Highfield Grange Holiday Park, Essex

Extremely helpful at reception especially when I need assistance with any problem with our caravan .

Never have to wait very long for a member of the maintenance team to attend.

First class service

A lovely site, spacious, plenty of activities for the children, evening entertainment is superb, my granddaughter loves it.

June 2018

Outdoor pool was not open for our stay although it was supposed to be. When asked we were told that they only have so many life guards & that the pool only opened when the indoor one was at capacity.

Also had trouble with dining table, bed & shower.

really disappointed in this site

Hired private lodge .lodge was lovely but kitchen tap dripped all time ,the swimming pool was dirty with tiles coming off in small pool then stuff floating all over in big pool and facility's for disabled not good in changing area the rest the park very clean .bar staff need retraining and glass was dirty when we got served asked for new glass and young lad though the glass in bin .the lodge was great 3bedrooms and 2 shower rooms .

We have visited a lot of holiday parks over the years, This is the 2nd time we have been here, and I can honestly say this will be our last. The 1st time we came we went for a meal in the boat house where the chef and bar staff had an argument and we had to wait well over an hour for our meal. It wasn't busy.

This time, we arrived to be told our caravan wasn't ready. 2 hours later it was finally ready. Ok so these things happen, but after a 5 hour journey to get here it wasn't the best. We were told along with other guests we could have a meal and drink each as an apology. So we went to the boat house to get our meal to be told we can only have tuna, tuna and cucumber, cheese and tomato, or a ham sandwich!!! Lucky us! So we ordered and my meal was missed off! The staff were miserable and uninterested. The highchair was falling apart. Very disappointed. Let's hope it gets better!

The entertainment is not amazing but ok, the caravan is clean enough.

Could be so much better...

Highfield Grange offer caravans for disabled people.Our experience was not good.holes in the ramp,just big enough for a walking stick end. Sliding doors that didn't slide so no privacy in the bedroom or toilet. Mattress springs that cut my arm open.When we complained mattress replaced by narrower ones so bases replaced by metal camp beds. What a holiday and to think we paid for it

Caravan was old no heaters in rooms

very dirty had too clean it myself full clean like fronts of cupboard doors

glass found on floor and sofa and urine on bathroom walls

outside was beer cans teabags coathangers pants and socks general rubbish

and these was there for the 5 days probs still there now

oh and we had no cups or cutlery

dont waste your money going worse ever caravan site ive ever been on

Firstly if your visiting Highfields be sure to take plenty of spending money because you will need it if you are going to eat on site. Most overpriced meals come with chips or mash as standard however if you wish to change this to a Jacket potato it will cost an extra pound. Drinks are extorionate a pint of fosters and a glass of coke £5.10. The campsite itself was clean however the caravan we stayed in was a gold plus 2 bedroom which was cosy with central heating but crockery was missing light bulbs blown curtain tracks broke mirrors missing so for a gold plus caravan it was below standard. Reception staff were friendly however very strict on checking in times but you allowed to use all camp facilities whilst waiting. We went on Mon to Fri brake at a cost of £120.00 I am glad I did not book in school holidays as I priced up the same caravan for August next year and got quted over £800.00. In my opinion Highfield grange needs a lot of work and Park Resorts are just interested in parting the holiday maker with as much money as possible for the least possible return.

I cant praise this park enough, i went after reading the reviews so was a bit doubtful of what we were going to find, but i was more than pleasantly surprised. The staff there really make this site a great park to visit, fantastic entertainment and the kids absolutely loved it. The boat house and chipshop provide good food and reasonable prices and just opposite is a shopping park with Tesco, Pizza Hut and KFC.

We will definately be going back again as this was by far the best park we have come across for great entertainment provided by staff that really care. The site was also very clean and we saw gardeners during the whole week we were there clearing and tidying the flower beds. Very impressed.

read the reviews on this having just got back from a weekend there and i dont know if the peolpe who left it went to a different site but it was a lovely site full up on saturday and still does not fill packed very cleaned staff helpful woulod recommend to every one

We have just come back from a week at Highfields and thankfully it only cost us about £70 with The Sun £9.50 holidays, because if I had paid full brochure price I would have been even more dissappointed than I am now.

We checked in at around 5pm, no queues in reception although the 2 teenage lads on the desk were very disinterested in their job and not a happy smiley meeter and greeter as you would expect.

We had a bronze 2 bedroom which was ok. It was an early 2000 model and showed some signs of wear and tear especially on the carpets and sofa's in the lounge. The shower/toilet room bizzarely had carpet on the floor which was water stained and constantly got wet again everytime you got out of the shower from the residue of water that sat on the glass. The beds were made up for us on arrival, the bedrooms were small, but we could cope with that. The kitchen was adequately equipped and clean, although we were missing a grill pan handle. The tv in the lounge was ok when watching terrestrial channels but if you changed over to digital channels there were only about half a dozen that worked (even after retuning) and then these would pixalate and freeze.

The Grange (The Complex) was nice. A decent sized arcade with various different gaming and arcade style games. The main bar and evening entertainment venue which had plenty of seats and tables free although I would expect it hard to get a table in peak periods. The swimming area looked ok, but we didnt go in, so cant comment. The Boathouse showed football matches on the big screen and housed what looked like a nice bar and restaurant, although we didnt eat here or spend anytime in The Boathouse, so again cannot comment.

The evening entertainment was poor. After the first night, we never bothered getting to the complex until after 9pm as before then it was bingo and kids club stuff. The main entertainment didnt start until 9.30/10pm. The female singer on the Monday night had a decent voice, but in our opinion had a very strange choice of songs, jumping from pop, to country to Disney in a random fashion. The Teamstar show "Rockstar supercar" was ok, but didnt seem to flow well and didnt all gel together to give it that "show" feel, also the team only consisted of 6 people and with one controlling the lights and sound in the box (and presumably one on a night off), there really isnt much chance of staging a more spectacular show with just 4 people on stage to bring it alive. Wednesday night saw duo Tide of Sound take to the stage with a collection of hits from the 60's right up to the present day. And finally Thursday evening saw The Balloonatic, a very clever and talented man who makes balloon animals/hats/etc but he plays to the whole audience, young and old alike, making models to music and finishes up by making the largest balloon dog you have ever seen.

On the Wednesday evening we decided to try the onsite fish and chips, but it was closed despite a sign saying open 7 days a week. We finally got our fish and chips on Thursday after a 30 minute wait (and it wasn't even that busy) for the one member of staff to take everybodys orders and payment, cook the fish and chips and then serve it.

The park itself was very untidy. They moved a caravan from the plot next to our caravan on Tuesday and left the decking they had removed from around it scattered around our caravan, making it very dangerous coming back late at night. The housekeeping staff finally tidied up the decking (a little bit anyway)on Friday morning just before we left.

Security were on site in the evenings, but to my knowledge never made any tours around the site, they appeared to just staff the main gate (on one occasion I had forgotten my pass card and waved my credit card at them through my car window and they opened the barrier and let me in!?!?!?) They also staffed the main entrance to The Grange, but they were not bothered about checking passes and besides you could always get into the Complex via The Boathouse that never had security on the door. And on many occasions during the evening, all the Security would leave the main entrance unattended and be in the main show bar watching the entertainment.

To sum up, I am glad we had no young children with us and that we only used the camp as a base and spent most days out and about.

Would I holiday here again? Only on another Sun £9.50 holiday and only then if I cant get a Haven camp (which in my experience are far better).

Would I recommend to friends and family? Definately not.