Just a word or warning to fellow caravan/campers. Make sure you check the latest reviews of where you plan to book. Don't assume that just because you have stayed somewhere before that it has remained the same.
We have just returned from Cuckoo's Corner Hereford.
I was a fabulous site 8 years ago and now is, in our opinion, totally spoilt since it has been sold.
What was a spotlessly clean campsite is now scruffy and unkept. The owners are not there and they employ a man to look after the site , which he doesn't.
No cleaning in a week , no bins in the facilities emptied which we chose not to use as so dirty. No Microwave or fridge freezer as stated were there on the website. No one around to tell us where to pitch, we chose the least scruffy pitch.
It does have free Wifi, tv point, and water on pitch, at least that hasn't changed.
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Tess
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
A very valid point, it always pays to check the latest reviews for deterioration.
But it also works the other way, deficient sites get upgraded, often by new owners, so a bad experience years ago, or poor reviews last time you looked may stop you visiting what is now a perfectly good site. I've certainly visited sites that have undergone a revamp under new owners, and they've been great, that was on the bases of most recent reviews.
I often find on (CAMC) sites I use regularly that the standards of the site and service to be expected vary with the wardens in residence/on duty (CAMC wardens are changed regularly as club policy), and I'm sure that must hold true for other sites where wardens/managers change from time to time. So from year to year your experience may vary noticeably, to be fair, CAMC tends to maintain high standards, but sometime the wardens do a little more than 'just' their job, which can enhance the experience significantly.
I've experienced a bit of a 'jobsworth' warden on the site where I store my van, and he was a bit of a PITA who did little more than he had to, TBH you dreaded any situation that forced you to engage with him, then again on another site a warden reserved a easy to access pitch (on a difficult to navigate in the dark site) for me when I got hugely delayed on the way, and was going to arrive in pitch blackness and torrential rain, it was very thoughtful and truly appreciated because he had no obligation to do so, it started my stay on a high note which set me up for the rest of my stay, it was an act beyond the normal demands of the job, but so very much appreciated.
Tess, although you have been a member here since 2004, you don't seem to have put any reviews on here. Many of us on the forums review all our campsites every year thereby keeping the reviews up to date for the use of all.
I've just looked, there are a number of reviews from the last year or so, which if I had read would probably put me off.
Agree with the need to check the most up to date reviews if the time lapsed between stays is significant.
I had not been to Fforest Fields for about 8 years, and when I booked to stay there last year, I checked the reviews as well as to look for updates on their website as well as on UKCS.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 22/3/2023
Agree with the need to check the most up to date reviews if the time lapsed between stays is significant.
I had not been to Fforest Fields for about 8 years, and when I booked to stay there last year, I checked the reviews as well as to look for updates on their website as well as on UKCS.
DK
I must admit I don’t always do reviews on something if I don’t like it, as it’s just my personal opinion, and don’t want to do a bad review.
We went to Fforest fields last year after about an 8yr break like you and hated it, I did write a review but didn’t send it as I didn’t want to give a bad review as it’s their livelihood, and it was pretty full, so just not to our taste now, too many unruly kids doing what they like. The pitches weren’t defined and very weedy.
We have come back to having a van after several years away and tend to go to adult only now and smaller private sites.
I do agree with reading reviews so perhaps I should start doing one on every site we go to. I always read what the toilet /showers are like and think if they are looked after the rest of the site would be too.
Quote: Originally posted by clbewi on 23/3/2023
I must admit I don’t always do reviews on something if I don’t like it, as it’s just my personal opinion, and don’t want to do a bad review.
We went to Fforest fields last year after about an 8yr break like you and hated it, I did write a review but didn’t send it as I didn’t want to give a bad review as it’s their livelihood, and it was pretty full, so just not to our taste now, too many unruly kids doing what they like. The pitches weren’t defined and very weedy.
We have come back to having a van after several years away and tend to go to adult only now and smaller private sites.
I do agree with reading reviews so perhaps I should start doing one on every site we go to. I always read what the toilet /showers are like and think if they are looked after the rest of the site would be too.
I usually avoid camping during school holidays except for the Easter weekend as it is usually too cold for the less hardy tenters and children to come out.
For August, I go to adult-only sites to avoid the critters and ankle biters.
FF has lost a little bit of its magic to me personally, in that a large grass field over looking the smaller pond with the duck house has been cordoned off for ready glamping yurts.
However, the site is big and still have plenty to offer for me personally.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Quote: Originally posted by franbee on 22/3/2023
Tess, although you have been a member here since 2004, you don't seem to have put any reviews on here. Many of us on the forums review all our campsites every year thereby keeping the reviews up to date for the use of all.
I've just looked, there are a number of reviews from the last year or so, which if I had read would probably put me off.
Post last edited on 22/03/2023 13:35:25
I have to agree Franbee. Not much point of OP complaining about lack of updated reviews if they don’t review sites themselves. It’s up to us all to report on sites we’ve visited, or if we can’t be bothered to do that, we should just keep quiet about it. No offence intended and I’m sure post is well intended as a warning.
------------- playing at tinkies
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
clbewi, reviews on here are just personal opinions of how you found a site on your visit. If you found something you didn't like that is under the control of the management, then there's no real harm in saying so. The readers have to make their own minds up whether they can cope or not.
You don't have to recommend/not recommend at all.
We don't always do a review for sites that we have visited before, unless something has drastically changed. Sandringham C&CC site for example, as we go there most years, sometimes for a week or more and sometimes just for a couple of days. It hasn't really changed that much since our first visit.
We do usually leave a review for sites that we visit for the first time however. People do need to realise though that all reviews are just personal opinions and we all have our own very different needs and wants. A site I think is great, for instance, someone else may say is boring, miles from anywhere, and nothing to do. They may have kids though so in their case they are probably right.
I have read through the reviews, and usually do before booking a site we have never been to, and found the vast majority saying the site was great, clean, well cared for and welcoming. Then I have come across one that has said that it was a dump, dirty and neglected. Did they really go to the same site? I tend to go by the majority, and if there is one really bad one I tend to think that reflects more on the writer of the review, than on the site.
Not going to lie, however, I submit reviews to earn more photo allowance, especially when 2 of the sites are repeated every year, namely Salisbury C&CC for the first trip over Easter and Birchwood Tourist Park in September after the school holidays.
However, I would like to believe my site reviews are useful/informative to some people.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Don't forget to leave a review of the campsites you have visited this year or last!
With a review, you don't even have to say if you like the place or not, just say what you found there. And with places you go regularly, then every year or so leave a review to say that it's not changed, if that is the case.
I tend to review everywhere we go, even if we have been before because it gives me a record of where I have been! A few weeks ago I was thinking about a site we went to many years ago and although I could visualise it in my mind, I couldn’t remember where it was or what it was called. A quick glance through my reviews on UKCS and hey presto, there it was!
When I am reviewing a site that I have already reviewed, then I tend to make it brief, say that I have previously reviewed it and only comment on whether it is still the same or whether there are significant changes.
Quote: Originally posted by franbee on 22/3/2023
Tess, although you have been a member here since 2004, you don't seem to have put any reviews on here. Many of us on the forums review all our campsites every year thereby keeping the reviews up to date for the use of all.
I've just looked, there are a number of reviews from the last year or so, which if I had read would probably put me off.
Post last edited on 22/03/2023 13:35:25
I have to agree Franbee. Not much point of OP complaining about lack of updated reviews if they don’t review sites themselves. It’s up to us all to report on sites we’ve visited, or if we can’t be bothered to do that, we should just keep quiet about it. No offence intended and I’m sure post is well intended as a warning.
Exactly. Ironic that they've never left a review in 19 years of membership. And the first post in 6 years is to slag off a site
Most recent UKCS review of that site was in Feb 2023, 8/10. A few dud reviews several months prior. This reflects another website that I check for location & reviews: 5 months ago, not a nice word; most recent ones happy.
I’ve left a review that started “a bit anxious given the recent poor reviews but no sign of the gangs of youths late at night” (real site, has great reviews now). Alternatively, I’ve noted a place had glowing reviews & justified why we wouldn’t go back ourselves, in case our reasons matter to anyone else.
There’s a perfect site for everyone, I think. People who use their own facilities won’t know or care if the sinks aren’t spotless, maybe they rate the views from their pitch highly; people who don’t have a dog won’t care if the “dog walk on site” is the grass verge of the adjacent busy A road.
We all interpret reviews against a mental checklist of our ideal site, that site might be someone else’s hell on earth. (On-site Karaoke comes to mind for splitting opinions.)
But you have to be in it to win it, or whinge about it - the best way to criticise a site is to submit your own fair & balanced review. UKCS folk edit any that don’t meet the guidelines for politeness etc.
Exactly Fiona, we don't care about the loos and showers, but soggy undulating ground or hardstandings if mentioned not up to the job, and of course too many trees to the south are all bad points for us. Poor access of course, but all these can be checked now.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: quality of campsite bookers beware.
via mobile 23/3/2023 at 11:34am
