Pontins, Camber Review

Overall Rating

I am used to going on touring caravan holidays and used to 70's toilet blocks so am no snob. After a 9 hour journey from Glasgow to Camber Sands I also was dreading my arrival at Pontins as it was just too cheap. My husband assured me it was just due to the credit crunch.

As soon as we drove through the gates I could see all the attractions such as crazy golf, go carts etc and my heart sank as everything looked so run down. Whilst checking in i started to hear all the complaints going in, one being the electricity cards you had to buy for your apartment.

We collected our keys and I used the toilets in the main building. The tears started coming as they were absolutely disgusting. Broken black seats, broken handles, mirrors that were so old they were all brown round the rims and they were filthy. I took a deep breath and rejoined my young children and made my way over to the cell blocks.

Now I could cope with the blue bath with chipped paint, the tatty couch bed and the extremely old kitchen but I was being pushed to my limits by the broken plastic school chairs and don't ask me why, but I had a delayed reaction and then the most awful smell hit me at which point I burst into tears and refused to stay.

The staff in reception were great and took us immediately to be upgraded. These flats were much better but they were upstairs and you could see the grime on the bathroom tiles and broken bits in the kitchen however these would have been a bit more acceptable.

I walked around the complex and was told that we had £100 vouchers to spend on food and drink but again everywhere smelt and I would not have been able to eat in the unhygienic surroundings. (i should have stayed as would have lost loads of weight).

We decided not to stay and went to Haven up the road. It was not the best Haven I have been to but as soon as we drove in I felt relieved as was CLEAN AND MAINTAINED.

Our friends stayed at Pontins as they did not wish to drive any further that day. They said the upgraded flat was o.k. and the kids were loving the entertainment, arcades and activities and were not noticing all the negatives. The parents however were but they could cope as going to Florida next year. I on the other hand needed a proper holiday and would have been utterly depressed to have stayed here.

The staff were lovely and gave us a refund. They also bent over backwards for our friends who stayed on and I guess this is because they know themselves how rundown the place is but obviously can't be seen to be agreeing with me.

Apparently Camber Sands is one of the last parks to be improved so my advise to anyone who has still to go is to phone up and asked to be transferred to another location OR go to Haven at least it is clean.

I am no better than the next person and I felt guilty for leaving the other guests behind. In order to submit this review I was forced to highlight one star - my mark out of 5 was zero. I never lasted the day there.