Reviews of Breydon Water Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth
Review by Helen moyse on 2nd November, 2012
Add your review Date visited: 1st November
Just stayed at breydon water was ment be there for four days ended up coming back after one night I been to many holiday parks as I own a tourer I have never been to park which is so bad I know it's winter and would probally rain but there are no concrete roads so it's just like a boggy felled with massive puddles being a park resort I would have expected more as for the entertainment what a joke you have got to be on drugs if you think it is brilliant I only paid 36 pound for the stay which I thought was good for off peak season but when I went the bar I paid double that for 6 drinks what a rip off this is the worst place I have ever been to and will not be going any where near it again and when we left and I aired my opinions to some jumped up receptionist all she said was that there was nothing she could do and to have a nice day customer service is crap at this facility in my my opinion stay away from this crap site
Review by Suzanne Robinson on 31st July, 2011
Add your review Date visited: 23/07/11
What a dissapointment this park was. There was music untill all hours. Shouting and swearing from the teenagers untill late into the night. The playground seemed to be the local hangout for the poor kids whose parents just spent all day drinking in the club on site. Nothing to do as there was a very small arcade and no shop. The outdoor pool was no bigger than one you can buy at a shop. The slide didn't go into the pool which was slightly odd. Our caravan was supposed to be a sliver but was more like a bronze at a push. Made numerous complaints but fell on deaf ears. Left a day early to travel home rather than spend another night with no sleep. Would recommend anywhere but here for your stay.
Review by Clare westley on 25th June, 2011
Add your review Date visited: 18/6/11-25/6/11
Iv had a fantastic time here and would recommend this place to everyone the food is to die for and the staff are really friendly and helpful not to mention the entertainment team they absolutely rock they are by far the best iv seen steph- jasmin- chris- Adam - Becky you guys made my holiday the best it could be so thank you xxx
Review by Lorelei Gilmore on 18th April, 2011
Add your review Date visited: 11th April
i booked a gold caravan almost a year in advance,however when I paid the remainder,the confirmation stated I had been given a silver plus.I rang up and tried to get it sorted,but they said the one I booked had been moved off the park and they would try to get me another one.I turned up at 1.30 pm as they had said and the caravan wasn't ready,so they provided free drinks in the restaurant.Soon it was ready,but it was on Bure and I had asked for Yare.We went and looked at the caravan,it was lovely ,but due to medical reasons it was too far from everything.We went to reception and ended up with a silver near all the amenities.The staff were really nice and the food in the restaurant was good.However I don't think i'd return.
Review by pam appleton on 4th February, 2011
Add your review Date visited: should have been 8/4/2011
we booked this site in oct for 5 caravans 21 people we were going to visit family and friends for a 4oth celebration. in nov they told us they had no accomodation for us as they had took another large booking they kept us waiting till february before they confirmed the cancelation and cancelled ours. this is a really unproffesional business as they had left us all very upset and very dissopointed.
i would not recomend park resorts and if you do book dont take it as gospel they could do the same to you even though they take your money and give you confirmation it means nothing. looking at these reviews i think we had a lucky escape .
Review by Kate Stanford on 2nd November, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 22/10/2010
We booked a gold standard caravan for half term. On arrival we were given a information pack for a silver caravan. When i queried the caravan's standard they admitted that there was a problem with the one we'd booked and that it was a case of accepting this or cancelling the holiday. I wish now i'd said cancel and refund there and then. They said the difference between the two types of caravan was £17, although when i booked it was £60. On saturday night my Husband was looking on the internet and found several gold caravans at park resort sites (including the Yare Village) available for the half term week.
When we got into the caravan, it was filthy. A call to reception meant the cleaning crew had to come and re-clean the caravan. There was mould growing up the walls, the kitchen hadn't been cleaned, hovering etc hadn't been done either. The electric heating in the bedrooms were located in unsafe places, cupboards were located in unsafe places. We had to get maintenance out to clean and fix the gas fire in the lounge, and when they were there, one of the electric heaters fell off the wall. We wondered why the caravan was so cold and wouldn't hold the heat. However, put it down to the very cold weather. This wasn't the case. On Monday morning after heavy rain, water was pouring down the walls in the toilet and the double bedroom.......The seals on the windows were damaged. The roadway was unmade and had giant potholes in it, paving slabs were cracked and un even. I have pictures of all these defects. Then on the Monday morning the electric went off, and we couldn't get through to the emergency security contact to report the fault.
