Haven Holidays, Golden Sands

We have been to Mablethorpe for the last 4 years on the touring park, returned because we loved it.

The toilet blocks were disgusting, I don’t think they have been cleaned for weeks, running out of hand towels, the showers, there was nothing good to say about them, we were there for 3 weeks and one shower cubicle had something not very nice on the back of the door it was there the whole time.

The attention to litter, dog bins overflowing.

That was and will be our last visit to Haven Mablethorpe

book for golden sands for one week stayed 3 days due to

no activites for disabled childrennfunfair way over priced shocking restraint nicely decorated for one adult and 4 little children to eat a one course dinner almost 70 pound. entertainment at night lacking poorly outdated and way over priced the chalet was crampted and dirty the only thing going for it is its over the road from the beach would never take my family again.oh and that's not all the security guard on the gates kept blowing kisses to my underaged daughter when I went into reception to complain about the behaviour didn't seem bothered at all.NO WIFI IN ANY CARAVAN ON AVAILABLE IF YOU GO TO MAIN ENTERTAINMENT THEN YOUR PAYING A STUPID PRICE

Caravan good, but not enough bedding, when did get more was stained and ripped.

Site - overall filthy, rubbish everywhere, rat traps too! Slightly disconcerting....

Amusements, many machines broken, toys not worth money you spend to win them. Staff rude.

Restaurant - expensive, dirty,had to wait over an hour on several occasions for food.

Entertainment -if that's what it's called! Like bad karaoke. No special cabaret acts like before, now all run by Haven team.

No children's cabaret like singing etc as before, just disco.

Shop - SPAR - expensive!!!!

Laundrette - expensive, £7.50 for 1 wash and dry!!!

Pool - supposedly heated, but cold. Lifeguards more interested in their appearance than swimmers! Also not following their own pool rules ie no inflatables, no bombing etc.

Generally very expensive holiday!!!

My family and I were excited to arrive at the resort. I have 4 children an autistic child, baby and 2 other children. The caravan was dire, the stench was unbearable. The staff quickly moved us to a second caravan. This also smelt like smokers, deep fat fryers and the caravan had never been cleaned. The staff moved us to another caravan. Along side the stench we found pubic hair in all the beds, crisp crumbs and mud! We moved to another caravan. We opened the door and to no surprise we were hit with the same smell and dirt. At this point we left the resort. The resort was filthy, smelt terrible and there was no standard of cleanliness!!

Mr and my husband was looking forward to this holiday as we have enjoyed the previous couple a lot. However I was reading the reviews of this camp site before we went and they were not too good so was slightly worried. Well it seems we had need to be. We were expecting a caravan and we have an apartment in B Block. B stands for Barracks!!! It took us ages to find it partly because we were not expecting to be in a building like this. The place was awful. Tired was not the word for it. The cushions on the settee were stained all over badly. You could not sit down on it without sinking down. I am partially disabled and had trouble getting up. Two of the three chairs were wobbly and need repairing. The mattress was clean but the springs were awful and my husband and I hardly had any sleep. The windows were absolutely filthy as well as dirt there was paint all over them. The freezer part of the fridge had no door, so did not work properly. The shower door was a sliding one and only fixed at the top but had a bolt. Waste of time with not having a bottom rail. The base of the shower was surrounded with mouldy sealant and really very tired. The television was a tiny screen one and with a lots of items on there was only a strip across the centre and was well as that the mirror was on the wall behind the television. It was noisy at night as some of the staff lived in a block next to us. We also could hear upstairs to us a lot.. I was hoping to go swimming to help my disabilty but we ended up staying in every evening because it was not fair to ask my husband to drive the car to the main part of the camp site after driving all day around Devon. It was too far to walk for me. So we never used the restaurant, activities or shop or swimming pool, in fact did not even know where the indoor one was. The entrance to the camp was really bad. You can see clearly the entrance to the big camp site on the corner but to find Golden Sand you had to go up and see a little notice that says Golden Sands. Another camps own sign was on the right and it was building works on the left, so the entrance was very hidden. Before I went on holiday I did email as I normally did and explained that I was disabled and could I have a place near when I could park. I explain I could not walk far and this would include stairs. When we arrived I explained to the young lady about all this and she said we could park right next to the place but no mention of steps down to the apartment was mentioned. I suppose I was lucky I did not have to go upstairs. Most of the staff were okay but there were a couple that were useless. I never intend to stay at Golden Sands ever again. I believe the place needs a total re-vamp and re-decoration. I know we were in Bronze and it was through the Sun paper. But it was not a free holiday we did have to pay for four when it was only the two of us. This included four linen ad pass charges, but I did expect it to be better than this. My husband does not want to use Park Holidays again but we have had some nice places before. So we will have to see about next year. Both of us are retired now so it is the only way we can afford a holiday but this year we came back more stressed even though we visited some lovely places in Devon and Cornwall.

what a truly disappointing experience! Arrived Monday and by Wednesday couldn't stand another night. It was my first holiday with my 3 year old son and was totally disgusted with the cleanliness of the food areas food, cutlery and litter on the floor with no staff to be seen. Absolutely horrified how filthy the soft play area was 3" of dust and dirt surrounded it!. Will never visit another Haven site!

