Quote: Originally posted by steventhehamster on 30/8/2007
as said before go on the campsite reviews. I have got most of our camping hol sites off this site by reading the reviews and we have not been disappointed by any of them. they are honest. we like the smaller family run sites cos they tend to be quieter. as long as they have a kids play area thats fine. dont let this put you off though
I do, I do read the reviews, but when the last review was from August 2006 and didn't really say anything bad about noise at least, what can you do? Okay, I could avoid such a site, but its not really a fair judgement is it?
I would be willing to chance a "smaller family run site", but the reviews don't exactly say that's what they are.
Another point about the reviews is how far back do you go before you consider the information to be out of date, for example, if someone writes a review two years ago complaining of grotty showers, and nobody reviews it since, does it still stand or do you chance it in the hope they've been refurbished (to be quite honest as long as a shower is warm and I don't have to share it with the local farm animals I don't really care on it's condition, in fact animals are usually less noisier and intrusive on a night time).
As things stand, I've bought a second tent (third if you count the single skin two man thing ) so I can hot-foot it out of Leeds on a Friday night and return home on a Sunday. Therefore I need to stay within a reasonable distance so I can ensure I arrive and pitch before dark, with car, wife and kids (in that order ). Yes, I know weekends will tend to be busier, and this makes things slighty more difficult in being too choosy, hence the point about accepting a site with old reviews , and not specifically mentioning quietness. Also I'm finding that most sites don't take bookings for just two nights.
I'm just really miffed that there are such inconsiderate people, but sadly it seems that this is becoming the norm. I initially posted to test the water as it were to see if I'd misread the situation and that camping had moved on and modernised into a glorified p!$$ up. Thankfully most comments here seem to confirm I'm not out of touch.