Basically we ended up leaving the site on that Monday morning and staying with a friend for the week. I'm now facing a court battle to get my money back (circa £400) as they feel £100 and the chance to return to the same accomodation was acceptable.
Please don't waste your money with this site. We've stayed at the nearby California cliffs site previously and felt this was in a totally different class and standard of holiday park.
Review by Ian on 1st November, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 29/10/2010
Just been to Breydon Water for a long weekend,decided not to go back again.No food in the bar because it was the last weekend of the year,caravan had not been cleaned,given another caravan but then took over an hour to get bed linen.
Kettle would not switch off and just kept boiling making it too hot to pick up by the handle.Also found some of the staff in the reception rude.
On a plus side the park was very quiet,perhaps because there wasnt many people there.
Review by K Garside on 5th September, 2010
Add your review Date visited: August 2010
Where to start, ok its August in England and you guessed it , it has rained, BUT... on arrival we were told we couldnt have the site we had booked earlier on in the year as they had now stopped this system??, but it was just as well as that particular pitch was waterlogged as was a lot of the camping area. I know you cant help the weather but with no proper roads only dirt tracks with puddles about a foot deep in places that were spraying black water up at your tent when the cars went by and very little grass just mud, keeping your tent dry/clean was a major feat here. Also where was the lights, apart from 3 at the far side of the field it was pitch black at night, so going to the toilet block was not only slippery but dangerous especially as every one were close and guy ropes were crossing over your neighbours. If youve got young children forget getting them to bed early, the noise goes on til late/early morning,between the language, loud music and the generator one nice family took with them, Yare is not the place you want to be. We walked over to Bure and it looked better, quieter and no way near waterlogged.
We used both pools, small but fine and plenty of lifeguards on. We used The Mill for a meal and it was ok, the food was hot but the portions might not be big enough for the men. The shop on Bure was better stocked. The mini golf and carts although well used, we never had to queue.The showers were cleaned every morning but due to the state of the park and the weather, an hour later were dirty, definately need your flipflops here.If your kids want to see Sparky or Sparkles, be aware they dont appear until 7.30/8pm.
Two days before we left for our hol here we got a letter saying we could pay a bit extra to leave at 5pm on the day of departure or we could add the Sunday, at a small cost, so we asked on arrival to stay until 5pm. Guess what, the dont do that neither?? We had only just got the letter two days before!!
I think Park Resorts need to check what their sites are offering because it isnt what they think.
Would we go again, NO, find a family run independant campsite that look after you, have noise rules,(and enforce them) have barriers and stop vehicles moving and revving engines at night,and who re-seed their pitches, and where children can play out safely. Weve camped for years and only went here as other family members booked a mobile home here. NEVER AGAIN.
Review by Kes on 5th September, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 21st August 2010
'Breydon Water holiday resort' sounds like a nice place right? We booked onto the queiter site having experienced the hubub of Haven sites (albeit in a caravan); this was our very first camping experience and we were very excited at having a break away with onsite facilities to entertain our children....at least that's what we expected!! We booked for two weeks and I should have known upon arrival that something was terribly different to what the online descriptions indicated; upon arrival we went to where we would be staying only to be told we needed to go to the other site to book-in, fair enough, not a problem until we got to the other site to be told to go back to the initial site to book-in....had been driving for 6 hours straight and wanted to get the tent up so we could relax. Anyway, we booked a specific pitch due to the size of our tent (though we needn't have bothered as the pitch sizes did allow for some degree of oversize)..the pitch itself was tatty...not much grass on it which was a suprise.. We were told that although we were on the end pitch they "..like to keep the very end clear to fit another family on..." despite booking that end pitch to allow for th size of our tent WTF?! So we eventually got to the pitch and began setting up our tent, sent the older children off to explore the site...well all I can say is that they were back within 10 mins complaining that the pool was too small and the park was rubbish, not even as good as the sparce play area near our home. Again we decided to go along with it thinking that perhaps with our pitch being on the quieter site the other site might be better. We eventually got the tent erected and all beds set-up for our first night under the canvas, decided not to go out that first evening as we were all tired and just wanted to sleep.
Okay so today is Sunday 22nd August 2010, our first proper day of our holiday and our children were itching for something to do, they opted to visit the sister (Yare) site as our site (Bure) was so boring (don't forget this is our first day!!! I was thinking that the kids were perhaps just being Kevin and Perry as I hadn't physically checked out the facilities myself yet). They were back within an hour, they had intended to go swimming in the outdoor pool..well, I could buy a similar sized pool from Costco and the slide, never seen a water slide that doesn't end in a pool of some description, nor a slide that requires a person to sit at the top throwing buckets of water down it to keep it wet! Suffice to say they didn't bother with the swimming, the amusement arcade was no bigger than an average living room....there was one of those metal fenced outdoor games sites like you see around council estates and go-cart hire facilities but other than that nothing else to do. We went to the reception area to make a complaint, by now I'd seen the so called facilities and was pretty annoyed especially as we were under the impression that the beach (universal fun area) was within cycling distance from the resort....how wrong were we? A good 15-20 minute DRIVE to the beach. We also tried the evening entertainment on the Monday evening...but we arrived to see a function room smaller than our local pub, we literally could not get into the place; walking back to our site was perilous as there are no street lights and very narrow footpaths, especially for prams that made us decide to cut short our holiday! The following morning we'd calmed down a little and didn't want to pack in the rain anyway, so we played Cluedo and Monopoly all day, with a round or ten of Uno thrown in for good measure....we were miserable..forgot to mention our childrens ages, 15, 14, 13, 5, 18 months and 18 weeks.
I mentioned cycling above and with the intention of cycling to the beach or just around site we brought our bikes and a bike trailer for family outings...we didn't use them at all for the duration of our stay, the country lanes were just too risky and the site too small!
We visited relatives on an alternative site (Vauxhall Holiday Park) on the Thursday (rained pretty much all week and we just played games in the tent as there was precious little else to do without travelling off site). This day proved to be the best and worst day of our 2 week break, worst because it highlighted everything that was wrong with Breydon Water Park Resorts but best because we enquired at the reception of Vauxhall and they had a pitch available..we decided that the added cost of paying for a second pitch on a different resort would more than cover the saved expenses of trying to entertain our children on such a poor resort so we packed up and left for a few days, upon our return we found our pitch had been occupied by a family who arrived the day we left so the park had obviously made no attempt to find out if we intended to return besides the fact that we booked that specific pitch for a 2 week period and fully expected it to remain vacant for the nights we were away from it. We complained again.
They tried to fit us elsewhere on the site but as we were already packed up we decided to simply come home.
In summary I would recommend anybody wishing to venture out of their tent on a camping holiday NOT to go to Park Resorts at Breydon Water. Our 2 week holiday turned out to be a short break at Vauxhall Holiday Park (excellent by the way) the remainder of the two weeks felt like three months!!
Review by Glen on 28th August, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 23 Aug - 27th Aug
Turned up to find it had been raining heavily the two days prior, OK you cant help the weather in the UK. The pitches we saw were pretty rough for tents, we needed room for a 5 man and 8 man. To be truthfull the pitches were good sized but the electrical hook up area we were in ( right up the top of the field closest to the Roman wall) was probably the best place to be as it was the high ground and at least it was draining down hill.Pitched up and must admit the site warden guy was a top bloke, offered to help if we needed anything and did through the week go a few extra miles for us reserving stuff at Argos on his internet at home and getting us the necessary info on local stuff). Any way back to the site, I always think that camping works best on grass , call me old fashioned but the majority of pitches are so heavily used on the YARE site that they are pretty much down to the mud and I mean mud.Rotating pitches might be an idea managers of the site or at least sowing some grass may be advantageous. Facilities, toilet blocks OK if you are up early or lucky enough to get in there before the kids trash the place. Showers OK hot water every time I went in and enough of them to be not waiting around too long. The roadways around the site though are its big concern, as you go in they are proper roads, the statics all have a proper drainage system, the fields though are just that a field with a muddy pot holed roadway that becomes a waste of time having as soon as it rains, we saw people sweeping water out of puddles / potholes so that the water did not run into the tents. Imagine the scenes of world war 1 and the trenches and mud, WELCOME TO YARE !!
Staff , mostly indifferent like many of the posts say, we've got your money so tough!
This was not my first camping experience, it was though a first full experience for our friends - luckily it has not put them off , valuable lessons learnt though, one of them is to look at more of the review sites. The place really does attract your typical "Barbara and Jims" from the Royal Family it makes the Pearl of Prestatin look like a 5 star resort. Scores out of 10, a 3 or 4 for the whole resort bit. But 10 out of ten for the laugh value we had has two families, you gotta play the cards your dealt and believe me we were dealt a C**P hand here.
