Fairway Holiday Park, Sandown, Isle of Wight Review

“Fairway holiday park is about a 20 minute walk from...”

Written on: 04/09/2006 by diamond stace (14 reviews written)

Good Points
Helpful staff, outdoor heated pool, range of caravans, nice location, good range of evening entertainment

Bad Points
Evening entertainment was a bit cheesy at times, can be a bit of a walk to Sandown so may be worth taking the car

General Comments
Fairway holiday park is about a 20 minute walk from Sandown beach, however we found that this walk is extremely tiring up and down hills so we only did it once and took the cars down to the beach the rest of the week as the parking is reasonably priced and easy to find spaces.

The holiday park itself has a range of caravans to choose from, these including 4, 6 or 8 berth caravans in various star ratings each with differing prices. The pricing not only depends on the caravan you choose it also depends on the time of year you go and how long you decide to go for. For a 3 night break prices range from £50 to £258. For a 4 night break prices range from £71 to £367. For a 7 night break prices range from £117 to £642.

The company is very helpful, are always willing to take phone calls and do their best to help you arrange the holiday. They can even arrange your ferry tickets for you if you are going from main land England. When you arrive the reception staff are friendly and helpful giving you your caravan keys, directing you to it, and giving you a handful of leaflets with information both on what is happening inside the resort and some local attractions that you might decide to go and see.

We stayed in a platinum 8 berth caravan. The van was very well fitted with 3 bedrooms (a double of 2 twin rooms) and a pull out sofa bed in the lounge. There was a toilet with a separate shower room. The kitchen was fitted with a fridge, cooker, microwave and a number of cupboards for storage. They also included a kettle, cutlery, plates, bowls and a number of cooking utensils. Although a bit cramped at times the caravan had everything we could have needed in it.

The site has an outdoor heated swimming pool which is 1.4m at the deepest end and starts very shallow. Surprising for quite a large holiday park it was not very busy in the pool for most of the day (we went in the middle of August).

The site also has a clubhouse which has a children's bar for their sweets etc, a food counter serving the general burgers, chips etc, and a large bar. During the evening the clubhouse had various entertainment on, all ran by a very cheesy, highly energetic man. He kept the kids entertained until 10pm with various discos, party dances etc, then came the bingo and from then on it was "adult entertainment" until about midnight. The adult entertainment included various challenges, karaoke etc. The clubhouse also has Sky TV which is on throughout most of the day until the evening entertainment begins and pool tables.

Just across the road from the site entrance is a Londis shop so it is possible to just stay on the site for the week and not have to travel down to Sandown if you do not wish to.

Also on site is a kids play area with slide, roundabout, swings etc, and in the summer they have a bouncy castle and assault course. The site also has an amusement arcade with various games machines, a pool table. etc.

Whilst staying here I would recommend touring the island and seeing some of the attractions. Sandown beach 20 minutes walk away is fantastic with a nice safe beach, large amusement arcade, plenty of shops and bars. There is also a zoo on the sea front which is host to many animals including some rather impressive tigers. Shanklin is a short drive down the road and is home to Shanklin Chine - a very beautiful place with lots of waterfalls and impressive scenery. The model village and the needles at Alum Bay are also well worth visiting.

I would definitely recommend Fairway Holiday Park to people, especially those with children, and will definitely be returning next year myself. Fantastic value for money and a great atmosphere. Even though my teenage sister and her friends thought the evening entertainment was a bit cheesy at the beginning of the week, by the end of the week they couldn't get enough of it!