What do other people think about what time reception should be open till? We are finding more and more that reception shuts at 5pm surly on bank holidays and in the summer they should stay open later we really struggle as hubby does not finish till 5pm and it puts us off when we have trouble arriving at sites with no body at hand even though we have said we will be there 6pm to 630pm we are left to get on with it.
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If you know your pitch number and theres no barrier, Think ad just get on with it, Dont think i need anyone to hold my hand.ad just go to my allocated pitch.
------------- Roughing it in style at Calloose caravan and camping holiday park nr St Ives.(seasonal pitch)
Its not a hangover, its wine flu!
When we had an FC, it took so long to pack it up in the mornings that by the time we were driving off the site at noon, there were queues of caravans and motorhomes outside the gates waiting to get onto the site.
This being the case I guess that most arrivals come in before 5pm and it is only the odd van that arrives after that and so it is not worth their while manning reception after 5pm.
As bill above if you have booked and know your pitch Number
there should be no problem.
Even if staff where there late you would still have to get on with it
you dont say in your post what you want them to do.
------------- alpiner
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A lot of the club sites we use have reception open until 8.00pm or later, if arriving late you can inform them. Independent sites vary with some being staffed until much later in the evening, if you are told your pitch number, as others have stated, then you can proceed with your unit and set up without any assistance or a guide to show you around, all the facilities are usually close by, failing that your friendly neighbour will advise (hopefully).
I think it depends on the site - family owned parks often keep reception times more flexible, but the clubs normally have set times. The big sites usually have someone around or information on what/where to go.
Its when you arrive and they say someone is going to be there then you arrive and there isn't your then hunting for a code for toilets I don't expect them to hold my hand although we have been to a regular site and they take us to pitch and help in hitch which is nice , surly hubby isn't the only one who works till 5 pm and that's a good day ,its OK knowing pitch number but without maps and clean pitch numbers how do you find the pitch without driving around? Some sites are fairly big with pitches all over
We are open 24/7 technically we tend to ask customers eta and work around that, but we're a small site with just myself n husband owning and running it..
------------- If you can't beat em, join em, so we did! And then we sold it for a holiday let & Glamping pod instead 😁
There is a remarkably easy answer to melrebnat's problem.
Hubby gets a job where he finishes work at lunchtime on a Friday and gives his family ample time to arrive on any site while the reception is still open.
That way only one person his to change his working practise rather than all the people that work in the receptions of all the sites they may wish to stay on.
Most of the sites we stay on have their own peculiar "down-sides", but these add to the variety that make up UK Caravanning. If they all worked to the same rules and standards, caravanning would be a very dull hobby.
I would rather be left alone to get on with the job, if you are capable of unhitching and setting up yourself why do you need someone else.
You can either make mistakes or forget to do things such as tighten the jockey wheel when you are chatting away about your journey or the weather.
If we have arrived on a site when the staff are not available there is usually instructions what to do and sort everything out in the morning.
What's reception? we mostly use CLs/CSs, sometimes the owners are all over you when you arrive (which we find irritating), sometimes you never see them and have to go looking to pay or ask any questions. Something in between the two is best for us.
If the site is run by managers / employees who don't live on site - 5 pm is reasonable, please put up a sign to say which pitches are free (if we're arriving unbooked as usual) or where our pitch is (if we have phoned ahead). But if they go at 5, then I'd expect the shop or office to be open the full working day.
If the site is run by a manager who lives on site - most come to the door of the house / caravan if the office is closed, say "pay tomorrow" after discussing where to pitch, what the toilet code is etc. C&CC stay open to 8 pm, but the office / shop is shut during the day and there are 2 couples on a rota at busy C&CC sites.
If the site is run by the owners (CLs, CSs and smaller independant sites) who will live on or near the site - we using common sense and courtesy as a guide: I'd never turn up at a friend's house too late unless something had happened and in that case I'd phone up to alert them. I have had a suspicion at some sites that a few folk turn up late and leave early - i.e. they don't pay, the owner doesn't know they were there.