Reviews of Haggerston Castle Holiday Park, Berwick-upon-Tweed
Review by mariex on 2nd June, 2012
Add your review Date visited: 2012 may
was a fab holiday caravan was lovely, my kid loved it , food was good entertaiment could have been slightly better but all in all was a fab holiday already want back lol oh n there was a fit bar guy haha
Review by carol rafferty on 26th July, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 23rd july 2010
very dissapointed, fancied a short break and chose haggerston, daft mistake, the caravan was stinking of urine the tv didnt work, the fire hardly warmed the place and we were frozen, arcades and many of them !cost a fortune and only to win junk, the entertainment was rubbish and couldnt get a seat , so tired and went back to the caravan for a drink purchased from the over prices nisa shop, went a long way to get their only to come home a day early, would have come home earlier if could have got connecting buses, so to sum up, overprices waste of hard worked for money, wont ever be back and intend to complain, but reckon it will fall on deaf ears, cos they got the money now and dont really care if you had a crap time
Review by edconnro on 17th July, 2010
Add your review Date visited: April 2010
Abandon Hope all ye who enter here! I found it less than ‘perfect for a family holiday in a ‘safe’ environment’ as the HAVEN web site declares, correspondingly I won (yes won, it was a battle!) a refund for the inconvenience, stress and anxiety as a result of my short break there. Short break? More like losing grip on reality!
On a 4-day visit, I had to change caravans once, had a sleepless night because a carbon monoxide alarm sounding and my daughter got injured in a swimming pool accident. After this incident we learned that HAVEN do not have a statutory duty to provide first aid so they do not.
So, if your aspirations for entertainment are limited to beer and crisps for the adults and slot machines for the kids, you will be entertained. If you don't mind paying cash to get your cash from a cash machine you will like that too as most of the hire equipment calls for a cash deposit. If your in the habit of replacing the bed in your childrens room with some tables and chairs and eating your Chinese takeaway in the ‘newly created restaurant ambience’ - you'll enjoy the on site Chinese restaurant. If, on the other hand you fancy half decent surroundings, use the restaurant at the golf course - but bring cash or your chq book – no debit or credit cards accepted.
The ‘new for 2010 swimming complex’ is the ‘hi-de-hi old one’ with a lid and some additional changing rooms. Happy Camper - NOT!
Review by Mrs Hartley on 12th April, 2010
Add your review Date visited: April 2010
I wanted to post a review as I have read so many bad reports about Haggerston Castle and I wanted to say that our holiday there was brilliant. We have stayed at various Haven parks throughout the country and I would rate this as the best one. Our caravan was immaculate and had been thoroughly cleaned for our arrival. We ran out of gas on the last night and the staff came to change the gas bottle within minutes of us ringing them. The whole park was well kept and there was no rubbish anywhere. There were lots of activities to do including horse riding on site, boating on the lake, bikes etc and it was the first time we have stayed at a Haven and have actually had enough to keep us occupied without having to drive off to find alternative entertainment. The lake is lovely and the new swimming pool is excellent. There is the usual amusement arcade and the one fault I have is that you have to go through this to get to the children's park. Also, there is no soft play area for young children which is always useful to keep them entertained. However, other than that I could not complain. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly and it is definitely the best caravan site we have stayed at. We would definitely recommend it.
Review by jade on 17th April, 2009
Add your review Date visited: 17 march-25march, 10th april-13 april
when i first went to haggerston i was told by freinds that it wasnt a very good paet but as soon as i got there it was a like a diffrent world. where everyone including the staff were very kind and willing to talk.by the time wednesday came i decided i really liked the park and would like to come back so we went to what caravans they had on offer. after we had a look about one of the sales had came out to tell us more about the caravan
Review by Astraea on 31st October, 2008
Add your review Date visited: 27/10/08
We just returned today from a four night stay with the view of purchasing a caravan and pitch at Haggerston Castle , it was a truly dreadful experience. The caravan we were given was a standard plus rating, we took along our two Yorkie dogs, apparantly you can't have anything of a higher rating if you do take your doggy with you. Fair enough,maybe some dog owners don't treat their holiday accomodation with very much respect , but we do and found to our dismay upon arrival we had to pay the price by being presented with a grubby, smelly, draughty and well hammered caravan for having our two small dogs with us, to add insult to injury we had paid an extra £20.00 for each animal too.
Upon entering the caravan for the first time we noticed at once an unclean smell and could see how grubby and ground in the front seating area was.Instead of beige upholstery it was a dark grey except for the parts which were hidden beneath where the lift out bed was. The carpet was hoovered but did smell, particularly of old urine in places as did the seating.
Three of the windows did not close properly,( two bedroom ones and one in the living area ) and considering to our dismay, that grade of caravan is heated by a single gas fire in the front living area only and we had hail storms most of the week, it was probably the nearest we have been to living in a walk in fridge.None of the three bedroom windows had any net curtains , so we had to keep the main curtains closed the whole time making the place even dingier than it was if that was possible.
I had to clean some of the pans and utensils before we could use them as they were still crusted in the remnants of food, the bottom plastic box in the fridge was sticky with food too, which I refused to clean and just lifted out and left in a cupboard until we left. There was no cover on the freezer box in the top of the fridge and so the food on the top shelf of the fridge froze up if we weren't careful, almost as frozen as we were due to the badly fitting windows actually.
The pillows were wafer thin and four stacked up would probably still not give you the thickness of even one, the duvets were no better. