The Park

(Click the picture to view my Picasa album with more pics of Burgh Island and Challaborough)

It may be of use to anyone stumbling randomly on this blog to get a review of the holiday park itself.
We went to Parkdean holidays and were a little nervous as the few reviews you can read are either glowing praise or stories of doom and gloom.

It appears the site has two operators, one is Parkdean and the other is perhaps left for people to form their own opinions and believe me I heard people openly discussing the 2nd operator and almost offered them shelter and comfort in our caravan.

We rented a "Heron" caravan which is normally a few years of age, it was a "Super Comfort 35" van and was superb, the van had plenty of space (we had a 2 bedroom van), the living area (pictured) had plenty of deep seating, a freeview TFT TV with built in DVD player, a very well equipped kitchen and a bathroom better than ours at home !

The bathroom had a walk in power shower, big enough for two people, a large built in sink with mixer tap and was en-suite to the main bedroom, a door on the main passageway gave a 2nd entrance.

complete with central heating and double glazing it was 10/10 for this, parking was fine, right beside the van and the owners had put a picnic bench outside and rotary clothes drier so top marks for them as well.

Parkdean themselves went above and beyond in looking after you, the staff (even the chaps mowing the lawns etc) were friendly and made you feel looked after - the entertainment was fine with no complaints, a good size bar and again the staff did all they could to make you feel welcome.

We tried the take away service but perhaps it was the late time we went that made it less than we expected. The chicken burger was fine but the 12 inch "Rollover" hot dog was luke warm and in a dry bun. They do pizza and other stuff there, they looked OK.

The site has a 2nd bar and restaraunt "Regatta" and we went there for a meal, they were very busy as England were playing so we waited about 45 mins for the food to come, to be 100% honest it was perfectly edible and actually far better than many places I've eaten at in the past, in fact the portions were so good none of us could finish their meals despite the fact we were starving.
Although one or two pounds dearer perhaps than a pub meal if you went out locally and added petrol on etc I doubt you would eat much cheaper.
The roast chicken (I think it was £6.95) was 1/2 a chicken with veg and potatoes which looked really nice, I had Rump steak, nipper had chicken and bacon melt with Jacket spud and missus had ribs with fries, corn on the cob, fresh coleslaw and other bits and bobs - add to that some home made onion rings and we were more than happy.

I did notice one or two people getting agitated with the wait but the bar was very busy and one or two got slightly wrong orders (chips instead of boiled potatoes) but I would definately eat in there again, we planned to but when we went into Tesco got a snack for the last night instead (which probably cost as much as eating in there).

All in all the park was very good, we didn't go into the indoor pool (as we spent all the time in the sea at Burgh Island), didn't go into the amusements so can't comment on any of them and the site has a small Costcutter shop for essentials.

Perhaps the one and only thing I noticed was the small stream that goes through the park (and behind our caravan), people seemed to use it as a dumping ground for a few bits of rubbish and even emptying soapy water from buckets they used to wash their vans. As this stream emerges on the beach it was a shame to see the cups, bags and rubbish in there as it has signs for children to look out for frogs etc - It's not encouraging to get your children to play in a soapy rubbish strewn stream.
It didn't ruin the holiday but when every thing else is so good you notice these things, much like Challaborough beach, when the tides out it's fine but walk back to the high water line and the rotting seaweed and flies and you feel it shouldn't be like that.

Would I go back - absolutely, the park and the caravan were great, we had one episode where some drunken fools had a massive row on the road at 3:40am (one thoughtfully stood outside our van shouting and screaming), Parkdean security were on the scene quickly and dispersed the problem, we never saw them again so either they went home early or were thrown out - either was OK with us and it wasn't Parkdeans fault it happened, it was the drunken idiots - if you can't hold your drink then don't drink.

Parkdean security were noticed several times patrolling so full marks to them for making you feel comfortable and secure.

All in all we had a fantastic time, the caravan site was close enough to Torquay, Plymouth etc to make day trips simple, we enjoyed Burgh Island beach for it's outstanding sandy beaches and rockpools and just had a great time.

Many thanks to Parkdean for looking after us so well and making us feel looked after - if your thinking of going here then use Parkdean and not the "other" operator who I heard stories about myself whilst there (not good ones).