Reviews of Bainland Country Park, Woodhall Spa
Review by Sarah Brookes on 5th October, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 2nd September 2010
Hi, stayed at Bainland Park for 5 days in September this year. We met up with other members of our extended family there - we ourselves are relatively new to touring - this being only our third trip away with the van. An efficient check in, saw us directed down to our superpitch, where thankfully we were joined moments later by a helpful member of their Grounds Team, offering assistance in getting the caravan set up. The site is huge compared to thers we stayed at - the pitches are spacious and very well laid out from what we saw of site. Toilet blocks (3 in total) were clean (though the Touring Park was only 2/3 full at the time) and showers were hot. The blocks were cleaned at least once each day too which was nice.
The site has an indoor heated pool - perhaps a little on the small side, but the kids loved it - especially the jacuzzi. As we were 'all inclusive', we didnt have to pay any extra to use Bainlands facilities - the kids surely must have got their moneys worth - we barely saw them for hours! It was bliss :)
We had a family meal (12 of us) in the main bistro - found the staff to be very attentive (Gavin was a star with the kids!) and the food, which was all homemade, was delicious. The quiz night afterwards topped the night off beautifully for us all.
On the whole, we loved our stay at Bainlands. Matthew and his team made us feel very welcome and we are happy to recommend the Park to any other nervous campers!!
Review by mark on 5th September, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 31st aug - 4th sept
Here we go again, anyone who wants to go to Bainland should think again, what Daz says in the previous write up is totally true, as i have said in previous reviews we have been visiting Bainland for over twenty years, we have seen it grow and enjoyed it, each time we have visited over the last two - three years we have said its in need of updating, for those of you who do not know, Bainland have a planning application in to site 160 static caravans on this site and retain 25 touring caravan pitches, one side of me says hope they do and the other says hope they dont, this site is so run down it is unbelieveable, we have been twice during the six week school holiday and during the week have seen only around 10 caravans on site, apart from the regular permenant vans who many seem to have turned it into a travellers site something must be wrong especially when the site can accomodate over 150 caravans. i walked around the site one morning and what a beautiful setting this park is in, so much could be done. for people who say its a fantastic site etc, you must not get out much, yes Bainland is fantastic, the site is run down, the wc blocks are tatty and forget the showers, one of the wc blocks for some reason advertise "these showers have been fitted with Bristan power showers" could i suggest a visit from Bristan or remove the notice as i got no indication of a power shower [oh yes i should know, i run five plumbers merchants] the showers leak, one day they are warn another cold the taps either blast water or give none, the grass pitches need cutting, the lorry came to empty the bins one day and lifted them dropping sweet wrappers all over the place, i bet you they are stil there now! a super pitch, you get an old coaxil wire some without arial point on some with, a smelly drain that never gets cleaned, [i bleached ours as the smell was awfull] oh and by the way we was only on a super pitch as they call them becasue of on arrival we where told the duty manager has moved you!!!!! from the pitch we had booked. my wife played up a bit and they offered us a super pitch, my advise is if you do go, dont go on a super pitch,save a bit of money and after our first visit dont go on the golf course side unless you want earwigs all over.
One laugh we had was in the reception which yes did used to be excellent and clean, was a container labelled polish on a mucky, dusty windowsill! right next to the office where the "duty manager must sit" wake up please, its clear you are losing trade.
The resturant is staffed by staff who look down on you, and if you dont mind having your meal with hundreds of flys, may i suggest eating elsewhere.
Bainland is over priced, unloved and now run very very badly, the caravan industry is on the increase with dealers boasting of record sales, good caravan sites are needed, come on ""either piss or get off the pot""
its sad we love Bainland and our children have grown up wanting to go to Bainland, we love Woodhall Spa its a lovely sleepy town full of character and relaxation, thankfully new sites have opened in Woodhall much nicer and cheaper and sadly Bainland is no longer worthy of a visit.
to add to the previous persons write up.
Bowling - ripped and full of rubbish, empty beer cans, food wrappers and artificial turf covered in leafs etc
table tennis - stuck in a place where you could not really play, the table is wonky with a foot missing, the bats are two wooden boards with handles no rubber coating [oh and they where like that last year!]
Putting green - full of tree debris
Golf - we dont play so no comment
crazy golf - unkept and dirty
childrens play area, thankfully my kids are out of that age group
swimming - ok but never see anyone checking the water?
Jacuzzi - ok again is it clean never see anyone checking the water
resturant - full of flys, does not appear to be any fly killers around
pitches - in need of love and grass cutting.