Review by Rachel on 26th August, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 16/08/2010
As a person who is not a lover of camping/caravan parks I was somewhat dreading a visit to Breydon Water but decided to try and make the bets of it. Sadly my view was just reinforced. I thought the camp was dated and cheesy. The tent pitches were in poor condition we were pitched on a square of mud. The clientele were noisy and loud mouthed until late at night and then very early in the morning. The staff were all plainly bred and disinterested, facilites were extremely average and things advertised on the website didnt seem to be going on. the entertainment never had any spare tables and adult entertainment didnt start until late. food was very average, the bar on the other site was shut,changing facilties were filthy. only one tiny post office type shop on site. However it got worse as on the second night there was a downpour and several of the tents were left underwater and the ceiling in the entertainment block started leaking and was closed. The emergency line turned out to be the 2 security guards who were guarding the entertainment. They had no interest in families with children who had 6 inches of water in their tent and actually said theres no point in going to look because we wont do anything and we'll just get shouted at and anyway we have to guard this room ! It was left to other campers to try and help them. As we hadnt drunk much we went to a travelodge which cost an additional £70. All in all its a shabby site where no one cares. Draw your own conclusions !
Review by Gill on 17th August, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 13th August 2010
OMG the date should have warned me not to go !! Went for a 3 night break with two teenage boys - but there wasnt really much for their age group/gender to do apart from swimming but pools werent very big so spent most of the time off site driving to different places - very relaxing!! As for a safe and secure environment ...well the boys couldnt use the sister site at night unless I went with them as the walk was 'too dark' at night and there was an incident outside my caravan on second night and when I phoned security (too scared to confront people myself) there was no answer not even an answerphone to leave a message -that really worried me and Im glad I only had one more night to go as Im a bit of a 'worrypot' where the kids are concerned which is why I chose a park site as opposed to private rental accomodation.
Thought, in general, that the park was a bit shabby and the caravans were just adequate even though there was no teapot (!!) It was a little tough going walking on mud and grass to get to our caravan door (weather was appalling)as there wasnt much 'hard standing' by the caravans and ours was in a middle row and therefore no roadway next to it.
I paid £420 for this weekend and for us it wasnt good value - cant believe some of the earlier rave reviews they sound like a different place!
Review by carol cole on 11th August, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 31st july to 7th august 2010
If you want to go to a holiday park where your children are threatened, the staff are indifferent to your concerns, and everything about the place is awful, then this is the one for you. I will try to explain. Despite the four families booking together we were put on different sites. they said there was nothing they could do, with an attitude of like it or lump it. We had issues from the start about the staffs attitude, but we decided that we would give it a go. Between us we paid £2000, so we had little choice. The following day we were talking to a lady who had arrived on the saturday. She said her son of 15 had been threatened with a knife, and despite the family being told to leave she said how horrible she thought the place was and had decided to go home. Later that day we saw an arguement between a man and a security guard. His son had been continually harrassed by a bunch of yobs there and the security had done nothing. We spoke to him and he said he was packing up and going, and so another family chose to leave. The two families who were on the main site in the end took turns at night to stay up, as their caravan was shook so violently by drunken yobs that the children were very scared. We spent a lot of the time going out, as the atmosphere was so bad on the camp. We were constantly waiting for things to happen. Our accomodation was another joke, it supposed to sleep 8, you would have been hard pressed to sleep 4 in it.
On the Friday, feeling worse than ever, we decided to pack up and go home. I did however want to have our say, and that was the biggest surpirise ever. The two members of staff we spoke to agreed with us and said it was so bad that they were leaving! I rest my case.
Review by Sarah on 4th August, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 24-31 July 2010
For my first holiday in the United Kingdom, i wasn't looking forward to not being in sunny spain again.
After arriving at Breydon Water, my entire view of caravan holidays has changed and i can't wait to go back again next year!
The entire time was absolutely brilliant! So great that i even ditched the family one day to stay by the pool instead of going to Yarmouth.
Although Yarmouth was lovely to visit, the pool was my place to be. It was just like being in Spain again, sun loungers, swimming costumes and my new book to relax with.
The pool was lovely and clean with at least 2 and sometimes 3 lifeguards on duty at all times, my favourite being Tom! My sister injured herself on the waterslide at the park; something we've never had anywhere else!
