Campsite 2pm to 11am charges. (1 Viewer)

[FULL TIMER]

It seems to me that before long quite a few sites will be closing down as some of the prices they now charge in some areas are on par with a reasonable B&B, we are members of both the main clubs but have never stayed on a club site due to the costs involved we have only used a few independent sites and nearly allways use either CL or CS type sites but even some of those are raising prices to a degree of stupidity, now if only more places had the fore site to provide a service like Old Hall, Caister where we have just spent the last weekend this motorhoming lark would be a lot more pleasant and a great deal cheaper, how does £10 for three nights ( first night free) with hookup and use of swimingpool and showers etc in the health spa/leisure centre strike you, might not be parked on a patch of grass but definitely more facilities than most campsites at a fraction of the cost

 

[Forestboy]

I always smile when I read you are "not allowed to" overnight in laybys or even make a cup of tea etc...

I wonder to myself what I did for over twenty years of living in my van (avoiding camp sites like the plague.)

Has anyone on here got into trouble brewing up in their van?

Anyone at all?

JJ :Cool:

Me too never had a problem making a cuppa or staying the night bit of an urban myth I think. Trouble nowadays is finding a place in a layby their usually full of hgvs who refuse to pay the prices in service stations

 

[ChocNessie]

mmmm.. can you freeload in a hotel .. ?


or maybe skip breakfast, not use the toilet or shower and get a concession ?

seriously.. yes it can be a lot cheaper if you count up the annual running cost, depreciation, site fees, fuel etc of using a van.. ... it's not motorhoming , but it has other advantages.

It is not as much fun in a hotel.
It is nice to get out and about in the fresh air - to see the kids run around for real instead of watching them make some virtual pizza making hedgehog run around the tv screen.
Travelling round at 18-24 mpg in our 6 berth monster we call "Nessie"

It's just an adventure every time we go out (even when we return to sites) - that's why we pay all the bills and suffer the depreciation.

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[robnchris]

Mmhhh

We travel a lot with our motorhome both locally during school term time and more widely across the UK and Europe in the holidays.

What I find frustrating is being charged for a full fee if we arrive at say 6pm and leave next day at say 8am
Or
Having to pay for 3 nights if we go for a weekend in term time and arrive at 6pm on Friday and leave at 4pm on Sunday - a total of 46 hours. If the kids are in school, even picking them up in the MH, we can't set off until 4pm so it is impossible to arrive by noon or 2pm and the first afternoon is lost

It is ok for caravans (and motorhomes) when you are staying for a week or two, but if you are touring or short staying I think Campsite owners should consider a "Touring Tariff" . I mean it is not as if they have to clean the room or make the beds.

Why not have a "Sleep Over" tariff for people who are touring - we are forced to use campsites in this country as it is illegal to sleep in lay-bys and we have no real Aires yet. (I know there are a few night stays starting up)

I have talked to loads of local sites about turning up at 6pm on a Friday and leaving at 4pm on a Sunday during School TERMTIME only, when they are quiet and only paying for 2 days - do you know how many said yes, no problem ................ 2 yes two...... A couple of others said yes but you have to pay a £10 late stay fee for the Sunday.

I mean - I have to pay for Friday for which we get there in time for tea and the kids get an hours play and we have to pay either a whole day or a fee for 4 hours on the Sunday or leave before there is time to do much more than breakfast. At some sites round here that means paying £50 for a Saturday day out or £75 if we stay til Sunday afternoon.

At that price we just wouldn't go and both we and the site looses out.

Luckily we have 2 sites that let us stay til Sunday teatime for the 2 nite charge and we use them lots during school time.

I think we Motorhomers should lobby all our favourite campsites to provide a better deal for proper tourers and weekend getaways.

I do understand that the big parks with entertainment and holiday park facilities need their weekly bookings and time slots etc, but surely they could put 4 or 5 pitches to one side for tourers and the weekend breaks would only be out of season during school time. At the end of the day they will get more business by offering these services and good services lead to good recommendations and more business.

I for one would go more often if the price was more reasonable.

What does everyone else think?

Well we just have to say why do you own a motorhome and take it camping?

What on earth has a time schedule got to do with it, you could arrived at 7pm with a a family and use more of the facilities than someone that has been there all day.
Don't see your point at all if you choose to arrive so late that's your choice, we presume it's part of a plan to allow you to get somewhere else, the alternative is to have two drivers and keep going until you get to your choice of destination.

Do you expect a pub to charge you less for a pint because you don't get there til a late hour so you can't drink as much as someone that has been there all night etc etc.
How on earth would you police a Touring Tariff, you expect someone to make allowances for the time you decide to check in and out, hotels and B & B's set a time you can arrive and leave they don't have a reduction because you check in or out at a time to suit you.

We would say over the course of a touring holiday time at a given site pretty much evens itself out, that's just how it is, rough with the smooth.

