OFFICE LOOKING AT ME....IT WAS THEN HE SAID IT WAS ME STANDING NEXT TO ****(Assistant GERNERAL MANAGER) i SAID THEN YOU KNOW HOW I WAS TREATED AND SPOKEN TO...HE SAID ****HAD NOT SPOKEN TO ME BADLY . (I knew then it was a stick up and cover up of the staff by the boss boy)

(now I know why he did not want to see me in the face he was trying to trick me wait and see what I had said then tell me who he was ...sad he could not tell me that at the desk when he stood there like a smug bug or when he first phoned).

He said I had disrupted the smooth running of the camp ( which he would keep repeating in our conversation)

I said we have been trying to get hold of **** or the woman who phoned us the first night as she said she was coming to talk to me



He said “why would she see you ...Have you not been moved.......you have not paid anything for your caravan, it is free.....Have your problems been sorted .....I said no because I want to complain about the bad treatment and how the general manager had spoken to me and my daughter and lied to me about a lot of things and the women who put me and my children into the first disgusting caravan and had a good laugh.

I said I would put a complaint into *** who I was told was the head Manager of the camp.

This man then said if you make a complaint I will have to complain about you and the disturbance of my camp and the name calling of my staff..do you understand.

I said to him that is a lie I have not disturbed this camp and if I am walking up the road talking to my daughter in the open air with no one around it was none of his business...he said it was I was not allowed to say anything even in the open air on the camps grounds ( not that I did say anything).

I told this man to tell my daughter what he was saying and as he was speaking to her saying she had a free caravan and that if there is anymore of this we will be removed!



I want to stop here as it is making me sick what has happened to us.

Just please if you intimidated or fobbed off on this camp please report it out side the camp as they all stick together...they use the number of staff to make u back down...I would not back down so they threatened me...and now i have left after my daughters competition this morning I do not not have to keep my mouth shut.



Before this my daughter was sent letters to get her to upgrade (though we were gold)



A phone call to upgrade a week before our holiday (told her we were gold)



At the complex when getting the keys a member of staff were announcing over the mic -Any one wanting to upgrade details over there



To me this competition was about making as much money and holding the competition during the working week...putting the contestants in the lowest grade accommodation and then trying to get them to upgrade....this includes anyone who booked bronze or a lower grade.



I will stick to my old Holiday Park New Beach and never go camber Sands holiday park ever again...I have never been treated so badly of threatened by a little boy who claims he is a big boss of the camp...whatever relationship with this general manager he has must be big to do what he did to me.

I am yet to speak to a person this has happened to two years ago and yet they are still doing it.

We visited Park Resorts at Camber Sands for the first time this year after going to various other sites owned by other companies but we had a few surprises in store for us.



We booked our touring caravan onto a pitch which was advertised as SERVICED...... it had an electric point 15 meters away and no water to connect to.

The shower/toilet block did not have enough showers for the amount of people there however they were clean and fresh each time we went in (even although some fellow campers seemed to forget to move their filth and left it to the warden).

The touring firld was sparce and muddy but the weather was to fault there better drainage might have helped or even hard standing pitches.



On the touring field, we were shown to our pitch by the warden who certainly knew his job, told us were things were advised us best position to enable our awning to be put up as very windy, he even helped us.

As my parner is disabled the warden even carried our chemical waste to the drop off point for us and emptied it and when we went to tip him he refused saying its all in a days work for him.



The only bad experience we had at this park was the entertainment complex......... waited for 49 minutes for food after ordering and when we got it the whole meal was cold and the lack of stafff on the bars was disgusting and service was poor.



Plenty of security which made us feel safe, park clean and tidy, pleasant door staff just a pity about the weather......... oh well always next year as we will be back and hope to have such a pleasant visit.

We arived at Camber sands park resorts on 26th july 2008 until the 2nd of August 2008. It was a long walk to the swimming pool as we was in Susex park S42. It was very amusing for the kids at the arcade. Abbie liked the sparkey krew club. Amy liked the MIX. It was fun at the footy pitch. I would recomend it as you can bring pets and go caming there aswell.

Our party of six stayed for 7 nights.



General

A lively park in a fantastic location - literally across the road from the beach. Immaculately maintained, clean, tidy & very green. We were put in a 'van that was surrounded by owners on holiday, that made for a really friendly atmosphere. The two kids in our party easily made friends to play with on the park. The security was keen but not overpowering and a new barrier for the road in was installed during our stay. The staff we had dealings with were fine but no-one stood out as spectacular in any way.



Local Area

Rye is a very pretty town to walk around plus good fish & chips, where we found a Medieval Fayre to visit - good fun. Camber beach is long & sandy with a huge difference between high & low tide meaning it is like a completey different place every hour or so - and shells a plenty for the kids to collect. Very good beach facilities can be found at the end of Old Lydd Road. A Ride on The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch railway was enjoyed by all - as was the stop at Dymchurch with a visit to MW's Family Amusement Park - we stayed a good two or three hours. Then travelling onto Dungeness the long and tricky walk upstairs at the lighthouse was rewarded with some spectacular views and good visitor information. We would also recommed Port Lympne wild animal park, while a bit of a drive and a fair price it was everything we expected. There are some great country pubs about too. Hastings is well worth a visit, we opted for the Cliff Railway, Sea Life Aquarium & Smugglers Adventure as the places to visit and we're glad we did. Pay & play golf is available at Lydd, right next to the 'International Airport'??