As soon as the lifeguard realised she was hurt, he moved straight towards the storage closet and brought back an ice pack and a form, which we willingly filled in thanks to the wonderful service. We also witnessed a more serious accident on our last day, and the same lifeguard was straight into action the moment he saw the injury.
The caravan itself was also lovely, with only a short walk to the entertainment and the pool. The poolside restaurant supplied lovely food at reasonable prices and we enjoyed all the food supplied.
And finally the night time entertainment was brilliant!
Sparky's fun time was great for the kids, and even the adults joined in with most of the songs and dances. Party dances was extremely entertaining, and the raffle for the £90 prize was a great part of the holiday, especially considering we won!!! Ticket number 11!
The cabaret was amazing every night, with some of the entertainment team joining in (Makka singing Buble made my entire week!) and the entertainment team were amazing in general! The Alice in Boogieland cabaret they performed in was amazing, and they were so nice that i was even persuaded to join in "Bandioke" with an amazing live band.
Definately worth the money paid with something there for everyone, i should know... i'm returning again next year with friends instead of family!!!
Review by Kevin on 8th July, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 5/7/2010
My family and I had a very unpleasant camping stay at Breydon Water Holiday Park. The facilities themselves were not too bad, although for some reason the management feel the need to put the radio on at ear splitting volume in the outdoor swimming pool. Nonetheless, the main problem I had was with the kind of people the site attracts. The site was very noisy and there were several groups of campers who were up all night drinking and playing music and generally making life miserable for pretty much everyone else. A groups of around 30 or so extremely drunk Lithuanians kept us up until around 4.30am. Complaints to the security staff did not help much, and one of the security staff seemed to prefer to get overly friendly with one of the drunk women rather than ask them to keep the noise down. Perhaps I was unlucky, but I found the overall atmosphere to be somewhat menacing and certainly not the place I would take my son again.
Review by shelley on 25th June, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 18/06/10
OMG arrived on friday night for a 3 night stay at breydon water. not sure where to start not much to do at park apart from swimming!!!!
caravan very dirty everywhere handles coming off doors so they didnt close, kettle was full of lime scale and had no filter having a 1 year old who is bottle fed was a good time to start her on cows milk, taps where full of scum 2!!! and we couldnt stop them dripping, curtins hanging off. Both me and my baby was bit by some thing in bed that night. security was very full (prevert) saturday went for dinner at the poolside bar high chairs where falling to bits very dirty had to clean it myself as staff where too busy sat down talking final straw for me just wanted to go home which we did.
Review by Marc Cornwall on 13th September, 2009
Add your review Date visited: August 2009 and nearly every weekend thereafter
We are new to caravanning having purchased a large twin axle caravan at the start of the season.
We stayed at Martello Beach in clacton in June which we thought was okay but a little dirty and overcrowded. We had lots of tesco vouchers to use up and as we could spend them at Park resorts (brilliant) we thought that we would try another. Off we headed to yare village for a week at the end of August. Wow brilliant pleasant staff clean tidy and the surroundind caravanners and tents/campers all friendly and helpful. The restaurant is not brilliant but okay - there is a really nice pub/restaurant/carvery just around the corner called the Queens Head Sunday roast £5.95 and worth double!!! anyway back to the site. The pools are both good the outdoor one especially good lifeguards. The indoor pool also good and the kids loved the hamster ball and again friendly helpful staff. The toilets were not too bad considering the site as very busy. You are never ever going to get perfectly clean toilets on a site full of tents and tourers as unless you are lucky eough to visist just after they have been cleaned as some people are just not as clean as others. But all in all the toilets are cleaned regulary. The entertainment is great for the kids only one of mine is only three and when Sparky does not come out till 21:00 its just to late - 20:00 should be sparky time. Would we go again? yes we took advantage of the cheap book till October (8 weeks for £200) so we have left the van there and now go nearly every weekend. I would recommend this for a young family as lots to do they do push for familys to stay at yare instead of Bure but if your kids are in bed by 22:00 id recommend to stay at Bure as Yare goes on and on. yare is only ten minutes walk from Yare. I have read this Tonys review down below two years ago and things have greatly improved since then or he just had a lot of bad luck as I cannot believe its the same staff
review by Marc 13/09/09
Review by jason on 24th August, 2009
Add your review Date visited: july
I had to write something after Tonys review, what is that feller on? Its a holiday, I doubt anyone wanted to be near him, ive never heard anyone moan so much.
Me and my wife stayed for 3 days and had a great time, showers could have been claener but hey people are using them all day..
max and Paddy on the door, 2 nice fellers - there to stop any trouble - got to be a good thing.
food was ok, we didnt get ill.
Entertainment was good, although the kids entertainment was still going at 9.30, some rabbit named sparky or something...
People are on holiday so you expect a bit of noise, although I would say after the entertaiment finished the park was quite, old Tony must have been an 8 oclock bed man. lol
All in all id recomend a few days there, good for adults and enough for the kids, pool was clean (changing rooms, you use your tent or caravan) but all good.
I just pray Tony is never camped next to me, id have to knock him out.....
Review by Simon / June Bett on 15th February, 2009
Add your review Date visited: Aug 2008
Holidayed on this site july/aug and found it to be a cracking site for a commercial site. We drove 450mls to get here and were pleasantly surprised on arrival. The reception staff were very friendly and informative. Having read tony's reveiw from the 3rd of Aug last year, I can only imagine this guy is visiting earth as part of an intergalactic journey. The ground staff (especially John and Brian) could not do enough for you. The site is fairly level and the pitches are a pretty decent size. We have a twin axle swift and they accomodated us no probs.Sure we would have liked the toilets to have been a bit cleaner but you have to be a realist about this and realise that we do not live in a PERFECT world. At the time of our holiday it was the peak season, and probably the busiest two weeks of the year. Call me old fashoned but we tend not to blame the site for the small minority that spoil it for the majority. I did speak to the cleaning staff on a regular basis at the toilets and we both witnessed someone's kids defacing the toilets in one way or another. The entertainment complex is very lively as it IS a commercial site and therefore family orientated.Some people may go on holiday with there kids and expect them to be perfect little angels! YEH RIGHT! THEY ARE ON HOLIDAY FOR GOD'S SAKE.As for the security guys, they were always very pleasant and professional and seemed to keep everything well in order. Being a doorman myself for many years ,the reason for the so called men in black suits is that phsycologicly, people tend to look at them as being in control and therefore are more inclined to behave themselves when they see them. The bar is pricey but if you have a couple of drinks in your van or tent before you go out then it should not be that expensivea night. (remember this is your two weeks holiday) The lounge area is very nice and relaxing and the food when we were there was great.The pool could do with an upgrade but is still perfectly usable. The lifeguards were spot on as we witnessed a girl in distress and before you could blink these guys had her out and and taken care of in a most professional manner. So much so that they earned themselves a round of applause from the crowd round the pool.
Yare village also has a screened ball court in which the older kids seemed to be having a ball if you will excuse the pun.It's a great idea as it gives them the option of not playing ball around the vans and tents and also my son Gareth met a lot of new friends and got involved in a football match between the tenters and caravaners which was great banter and they all got along very well. For the younger kids there is an enclosed play area with swings and slides but not much else. We found it great for spending half an hour or so with our daughter Sarah as we tend to make our own fun in the more traditional way, rather than plonk her in there and hope that it keeps her happy for the next two hours. There is also a crazy golf course which you can hire club and ball for a pound. We were all on it for about an hour at a time (because my wife June is a great big CHEAT) and all for four quid. What a laugh. The surrounding area is fantastic with so much to do and is only a short car or bus ride away. The bus drivers are very helpfull and even had a go at mimmicking our Scottish accent which was very funny. As Scots we find people in this part of the country on the whole very decient and helpfull. There is a cracking little pub just a short walk along the broads with a warm welcome,good beer,and a fantastic veiw of the boats pottering along the river. Bure village is much quieter and has better washing machines than yare but then it is a quieter site so they will have less use. The indoor pool is good but I don't think the changing rooms are cleaned as often as they should be. There we have it. This is my reveiw and hounest appraisel of Breydon Waterand sure it has it's faults like any other site, but it is friendly, lively,relaxing and most of all in my opinion, SAFE for the kids. Would I go again?......You bet.So much so that when we returned from our holiday we decided to book again for next year. Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
Simon.
Review by mary on 17th August, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 6 aug 2007
I enjoy this park everytime I go the staff are always so friendly and the reception staff always helpful. We only live local so we go many times a year for short breaks never been disappointed. Downfall are the toilets which are cleaned regulary but the visiters on site make it very hard for the cleaners to keep them clean. Why children need to play in toilets I do not know. where are the parents?