 

[ChocNessie]

to the Op,.
My kids have only stopped coming with us this year so I have experience of what you are saying.
However, I feel your example is that of a caravan and you may be haven't ventured in to the wider world.
What exactly is it that a site has to offer you?
Is it the heated shower block?
the pristine toilets?
Entertainment?

I don't know but please do tell.

Whatever you come up with Im sure I could offer a counter argument.


As for sleeping in laybys with kids and kids not enjoying it (as per sidneys post)

Mine used to love it, they used to think they were lorry drivers

Unfortunately my kids are too old to think sleeping in a lay-by makes them a lorry driver.

All we look for for a minimum stay for one night is a small play area swings seesaw or the like and we have done all sorts of sites from £5 upwards.

We do choose sites to suit - so if we are traveling all day we look for CDP emptying as a min and may be EHU.

For weekends our favourite weekender locally has 2 indoor pools with a huge water slide, 3 little play areas plus fields for ball games and two fishing lakes. Also a small bar and restaurant, including takeaway options plus usual onsite shop, washer/dryers, shower blocks etc
So it is a great mini-holiday for the kids and it is all inclusive

You asked what we look for,

The fact is there are sites that do provide stuff at a reasonable price who are not trying to rip us off

There is also a similar site locally (no water slide) who charge an extra £4 per night to start with, but then want extra for fishing and swimming and you have to join a club to use the bar. This would add nearly 60 quid to the weekend - that's more than we pay for the two nights at our favourite site - and on top of that they wants us to pay for three nights if we stay past 11:00am.

It is ridiculous the greed of some sites and that is what I get cross about

I do agree however without the kids we will use completely different sites which will be the quiter country sites which will be much cheaper.

We are looking forward to using a couple of the France Passion sites this summer when we do our summer tour and the kids will just have to suffer those nights.

 

[ChocNessie]

do as a lot of us do
let them know (your not happy) then vote with your feet (do not return)
if you do not ask you will not get
so when arrival ask if you can have a reduction as it is 4.30pm book for the nights you want minimum then on morning of departure ask may i pull off my pitch at 4.30pm as i did not arrive untill that time

not many will push for the full amount when put that way as they want your repeat business

works for me nine time out of ten
there is always the jobsworth who will not budge then its their loss there after

you can post on here and others can join in with you

Precisely what I am saying.

However for me it does not work 9 times out of 10.
One person wrote that by taking a pitch I am preventing the site from selling it, but yet again I would remind them I am only talking about out of season when there are loads of unused pitches

If more of us ask and we get better deals then I for one would go more often. The sites in the long term get more custom out of season so have less empty pitches.

Everyone wins

I always negotiate out of season in advance and say I can't get there til late because of school etc - if they say no then I move on to the next one.

Hopefully the site owners will cotton on that a noon to noon is not possible in school term time.

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[ChocNessie]

do as a lot of us do
let them know (your not happy) then vote with your feet (do not return)
if you do not ask you will not get
so when arrival ask if you can have a reduction as it is 4.30pm book for the nights you want minimum then on morning of departure ask may i pull off my pitch at 4.30pm as i did not arrive untill that time

not many will push for the full amount when put that way as they want your repeat business

works for me nine time out of ten
there is always the jobsworth who will not budge then its their loss there after

you can post on here and others can join in with you

I am a business owner so i view this as a business deal.

in busy periods your short stay will block longer staying clients.....

In empty periods - i would probably negotiate...

You have to accpet that the Uk school holidays mean that peak times are going to cost more - try booking a package and see the price treble!!!

I do accept that you are using less than a 24hr stop - but if i applied the same logic i could get a massive discount on my poll tax....

If we applied this logic to taxation - this country would be screwed worse than it is

So if you apply you business logic then you agree.

I am not asking for a discount in out of season weekend I am only asking to stay for 48 hours or less. And ONLY during out of season weekend's I am asking to only pay for 2 nights.

As there are spare pitches I don't see the issue. If the site won't negotiate and insist on "noon to noon or part there of " equals 3 nights then I won't stay.

As fot the sleepovers if they are fully booked them they will say no anyway, but if they have a spate pitch why not rent it at half price - I'll be gone by noon so it won't effect the next days booking.

Don't let's get started on the country's taxation flaws etc or we will be clogging several terabytes of storage

 

[ChocNessie]

It seems to me that before long quite a few sites will be closing down as some of the prices they now charge in some areas are on par with a reasonable B&B, we are members of both the main clubs but have never stayed on a club site due to the costs involved we have only used a few independent sites and nearly allways use either CL or CS type sites but even some of those are raising prices to a degree of stupidity, now if only more places had the fore site to provide a service like Old Hall, Caister where we have just spent the last weekend this motorhoming lark would be a lot more pleasant and a great deal cheaper, how does £10 for three nights ( first night free) with hookup and use of swimingpool and showers etc in the health spa/leisure centre strike you, might not be parked on a patch of grass but definitely more facilities than most campsites at a fraction of the cost

Quite right and that is a good deal.

