Vauxhall Holiday Park

We've been going to Vauxhall Holiday Park for 12 years, but it's been going downhill the past couple of years. Nice park, safe and secure, great for kids to do as they please. The accomodation is acceptable and if you have any issues, a competent handyman will be at your accomodation within minutes of contacting reception. The entertainment is not what it once was and seems to me like they're making cutbacks, even the entertainments team has gone stale (they look like they can't be bothered both in appearance and performance and are going through the motions which is a real shame as the entertainments team here used to be fantastic at one time, now they dress scruffy (trousers and t-shirts) and look bored. The V-lounge isn't the same since they revamped it and did away with the conservatory. The bar in the regency room is never ever fully open, they only ever open a small quarter section of the bar at the end, making it pointless having the rest of the bar, the bar prices are also excessive which just forces people to bring their own alcohol in. The kids cocktail drinks bar has been closed and forgotten about the past couple of years. The hygiene standards at the food outlets are extremely poor (I bought a hot dog from Americana that had something green on it, my wife said it was a bit of lettuce but I'm not so sure but either way whatever it was shouldn't have been there, and the roll was stale), at the Ocean Drive chips, they handle the food with bare dirty hands and often the chips are ones that were cooked previously and just quickly dipped in for a reheat when you order and in fryers that don't get cleaned out very often (best time to go is when there's a green shirted staff member present, you seem to get slightly better service, avoid when it's just the red shirts though). The amusements arcade is like all arcades, a rip-off, over the past few years they've gone more towards prize machines that give out tickets with which you can claim prizes but the choice of prizes is extremely poor and represents extremely poor value (i.e. you could easily need to spend £150 to be able to claim a prize with a £15 value, so much for machines paying out 78% payouts or whatever it's supposed to be). The crazy golf is only 12 holes, always has been and has never been revamped. The swimming pools are good, the games room and young kids daytime activities are good, the hire pedal cars are good and not bad value, the site is clean and safe. Over the years we've made friends with other families staying there, as you do, and a lot of those have stopped going to Vauxhall, one family that had been going for longer than us decided to go to a different site this year as they were unhappy with the decline at Vauxhall and they've found an alternative site they've now recommended to us for next year so we've a big decision to make now whether to return again next year in the hope of things improving or opt for somewhere else.

The place is filthy and in need of repair.
The Sliver accomodation is Shabby and Tired and i dread to think what the Bronse is like.the fire window in the caravan was seeled up and would not open. the pool area toilets and the changing area is dirty and smelly. the childs entertainment is naff and borring could not hold the attention of a 6 year old. two of us had upset tums following food from outlets.the games machines cheat you out of tokens, but we noticed. Would not go back even though i won a free holiday.

i have been going since i was very young and have been going every year since (which has been 10yrs), the entertainment is brilliant for adults and children and the facilitys are always to an excellent standard. i have been to other sites like vauxhall such as parkdean (which is by far the worst place to go with a caravan or even in a static), vauxhall has the best standard for the sort of park it is

2 readers found this review helpful

Decided to try an individual park as opposed to the usual Park Resorts, Parkdean etc .... swimming pool and splash park are faultless, entertainment was ok, plenty of seating, air conditioning etc, but on two nights the caberet failed to appear with no back up plan in force. Jade kebab shop was run by what looked like 16 year old lads as was the chip shop, food was swimming in grease and inedible, pizza outlet along with seafood shop were faultless restaurant we didn't try out. Caravan on arrival had a non speaking English person cleaning it, shame she forgot to remove a childs had prints from all over the main mirror in the lounge along with lord knows what brown coloured substance off the heater in the main bedroom. Security, if you can call it that consisted of a few guys wearing SECURITY shirts chatting to each other outside, not once in the 7 days we were there were we asked for our passes, nor did we ever see the entrance barrier in the down position.
Had I paid the price Vauxhall wanted to charge (£680) I would have been gutted, thank goodness I hunted about and found the same caravan grade via Hoseasons loads cheaper (£418), same week etc. Location of the park is ideal, 2 mins in the car to Asda, 5 mins from the seafront so no complaints there, beware of noisy RAF planes tho !! I had a moan on their Facebook web page but it was removed so be cautious reading wall posts there, they seem to keep the good ones and delete the bad. I would maybe return if another bargain price appeared but there are far nicer, cheaper sites around the area.