Review by tony on 3rd August, 2007
Add your review Date visited: JULY 2007
Firstly, we were surrounded by loud music, swearing, shouting, dogs barking, smoke, revving car engines, kids playing on our pitch, footballs hitting the caravan, tattooed beer swigging louts and flies....and this was in the first 10 minuets of our arrival.
Even the staff member who showed us to our pitch was warning us where to go or not to go...she even gave us the address to a local pub for food as the on site restaurant was not a healthy place to be!
As it was my family's first holiday in 4 years and my daughter was looking forward to it since we booked it...we decided to give it a go and risk it.
We set up the caravan and pitched the awning...got cleaned up and went off to Yarmouth for dinner....all well so far.
We got back about 9.30pm...and on entering the site you have to drive past the 'Family Entertainment' venue...this was surrounded by a gang of about 10 youths...most smoking and joking with the sites very own 'Max and Paddy' on the door....wearing the SAS type ear piece and men in black type suits (pathetic)
We also noticed people standing inside the entrance to the venue smoking...(smoking ban?.....what smoking ban?)
When we drove through this lot we arrived at our van....again...the noise, THE DOGS?....why do people bring dogs on caravan holidays only to leave them locked up all day (and night)?....we counted 4 different types of dogs barking in a radius of about 40 feet....we made a game out of it in the end.....guess the breed of dog!
Anyway...we pulled the blinds down, locked the door and watched TV for a bit and this blocked out the noise.
At about midnight we settled down for bed....but soon we could hear that distant base rhythm.....you know the one....the type you hear on a Friday night Saturday morning coming from a flat on the 29th floor.....boom boom, boom...boom boom boom. This was the din from the 'Familty Entertainment' venue....it was mental torture at its best....This venue has a disco every night till 1.00am!! Luckily enough we have a radio in the van...so I went to sleep with radio 4 in the back ground.... I was woken up at about 3.00am with the boy racers riding around the site with a more distinct clarity of BOOM BOOM BOOM, BOOM BOOM, BOOM!
That set the dogs off who in turn set the dog owners off! I didn't wake the next morning because I wasn't asleep!...I never saw my family get up and out so quick, so early!
We decided to head out for the day and in doing so we discussed the problems we encountered and agreed I would speak to a manger if things had not improved.
On returning that evening (6.00pm) we decided we would try out the outdoor swimming pool before dinner...we were unlucky again as the pool had shut at 5.30pm and although this was not mentioned in the brochure/leaflets/web site/on site, we were told by a staff member that it was common knowledge that it shut at that time? We were told to try the sister site down the road which had an indoor pool...so off we went, but that too shut at 5.30pm.
Ok...we thought, we wont give up we will just visit the 'Family Entertainment' venue...so we made our way to there and again we were confronted by about 10 gobby youths, smoking and larking with Max and Paddy...we had to battle our way through a cloud of tobacco smoke to get into the inner entrance of the venue...past Max and Paddys mate who was so ingrossed in chatting up a small group of young girls he never even saw me (especially) walk in...I was not asked for any ID or my site pass. We didn't stay there too long as the prices were ridiculously high and the place was half empty anyway. We had a look at the bingo that was in swing, only to find out that the bingo calling machine had blown up and they were using a kiddies plastic bingo globe with the numbers on ping pong type balls....which they had to buy from Argos that evening as we were told by a staff member....pathetic!...we had seen enough and headed back to the van.
The same problems happened that night so we decided then and there I was going to complain the next morning. To test the lapse in security I went back to the venue and again, I found Max and Paddy chatting with the younger punters and again I walked in and through the hue of blue tobacco smoke and again I was never stopped!
On the 3rd day of our stay we were up early and decided we'd go for a swim, so we went down to the outdoor pool...in we went and went about finding the changing rooms....but! surprise surprise....no changing rooms (nothing on the advert about that!)...Well that was the final straw...I had enough!
I went into the reception and spoke to a lady who promptly called the complex manager and the swimming pool manager....very soon the office was filled with about 4 or five gents....I began to explain my problems but felt very exposed as there were customers around me listening in. I stopped and asked who I was speaking to and one large shaven headed gent came right up to the counter, and very close to my face and said his name and that he was the complex manager...as he did he was smirking over to the others behind him...I went on and continued with what I was saying but again I noticed that this particular gent was not showing any signs of interest I told him this and he shrugged his shoulders, smirked back at his mates and said...."Yeah...what ever!" and walked away and out of the office with his 2 mates behind him!