I think as there has been an increase in campers both Motorhomes an caravans some sites have tried to cash in by upping the price.

I just hope that the smaller sites can survive. We have stayed at some lovely farm sites or smaller with a few swings or an old tractor to play on and had some great times.

The bigger sites now seem to be competing to see who offers the most and are becoming Butlins, but bring your own accommodation. But to do this their charges have risen to more than staying at Butlins. One site we went to 2 years ago which was expensive back then at £38 a night for 5 of us in high season has now added an indoor pool an fitness club would cost nearly double this year if we wanted to use the leisure centre every day.

 

[ChocNessie]

Me too never had a problem making a cuppa or staying the night bit of an urban myth I think. Trouble nowadays is finding a place in a layby their usually full of hgvs who refuse to pay the prices in service stations

Too true - I do agree and we have never been challenged making a cuppa.
The other half wouldn't stay overnight from the safety factor.

I just wish local councils would remove the restrictions as it only appears to be there for H&S / insurance purposes - in case you catch fire or are mugged during the night, some jobsworth can say "we told you not to"............

The same in car parks - most car parks ban motorhomes at any time and even those that allow you to stay by buying 2 tickets won't let you stay overnight. How daft what better way to bring tourism than to allow tourers a ONE NIGHT stay in a town centre. It is very common in France as some of their Aires are in towns and villages.

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[ChocNessie]

Well we just have to say why do you own a motorhome and take it camping?


Do you expect a pub to charge you less for a pint because you don't get there til a late hour so you can't drink as much as someone that has been there all night etc etc.
.

Think you missed the point.
I am only talking about out of season when it is impossible to get there by opening time. I don't want to be charged for the 3 pints they assumed I would drink before I actually arrived.

In high season when it is possible to comply I have no issue.

All I am suggesting is a way of increasing out of season business.

I travelled all over the UK for over 20 years with my work and if I arrived at 10 pm never once was I asked to leave by 10 am
(or checkout time) - plus most b&bs are just that and priced accordingly for business sleepovers,

 

[joner8888]

Precisely what I am saying.

However for me it does not work 9 times out of 10.
One person wrote that by taking a pitch I am preventing the site from selling it, but yet again I would remind them I am only talking about out of season when there are loads of unused pitches

If more of us ask and we get better deals then I for one would go more often. The sites in the long term get more custom out of season so have less empty pitches.

Everyone wins

I always negotiate out of season in advance and say I can't get there til late because of school etc - if they say no then I move on to the next one.

Hopefully the site owners will cotton on that a noon to noon is not possible in school term time.

We have x2 little un`s and off season in term time we tend to use the big sites.
Indoor pools/games/skittles/play areas/-some put on entertainment (of a sort)
If it`s freezing outside at least the kids get small winter breaks!
These large sites are usually cheap off season --£5 for some in Dawlish , then they know make their profits up with drink/food/shop prices.

So, cheap to stay there and we don`t have spend on "too much beer" if we don`t want too :thumb:
I would never go to a big site in summer time too much money and people.

In season summer holiday times we use smaller sites because the kids can go out side and keep busy so these sites are cheaper.:thumb:

 

[Snowbird]

Looking at some of the prices sites are charging for short term stays reminds me why I dont use them for short term stays. Oh yes....that reminds me why I bought a motorhome in the first place. I dont need sites for short stays .

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[Mel]

We went last year to Blackpool

Stayed on a campsite from the Haven Group {Marten Mere}

Not peak time but during the Illuminations.

Stoped on the outskirts of Blackpool and met a tugger.

He told me to go there and ask for the £6:00 overnight.

On arrival the receptionist called the manageress.

Stayed two nights for £12:00.with EHU

But if you have kids and have to book in addvance its proberble not as easy.

But i see from there website you can now book from £7:00 per night which is not bad.

You have to look for the offers.


Also s more and more we use Aires we have to let the camsites make profit or they wont be there

I stay on a site in Spain very expensive @ €65:00 per night but the have a waiting area that is often full.

Mel

 

[mitzimad]

i think i must be missing something here dont all sites have seasonal charges which are less in term time /spring/autumn site charges have rocketed in the last few years but then apart from wages what hasnt
i must admit the one that annoys me is the bank holidays when you cant book one night

 

[G4OGE]

Google maps

I was thinking if you know the approximate area you are going to then maybe using Google maps to have a look round to indentify possible quiet stopping places using the ground view will enable you to have a look round I use it if travelling anywhere to get familiar with the area.

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[joner8888]

I was thinking if you know the approximate area you are going to then maybe using Google maps to have a look round to indentify possible quiet stopping places using the ground view will enable you to have a look round I use it if travelling anywhere to get familiar with the area.

I used to use that before traveling abroad and i could see in advance if a hotel was a slum or not. :thumb:----- but then---- I saw the light and own a MH now, if i don`t like somewhere now when i turn up , i drive on :thumb: