Camping Atlantic Club Montalivet ^{★★★★★}

16 agosto 2020 06:09:13

For starters, I would like to mention how this experience was only with myself, and I am sure this site is well suited to many others. However, if you want a top class memorable holiday, please bear these features in mind:

When we arrived, the reception was shut when it should have been open, and I... met some families who had this same problem. The queue to enter was long when it did open, so we did not get the best welcome to the site. Not a deal breaker though.

At our accommodation, we did not have any towels, the hot water was faulty and the beds were rock solid, so we had to take many more trips to reception, which we resented especially after our 'welcome'. I often woke up aching and/or bruised due to the beds, plus the rooms did not have insect shutters like other sites do, so we often found creepy crawlies all over our caravan, which was not the best experience.

We did get settled in, the beach was a good distance and we could walk to Montalivet and see their restaurants, which were very worth the walk and did not feel like tourist traps.

The pool is great, with good slides for the kids, but as always there is the sun lounger problem and this is always an issue which is never resolved wherever you go. The pool was very busy at all times of the day too, and it kept going against their rule of 1 swimmer per 4 metres squared (?). I often left the pool feeling dirty and could not swim much because of this.

The best part of the site for me was the main area, where you could easily buy drinks while watching the entertainment, the churros were divine and I even had a few crepes. But once again, there was NO social distancing and while it was nice to escape the lockdown in England, I kept feeling paranoid because of it and putting on hand gel.

There was a restaurant on site which we tried and it felt a bit rushed, as if we were taking up the time of other customers. The food was nice but it came questionable fast, and tasted as if it was just a microwave ready meal. The servers were very kind and spoke great English though, they made us feel welcome.

The kid's club workers were always upbeat and even came to speak to us on the occasion, making us feel safe. I have to hand it to them, they dance to the same song about four times a day and didn't appear tired of it. I found it bizarre how the site had its own 'theme song' called 'Tohapi' which was a nice touch but when you heard it so often it felt as if they were forcing you to enjoy it here, which the kids loved but not so much us.

Overall we had some nice days here, but we enjoyed it more off-site than on-site. It was more suited to the French than to the English, but the staff did help us settle in well (ironically not the reception staff initially though). If we went in the future I have no doubt we would have a better experience, but this year it was not the best suited site for us.

13 agosto 2020 06:01:40

This site is fantastic with exclusive access to the perfect beach that does have life guard protection for over six hours a day. The site is manicured and all the staff are very helpful. The comfort plus accommodation was great especially with air conditioning. The mattresses and bed were comfortable... and the shower extremely hot. The park is quite and afternoon and evenings on the veranda was very pleasant.
The pool and the clubs are well organised and supervised. Involvement in the teen depends on the group and their willingness to speak English. The on-site shop is comprehensive and a must for the morning baguette and croissant. The beech bar beer and smoothies at the end of the day are idyllic
The take away pizzas were pretty good. Sadly, the only thing that lets this place down is the onsite restaurant and I can’t review it separately - the Moules very steamed to death and the fries were disgusting; not what I expected ... and was left very very disappointed. The on-site restaurant could and should do better and the site owners should review their contract as it lets this otherwise perfect holiday down. Best advice is to avoid restaurant as Aldi is just down the road and you can do reasonably well if you are that way inclined. The on-site rented BBQ’s are not bad but just glorified griddles - this is because the site is set in a beautiful pine forest that is at risk of naked flames. Well done Tohapi - please look at the restaurant issue as they let you down

8 agosto 2020 15:49:52

Just returned from 2 weeks in this great campsite. First time for us at this site and generally impressed. The site is well maintained and they have a slick booking in system done in the car park so no queueing for ages at the reception. All the staff inc the animation team wear masks but there is a... relaxed atmosphere with plenty of fun to be had in the pool complex and slides, beach and outdoor activities. There is a lovely little farm on site with horses , goats, ducks, chickens and cows etc that my children loved to visit and we did a horse ride one evening along the beach which was a real highlight.
As others have said although the chalets are spacious and clean there is a lack of basic utensils. For instance we had no sharp knives or serving dishes and only 2 large bowls. This can make cooking a tad complicated as had to use salad servers for the BBQ etc.

Many of the homes are owned privately so there may be a variation on what utensils are available for families.
The shared BBQ sites are fine and we hired a gas BBQ for a few days to.
Lots of cycle paths around to explore and the nearby town of Montelivet has plenty of shops , a fresh food market every morning an plenty of restaurants if you want to venture off site.
The on site shop is well stocked too and there as a nice central square to the site with a creperie, ice cream parlour, supermarket, restaurant, souvenir shops all in area. The entertainment is based here too.
The camp currently is 80% French/ 15% Dutch with a few Germans and British so all the entertainment/ games etc are in French. There is a kids club running which seemed popular.
The private beach Is reached along a road 5-10 mins walk from the site snd has lifeguards in the afternoon and early evening. Surfing lessons available.

We had an enjoyable trip and would recommend.

1 settembre 2019 03:46:21

We recently spent a week here (through Canvas Holidays). The site is lovely, lots of pine trees, mobile homes are well spaced apart. The mobile homes are quite basic and not as nice/well equipped as other campsites we have visited, but comfortable enough. Large fridge/freezer, which was very handy.

The... pool area was excellent, we had so much fun on the waterslides. Lifeguards were all very friendly.

We made good use of the communal BBQ area - as our mobile home wasn't equipped with one. We wanted to hire a BBQ but were told there was only 5 to hire out and they were all taken. I was surprised that more weren't available? We have been to many European campsites (in mobile homes) and this was the first time we didn't have our own free BBQ!!

The shop was well stocked and the bread was very tasty. We did our main shopping at nearby supermarkets.

All in all, a great holiday, many lovely family memories made. ☺️

The beach was beautiful, but beware of the Weever Fish! My 15 year old daughter was stung on her foot and despite receiving excellent treatment from the lifeguard station, she is still feeling a little unwell.

The surrounding areas are beautiful - we spent a day in Bordeaux, and had a day exploring some chateaus, with wine tasting.

18 agosto 2019 11:58:34

Recently stayed here for 11 nights with the family, the campsite is superb with amazing facilities. There are numerous activities for people of all ages, i have two boys aged 13 and 16 and they were kept busy with the tennis courts, table tennis, petanque, swimming pools and slides and local beach which... is a short 5 minute walk from the site. We stayed in the premier caravan which is still basic in comparison to caravans in the UK in my opinion but everything is geared towards being outside due to the great weather. I spent most of the time sat outside on the covered decking area when we were at the caravan making good use of the bbq. The staff were really helpful and couldn't do enough even quickly changing the gas bottle on the bbq when it ran out halfway through cooking. The local town of Montalivet is a short drive away and full of great places to eat and drink and the daily market is well worth a visit. I'd definitely recommend the site and would consider a similar holiday in France in the future. I can't really fault the place other than the fact you have to pay for Wifi but it didn't bother me personally as it was nice to be offline for the time i was there (more of an issue for my boys but they survived!!). I'd also recommend a visit to the dune de pilat which is just under a 2 hour drive away. This is a giant sand dune that's over a 100 metres high, amazing views.