2 readers found this review helpful

The pitches are very very small, too small for any van over about 15 ft or a large tent. We couldnt put our extension on our awning and we either had nowere to put our car or couldnt sit outside our outfit. The drainage on site was atrociouse and some people in tents had to dry out their bedding after a serious downpour. The shower/toilet block although cleaned regularly is seriously outdated. I am 5ft1in and had to stoop to in the shower to wash my hair and they nearly always needed moping up the muddy/sandy floor,not that I could. There is no separate private wash basins so you either clean your teeth in the toilet sinks or back at your pitch. The washing up facilities are dreadful. There are 3 sinks INSIDE the toilet block but only 2 people can use the cramped facilities. My advise - take your own mop/bucketand washing up bowl. The taps all round the site are not good, they require so much effort so forget getting the kids to fill up the water butts and be careful of them washing their hands, they probably wont be able to manage the cold and the hot (if they can manage)may scald them. The entertainment is appalling, there are pillars all over the room so you cant see the stage or the dance floor even if it was worth seeing - which it is not. The kids did like the swimming pool although our eldest did express her concerns that the water looked very 'murcky' later in the day. The restaurant is ok. There are 3 supermarkets close by 2 open 24hrs, but the beach is 1.5 miles away and the surrounding area is very run down. The TV reception is useless no matter how good your equipment so dont bank on a back up for evening entertainment. It is allegedly a David Bellamy conservation area, but the only conservation noticable was the 70/80 era despite the nice looking approach from the main road. This site needs some very serious investment and less greed when organising the pitches - if a fire broke out on 1 pitch it could easily spread along the other outfits and I cant remember seeing any fire bell! When speaking to people who where visiting for the first time they were seriously not impressed and like us some cut their holiday short and went home. Basically if you have standards this site is not for you.

1 reader found this review helpful

I've been coming here since I was a baby with my family, I'm now 30!!! Me & my boyfriend stayed for 9 days and we have already booked again for next year. There was nothing that we could fault with the camp or entertainment, we found all the staff very friendly, there's lots to do for all ages. It's nice that the town is a 20 min slow walk along the Broads. We had a little bit of rain but we did'nt let the spoil anything because there is alot to do. We just had a FANTASTIC time like we do every year!!!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

This is now our third visit in two years (Oct half term & Gold Weekender last year). The facilities & entertainment are second to none. The kids were kept amused all day long. We can't wait to next year's Gold Weekender & Oct half term.

1 reader found this review helpful

This is a lovely park, although we did not like the surrounding area outside the camp as it was like a run down retail park in parts. There is a lot to do here but be prepared to part with a lot of money. The entertainment team are first class and cannot do enough to keep everyone happy, it is a very good standard of entertainment aswell. The pool is beautiful and the food in the restaurant is really good and reasonable.
We did not find the reception staff to be particularly friendly, they just looked fed up all the time, and the lack of internet access or maps of the surrounding area were a draw back when trying to locate nearby places of interest.
Our caravan was top of the range and well equipped, but dirty. There were cigarette butts littering the ground surrounding it and crumbs on the settee and floor inside it. Not nice to arrive too. It was dirty in other places too. The beds and bedding were very clean, however and everything worked!
On our first night we had to wait 20 minutes for a takeaway as the food wasn't cooked!
Overall a great place to be entertained, swim and relax. Bored looking staff not nice, but this does not apply to the entertainment team. Will not be going back though as we did not like the area.

1 reader found this review helpful

we went on holiday july 2008 me,my husband and 4 kids we stayed 4 2 weeks it was the best holiday we have ever had i wished i could have stayed 4 six weeks the kids didnt want to come home we all cryed when we had to leave the park should be rated a 6 star

This was our 3rd visit and we are going again next week.
It is an excellent site.
Always clean, staff helpful, great clean pool, excellent entertainment for EVERYONE.
The Reedcutters restaurant is lovely, good food and not over-priced.
Good playground for the kids and a nice sports bar, with snooker and pool tables not over-priced.
Stayed in a Mallard van (silver) lovely.
Only downside is the Camping/touring area gets a bit rowdy on a night and as an ex-tourer owner i would not want to stay here as the pitches are crammed in.
Otherwise its great, only wish i could find another site like this in a different area.