I could not believe what had happened, I was gobsmacked! The swimming pool manger was the only one who would speak to me and he was very apologetic.
I was handed a customer complaint form and told it would take them 14 days to reply to it...this was not good enough, so I asked to speak to the GM....He turned up and was a bit more approachable but explained that he had just started in the job and was not 'up to speed' on the complex, but assured me he would look into my complaint.
At no time was I offered an alternative move to the sister site, although I did mention it at the start I was so annoyed by it all I decided then and there we were leaving.
We spent the rest of that day visiting and calling other sites, but all were full....my wife went back to reception to call the customer services in London and spoke to a lady who was also making a complaint...she suggested visiting The Wild Duck, Haven site which was only a short trip down the road....it was full when we called in....but WOW...what a difference....professional, courteous and the site was a delight.
The lady on reception was so helpfull...she told us that there was a pitch available from the followinng day and as a good will jesture for the problems caused at Park Rresorts, she gave us a 10% discount off the cost of our stay....at last, our holiday was about to begin!
We left it till very late that evening to return to the van and again spent a restless night...but at least we knew we were getting out of there the next day!
Before we left, I thought I'd take some pictures of this excuse for a holiday park, and I'm glad I did....not for posterity but more for health and safety...
I took photographs of an electric room adjacent to the toilet block with the security door kicked in, no lock, wide open, inside were a large cluster of electric isolator switches which I assume was the power source to the whole site, in there I saw a boiler with its back cover off and all its electrical wiring and hot parts exposed!
I took photographs of gas cylinders lying around the rear of the reception and only 20ft away from the playground, also I found old gas cylinders so corroded that they were at risk of splitting and leaking.
I got photographs of large tractors with grass cutting machines, the blades exposed, again only feet away from the play ground....a large builders skip full of large objects and what appeared to be builders rubbish, no netting or fencing and again close to the playground and 'Family Entertainment' venue.
I took many other photographs, but what worried me the most was a pump action paint sprayer partially full of Creosol fence paint sitting on a deck chair inside the swimming pool area, a pair of rubber gloves were on a chair next to this...and it appears by the dust and dirt on the chairs, that they had been there for some time.
My wife again called the customer services department to advise we had photographic evidence of many health and safety breeches only to have the phone slammed down on her.
We are now seeking a full refund of the cost of the holiday plus the cost of transferring to another site and if possible compensation for the trouble it caused.
My photographs and letters are being sent to each of the authorities advertised on the Park Resorts brochure as well as the Health and Safety Executive and anyone else who will shut this sh*t hole of a place down before someone's child gets seriously hurt or worse.
In a nut shell....stay clear of this place....its a dump and its customer service is non existent!
Regards
Tony (Haven Holiday's newest customer)
Review by debbie on 9th July, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 06 06 07
breydon water park is the best caravan park ive ever been to last yr was my first time i have been 4 times since and loved it every time short trip to beeches or relax by the outside heated pool or try thee indoor pool it has everything there to keep kids happy im off there again 21 7 07 cant wait
Review by Vicky on 19th April, 2007
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I have been going to breydon water for 13 years now, it is great and i still enjoy the company of the entertainment team and the facilities during the day. If you have never visited the site before i think it would be great of you to come along!!!!!!!
Review by Emma Merrills on 14th June, 2006
Add your review Date visited: 3rd june 2006
What can I say about Breydon Water? Its fantastic! We went there for a week and half way through our holiday we booked to go again next year. The site was very clean everywhere, the pool was very enjoying. The night entertainment was brilliant, the teamstars were great at their job especially with my 3 year old daughter, who takes some entertaining, but they did a really good job. Yarmouth town is just a 10 minute drive away should you not find the site enough but I think it would be hard not to. The kids were happy just being in the pool all day, then going to see the Sparky show in the Showbar at night. If what you want is a great holiday where the kids are always entertained then get yourself to Breydon Water.
Review by carly on 18th March, 2006
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my mum and dad have owned a caravan on Breydon Water for 11 years now and i still enjoy it every time i go with them, i've made so many friends there and the staff on the site and all friendly and helpful, no other site that i prefer stayin on than Breydon Water
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