Sorry Bainland, its hard writing such a review, we have paid nearly £500 for two weeks during the summer, overcharged and under satisfied.
Review by daz on 21st August, 2010
Add your review Date visited: august 2010
Bainland park – the summary first – nicely presented site, hedges between many pitches for privacy, well maintained showers, and the reception area as posh as some hotels.
UNFORTUNATELY, this is were the good stuff ends for us. everything else is so run down. The ’all inclusive’ part, for me anyway, is a rip-off, and I would suggest you dont book a pitch thinking there is loads of fun things to do, without doing your homework first. THE WEBSITE IS NOT ACCURATE. ALL IN ALL, definitely not all inclusive, and even though the staff at reception asked me what I thought of the site, they were not interested in what I had to say. SO WHY DO THEY ASK?
You would perhaps have a more satisfying holiday time if you book your self into any other regular campsite, and take yourselves out for days to other theme parks, sea fronts etc . Even after these expenses, you would probably save money on comparison of the fees. This is the summary, my explanation if you are interested, now follows,
When I paid my £136 for a 3 night stay in cash, I was not given a receipt. So I asked for a receipt, to which their reply was ‘do I need one?’ so I have no idea whether the staff have a scheme of keeping the money for themselves. But for me this is the only time camping I have not been given a receipt.
After you read the website for all the appetizing ‘’so called’’ all inclusive parts, you could be forgiven for thinking the expensive sites fees were justified, just as we did.
TABLE TENNIS – only one table for the whole campsite, with one of its feet missing so it sags in one corner, one pair of bats with all the sponge picked off with just small pieces left stuck on so when you hit the ball it goes off in any direction. When I asked staff for another set of bats, the only reply was ‘we know the bats are no good but they were new at the start of the season so I cant have any others’ . . . gobsmacked, so it becomes my fault that they cant provide equipment that works?
TENNIS – we was advised over the phone that this was all inclusive, until we got there to be told there is no tennis because this is ‘privately owned’ and we need to book and ‘pay’ the club directly. 2 days into this trip, a different member of staff now tells me that they DO have one tennis court at the end of the ones owned by this club. So we got the rackets from reception, and walked down past these very clean and swish looking club courts, to see this rectangular patch of concrete, markings barely visible, the fence collapsing, and a large ‘traffic cone’ either side of the centre as if to resemble a net, but there was no net! The cones were it! Total rubbish.
GOLF – each golf bag has a variation of clubs in it so no two bags appear to be the same. The only tees in the bags were splintered remains of wooden ones. some of the golf clubs handle rubbers were half missing. The golf course itself though was adequate for us as novices.
PUTTING GREEN – a small patch of ‘rough’ ground, with several holes squeezed into it, that are barely a few feet apart. Rubbish.
CRAZY GOLF – absolutely disgusting, 6 tatty plastic moulds ‘so called’ crazy golf holes that were all identical! Each had a small ramp to hit and send the ball up, and then you putt it. Even the kids didn’t like this version of the game.
SWIMMING POOL – we had ace fun in here as a family messing around together despite the small size of the pool. Only 24 are allowed in at a time and this was far too many. So you can guess the size for your self. And as for it being so called all inclusive, you are only allowed 1 HOUR a day! So when it got close to the hour, we hid in the steam room for ten minutes until the jobs-worth staff had gone back out again. I know this was wrong, but because the site was more than half empty, hardly anyone was in the pool, so there should be no reason for them to kick us out.
JACUZI – turned out to be pretty good, water jets had great power so we fealt like we had had a massage from this high pressure tub.
SAUNA – this worked ok, in between the times other children nipped in and out of the door for 3 minutes at a time.
ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND - has a zip-wire . . with no 'zip', when the kids set off on it they only travelled half way across its short length before coming to a standstill. The remainder of this area was mainly just large agricultural tyres to clamber over.
Hope this info helps you. good luck
Review by Miss,A.Sinderson on 14th August, 2010
Add your review Date visited: july 2010
We recentley returned from a mid week break at Bainlands and im must say we had a great time we took two children one 3 years and one 6 years old and they had a great time.All the staff seemed really friendly,
The only thing i would say is that the resturant didnt have allot of choice on the menu some 2 4 1 meals would be good and were quite expensive,also there should be some entertainment on for the children if you stay mid week not just at weekends,But all in all we all had a great time and will certainly be coming again,
Review by mrs julie johnson on 27th May, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 21 may2010
we booked a 2 bedroom bungalow at bainland for myself and my husband and our 3 children,one 24monthes one 4 and one 9years,the bungalow although dated provided spaciuos accomadation which in my opinion was far better than centre parks the linen was exceptionally clean as was the entire place,the kicthen was stock with just about everything you could possibly need,even the babies cot had lovely clean beddin g. i dont cook much on holiday,so we relied on the resturant the staff went out of their way to accomadate usthey could not do enough,it can be very difficult to have a break with young children,we will definately book again we had 3 nights for 230pounds it was great value for money and the pool and jacuzzi included on the hotest weekend so far,graet place,happy hols,
Review by mrs waby on 22nd March, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 2008/2009.
