Good site, but lacking in key areas
6 August 2022 at 08:09:00
We've just left after 9 days on site in a campervan with an awning. We had a great holiday and it's a lovely part of the world, but I'm not sure we would return to this site.
When I booked the site in March I was offered a choice of pitch numbers, and settled on #700 which was confirmed on email by... the staff. On arrival we checked in and was directed to pitch #360 which was very close to the kids park and the main pool/entertainment area. We thought it would be OK as we have an 8-year-old, but I went back to reception and asked about pitch #700 and showed them my confirmation email but was merely told with a shrug that "things change" and someone else was now on pitch #700. They offered us #701 instead which did not look as nice as #700 or #360, so we decided to stay put and see how it went.
Unfortunately the first night was horrendous! The noise level from the entertainment and music until 2330 was ridiculous, absolutely no need to have the music so loud, along with the noise from groups of teenagers running amok and in the park until well after midnight.
So, the next morning we asked to move to pitch #701 which was in a much quieter area of the site and we were happy with the location overall, but the major issue with this pitch was the deep sand and the fact the private sanitary block was atop a sandy bank with no steps or means of access other than scrambling up. I ended up continually trying to carve steps out of the hillside with a dustpan to make it safe to get up to the kitchen and toilet/shower. Even with the steps, every time you came back down from having a shower your feet got filthy and this dirt and dust was transferred into the awning and campervan for the duration of the holiday. You never felt clean and everything you had was covered in dust!
As for the site itself, the pool area, bar and snack bar were all very good. These are both "card only" and do not accept cash. There is an on site "cash card" scheme available but this was never explained to us at check in.
The twisty water slide was out of order but the smaller "race" slide was good fun. There are no food or drinks allowed around the pool so it was generally very clean, and the animation team put on lots of keel fit activities. However, there was a severe lack of sunbeds so you have to either go to the pool at 10am or be prepared to sit on the floor waiting for someone to leave. There is also a wristband scheme for access to the pool, but this does not seem to be monitored and the pool seemed to have a lot of local kids and non residents in it every day.
The site shop is small but the selection of fresh bread and croissants every day is excellent. There is a good park and play area for kids, along with a 5-a-side football pitch and ping pong tables. The nearest supermarket is a 20 min walk away, and the beaches and stunning Grand Cote are 10 mins away. It was also easy to catch the bus to St Palais/Royan and La Palmyre from the same road.
Overall, the site was good but nothing more. It is a huge site with a lot of lodges and camping pitches but the facilities (apart from the excellent new camping private sanitary pods) seemed to be looking a bit tired. We only saw maybe 6 other UK families on the site, which isn't really unusual, and the majority of other guests were Dutch with some Belgian and French.
My photos show inside the private sanitary pods, pitch #360 on the first couple of pics then pitch #701 and how high up and dusty the slope was to get to the pod
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5 September 2023 at 15:20:32
12 September 2022 at 16:05:48
6 August 2022 at 08:09:00