Accomodation

Caravan was excellent - cannot think of anything that wasn't spot on - parking was right next door but not right outside the van - better for kids at play.



Catering

We did not use any of the on site catering & cannot comment.

The shop was well stocked and prices were fine, we found a local chain supermarket for our main food shop, though.

We had good weather & therefore spent no time inside the bar as it had a large patio area. Service was a little slow on occassions.



Fun & Games

The swimming pool was absolutely top draw, with a water flume & a current loop that were both great fun. The only blot on it's copy book was that the toddlers pool was closed off every day that we were there.

The adventure playground was in good order and the kids played happily for a good time. The arrangement of a trio of inflatables outside the bar was a little disappointing as they were each at an additional charge with no option to buy any sort of pass for all three nor all day etc. Also this had been positioned right on top of the crazy golf - or what would have been a poor excuse for a crazy golf at best.

The amusement area, entertainments, pool / snooker etc were of the usual expected standard, but none the worse for that.



Summary

Camber Sands is a lively park and may not suit those really trying to get away from it all, there was quite a noise on the last night at closing time. Although an evening trip to the beach will give anyone the solitude they seek. Whilst we have not rushed straight back there, it is somewhere we will most likely visit again.

booked 5 nights sayed 1 could not leave fast enough had our own touring caravan,tents and caravans only a metre apart from each other what a mess,full of undesirable charactors thats putting it mildly!!!unruley children swearing loud mouths,a man staying their being chased round by the security men being told he cant sell certain substances,oh my god!! just not the type of site my family like to stay at,we did not even tell them we were leaving, it is a shame as the place is nice and clean, food good and beach is lovely its just the riff raff their.sorry.

Been to Camber sands many times before. Practically on the beach and has a great swimming pool. Not as big as the haven holiday resorts but just as much fun. Clubhouse is the best I have been to.



Great for the kids in the early evening and then a great laugh for the adults in the later evening. Disco is tops, with fantastic entertainers who certainly know how to have a good time.



Drinks are reasonably priced as is the cafe, which serves food all day and into the night.



Arcade is great for the kids and the big kids at heart. During the evening there is plenty of security around to ensure that it is only people staying on the resort that get into the clubhouse at night.



My girlfriend went to Camber Sands on a hen weekend and had a really good laugh there and would recommend it to other people who want to have a hen/stag weekend away.

We have just come back from spending five days at Park Resort at Camber Sands and have had a great time! We booked a 2 Bedroomed GOLD CHALET for four adults and a child and I have to say that it was in the most excellent order both in cleanliness and decor. The bedding that was supplied was clean and in excellent condition as were most of the cooking and eating utensils, the only black mark in this area were the pans which were in need of replacing!



The park was clean, tidy and well presented and on the whole very well kept. There were some Health and Safety issues that were of a concern on the resort and within the amusement arcade and the condition of the toilets in the main complex need to be looked at and improved, all of which were pointed out to members of staff.



The staff (with the exception of one person) were very helpful, pleasant and friendly and were more than willing to do all they could to make us feel welcome.



I have to say that having read some of the more disparaging reviews about this park I was expecting the worse, I am glad to say however that I was pleasantly surprised and would return to this resort again.

We booked several units of accommodation at Camber Sands Holiday Park (Not to be confused with Pontins) near Rye, for a family celebration. What a mistake - we checked out after just two nights, leaving behind the celebration and the rest of our family!



Firstly, although our bookings were 'linked' the reception desk refused to tell arriving family members where the locations of other family members' caravans/chalets were due to 'data protection' meaning unnecessary irritation on arrival.



This is an out of date, badly in need of refurbishment site. My parent’s chalet (at a cost of £650 for the week) was quite honestly appalling. Filthy, Tatty, smelly furniture (one armchair emitted flea bites if you sat in it!), hardly any crockery, /damaged and dirty kitchen fittings, dirty windows.



They had a patio but nothing to sit on outside. On arrival the duvets and pillows supplied were so 'used' that I requested news duvets (that arrived - courtesy it seems of someone taking a trip to Tesco's). The bathroom was one of the worst features - just a bath without even a mixer tap attachment. To a couple of nearly 80 year olds unable to get in and out of a bath this meant a week of washing from a hand basin. Whatever you do, under no circumstances book into the YEW CHALETS (especially No. Y5).



I complained to the site and offered to pay to upgrade to something better. However I was told the site was fully booked (lucky them) but offered £25 vouchers in compensation.



The Club was the usual pit of sticky tables, loud music (unable to hear or speak to others), endless amusement arcade, and children running wild till mid-night. After 11pm there's nowhere to sit and have a coffee or drink and chat - you are all herded into the main Club room.



Lastly, and something I think is totally irresponsible, in the Bar they have staff walking around in the evening with trays of Screamer 20% vol 'shots' for sale at £2 each. So much for reducing binge drinking in young people!



The only plus side is a fabulous and safe beach just a few minutes’ walk away and the lovely town of Rye just a 10 minute drive. If you are determined to stay there, try and book one of the independently owned caravans or sleep under a tree (it will be more comfortable than the chalets).