We have stayed at bainland many times,after discovering this lovely retreat a couple of years ago! The grounds are pleasant to walk around,facilities good,plenty to do for all.The staff are all very pleasant,especially the lady in the shop and receptionists..
Review by mark stones on 1st November, 2009
Add your review Date visited: 30th october 2009
Well here we go again.
I have to say a slight improvement on the last visit.
Beer and food prices ridiculous not to mention the choice! Never mind, use the chippy down in Woodhall Spa or the Conservative club of the Mall pub its cheaper.
Halloween disco brilliant, use that dj again and you have cracked it
Wc block in desperate need of upgrade!
Much talk over the camp site closing down what's the news.?
Anyway much better and the surrounding area is a treat.
Mark
Review by Joe & Laura on 29th October, 2009
Add your review Date visited: When are we not at bainland!!
Hello, well my brother and I always love to come here because it's so great. We like the swimming pool but wish it was bigger and the jacuzzi is good - but too expensive. Joe loves the park especially (particulary the swing). The cafe area is good too, we like the wireless internet (infact that is where we wrote this review),the ice creams but wish they were cheaper and think the sofas are a good idea. The staff are ok but could be a little more approachable. We go up to the disco but we've only ever seen one person dance and don't like the man that much :( .Showers and toilets aren't bad - but they aren't the best.
We can sit and moan about it but the truth is WE LOVE BAINLAND - and always will.
Laura & Joe
see you soooooon :D
We still think its the best after all these years.
Review by MARK STONES on 1st August, 2009
Add your review Date visited: 26TH JULY - 1ST AUG
Hi
Well after 19 years visiting Bainland, I have gone away today with mixed feelings. What a lovely site it still is, the area is lovely and so much more could be done, starting from the top, on arrival we where met by a lady who would be better decsribed as a snappy jack russell, we then decided oto have a look round, to notice some much needed improvements had been made, even a new site manager and manageress! lets hope they continue the improvements.
the bar is empty the resturant is poor with a brief menu very basic food but well over priced, come on lads lets have some offers buy one get one free or two for tenner. the ice cream is swiss and expensive talk about robbing the kids! the bar was offering tokens to collect with a pint I had 8 pints during my stay and was given one voucher! my wife and daughter had several hot drinks again with a voucher incentive but no vouchers where given.
the wc blocks are now looking tired, i was glad to get home for a shower, the showers on the site are very poor.
the site fees are also over priced go to any caravan club site and get better facilities cheaper!
we love bainland and will continue to visit but come on team listen to your customers. get a guy out there constantly mowing, and ground working oh and the shop, well thats another thing years ago you used to have alady who ran it, her husband worked on the site also, she kept it brilliant well stocked. oh and kick the kareoke get a good in house dj like the one you used to have[although i was glad he went]
get him to mingle with the campers and build a relationship.
i feel so much is being missed at this site, lets hope the owners see it before its too late!
Mark
Review by Mrs S Lester on 13th January, 2009
Add your review Date visited: 2008
My family and friends had been going for 4yrs or more on average 15 visits a year, until the site changed hands, and the fees increased, but the facilitys did not improve. The site warden turned into hitler, and became rude and arrogant. Half the original staff left, and were replaced by people who could not speak or understand english. We were eventually banned along with our police and CID friends with our children, for making too much noise? We now here through the grapevine, that they wish to have an all static site? What a shame and what revenue they lost, we have met sooo many people of the same view that now visit Jubilee in Woodhall a fantastic family friendly affordable site.
Review by clifford family on 30th May, 2008
Add your review Date visited: 26/5/08 - 30/5/08
Lovely park. Well presented and well cared for. All staff very friendly and helpful. Facilities good, plenty of hot water in showers etc. Kids well catered for. Wish the pool was a bit bigger but you can't have everything. We will be back.
Review by Pauline Blunt on 17th July, 2005
Add your review Date visited: 14/07/05
Excellent site, clean friendly, good facilities.
Will come again.
Pauline Blunt
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