We booked a 4 night stay at Haven Golden Sands !!! Never again will we be going any where near a Haven site booked a 4 night stay & one was too many one word sums it up DISGUSTING. Came home after the first night .

Only just got round to writing a review, but we enjoyed a weeks holiday at Haven's Golden Sands in May 2012.

Despite other reviews on here, we had a great time.

Check-in was handled well and on arrival the caravan was nice & clean and fully equipped. After 10 minutes of being in the caravan, a checker arrived to ensure that everything was ok with the caravan and he checked the smoke alarms, never had that happen before at any other holiday park, but it was a nice touch.

I think a better design is needed at the complex as you enter through the amusement arcade but you then have to exit the other side of the amusement arcade and walk past the fairground area before you go back into the main complex with the Live Lounge, Galleon Restaurant and Show Bar. You also need to show your pass twice, once at the arcade entrance and then again at the main complex entrance, despite the fact that you can only get to the main complex entrance by entering through the arcade.

We didn't eat in the restaurant or Papa John's Pizza but the menu looked good and not too expensive.

Ther swimming pool was nice and clean. A bit small, but as we were there out of season it wasn't too busy.

The upstairs Showbar was large but very outdated and whilst we were there, it was only used for Bingo. Apparently it is used in the main summer season when there is demand for it.

The Live Lounge was very nice, not crowded and always chance to get a seat. The bar staff however (who were all quite young) were very slow at serving and seemed more intent on chatting to each other rather than working. At one point they completely run out of glasses and only then when they had run out did they decide to come out and collect glasses that had been piling up on tables all night. I never once saw a complex manager or bar manager which judging by the performance of the bar staff is desperately needed.

The entertainment was good. As we don't have children we were not interested in the Bradley and Rory Childrens Shows, but when we did catch the end of them, the kids all seemed to be enjoying themselves. The Live Acts and Funstar Shows were good, some were better than others, but all in all very good.

We only used the Park as a base and went out and about every day. Mabelthorpe is a nice seaside town, with a nice beach and the usual seaside style shops in the town. There is also a co-op foodstore which proved useful for picking up a few items although there is a well stocked shop on site that is fairly reasonably priced. Also a very nice Indian Take Away, Taj on Victoria Road and they deliver to the Park.

We also took a trip down to Skegness for the day and went in Butlins as a day visitor.

All in all a very nice holiday and we will definately be returning.

I have been coming to Golden Sands for years and this will be our fourth year. After reading a lot of negative reviews I can understand why it could drive people away from this site.

However if it were as bad as people say it is, me and my family would not be so eager to return.

I have found that the people complaining must have been expected to be waited on hand and foot. Somebody should have reminded them that this is Haven not the Hilton.

Each year we have been here we have seldom had any problems with our caravan apart from our heating not working and a bulb running out in the hallway area(which is to be expected) and not in any case did these minor issues affect our holiday. All kitchen appliances were clean, bedrooms were clean and presentable, as was the lounge.

As for the site, well it's a haven site, i have found that it is so much better than other sites that I have visited (Devon Cliffs). The pool was always clean and not at all filthy and swimming in algae as some reviews have stated. The on site SPAR shop is expensive but hey, its not the end of the world, do your shopping somewhere else. There are plenty of shops in the Mabelthorpe town (heron foods / the co op).

It is rather difficult to find a table in the bar area because it is so crowded but that is not their fault. If you're that bothered go earlier!

The town in Mabelthorpe is a pretty little seaside town equipped with a fair, a number of pubs, fast food outlets and tacky little souvenir shops, everything you would expect a seaside town to be.

The beach is gorgeous and sandy and dogs are allowed which is a bonus because my dog loves the beach, we take him around 6pm when its less crowded so we can let him off his lead and he can have a run.

The food is always up to a high standard and delicious, we have never had any problems.

Basically anybody complaining about lack of service and so on needs to get a grip, its a busy popular holiday park and the staff are rushed off their feet 24/7. After all the staff are not there just for you and your complaints. Its a perfect little destination and to be quite honest I am very much looking forward to returning in two weeks time.

hi my name is emma green and i have bin goin to haven golden sands since i was a lil girl and all the features they have there are brilliant, im 24 now and i have a daughter of my own now and she loves going to the fun palace, and the clubs and arcades and she loves the caravans we go in, let me tell u a lil bit about haven, my uncle use to own quad bikes and bumper boats years ago and they were exellent, least everybody went on them, and the staff r well helpfull and the funstars r great with kids, they entertain you in loads of ways to get the party started, we r comin to haven in september for 2 weeks and i cant wait cuz i love it there, haven 2012 bring it on xxxxxx