Parkdean Resorts complaint: Unsatisfactory stay at white acres

Two weeks prior to our stay at Park Dean resorts I tried contacting the reception on many occasions to try and organise our stay and checking in times etc. I could not get through to the reception and I had left several voice messages to which I did not receive a returned call.

I simply wanted to know a time for checking in as we was going to be arriving late due to travelling from a far distance location and I wanted to know if some facilities were available within the caravan we rented for our stay. I was aware that you could check-in from 4 pm however we would not of made this time due to travelling distance it was going to be much later than this on our arrival but with no communication recieved we wasn’t sure if 9 or 10 o’clock at night was exceptional to arrive at our caravan .

The day before my arrival to the resort I managed to get my questions answered through an online chat service but the communication service I found very poor altogether. But this wasn’t the only communication service error I found with my stay at park Dean resort. By the time we arrived I still could not get through to the reception to ask for a code to get through a barrier to elms Forest Camp side. In the end I had to call security to gain access to where we were staying.

During our stay obviously we was aware with the rules and regulations due to the coronavirus and we knew somethings were going to be unavailable and closed off however on Monday 19th July many restrictions were lifted which meant we was able to have access to more things on campsite.

when we wanted to use the swimming pool we walked into reception to see how we would be able to use this facility and the receptionists stated that we had to book sessions online. Which was fair enough but when we looked online there was limited availability but after being informed that we could book other activities we decided to do this.

The reception also informed me and my family that because of the limited availability of the pool on site we was able to use another pool being in connection of another park Dean resort in Newquay. This was useful to know but again I thought saving a journey and time wasted I called Newquay Park Dean resorts to see if we could use the pool who claimed there was no availability there either.

My family managed to book Aqua Jets activity which was very good for our children and they had lots of fun but whilst we attended the session we communicated with the lifeguards who claimed that the swimming pool was open to free general swimmers without bookings. The communication just became more and more frustrating in the end as it seems the reception was unaware and clueless with all what was going on in the campsite.
I also tried to book another activity which was a fairy walk in the morning I arrived to the session with my daughter at 9:30 to where the location of the activity was meant to be but everywhere was closed up so we was walking around trying to see if it was held anywhere else and couldn’t find no signs of the activity.

Again I had gone back to reception and asked what was going on with this activity and the receptionist on the desk said “didn’t you know the activity was cancelled.” This was another poor communication system as the receptionist said to me I should’ve received a text to state that all activities this day was cancelled and I didn’t receive the text until 10:15am which was very late notice! And way past the activities start time. I was told all cancelled activities would be refunded. And still to this day this activity hasn’t been refunded.

There was no entertainment throughout the whole week which we wasn’t aware of or even told in advance there was no entertainment for our children and family as a whole. and on our last day the entertainment staff decided to have the entertainment show in the evening which was rather upsetting as this show was brilliant and would of been nice to of attended most evenings the duration of our stay. But it was unfortunate it was only presented on our last nights stay. The entertainment and the staff were very good and our family very much enjoyed ourselves this night.

Our overall stay within the caravan was quite disappointing as well.
It was mentioned at time of booking I had a baby under one where we had to set up a travel cot to which we had to set up in the living room as there was no space in the main bedroom. the pull-out sofa bed was very uncomfortable the curtains didn’t fully shut as they are not fitted to size of the window which felt uncomfortable at night time as any outsiders could see in.
There was no Hoover or dustpan and brush as I’m sure you understand with children It can get very messy on the floor. Baring in mind we did a few trips to the beach the floors just got filthy and we had to tread in all that was on the floor. I know when you’re on holiday it’s irrelevant to go away and be cleaning. But when you have children it feels to be a MUST to keep the floors clean as for the baby you don’t want them to be picking up and eat anything that’s on the floor.

I and my family overall sadly wasn’t satisfied with our stay at park Dean resort considering the amount we paid for a weeks stay it seems very pricey as we paid over £900 and barely got anything for our moneys value. And it is highly unlikely we will recommend this resort to our friends and family and unlikely we will be staying again.

Miss Smith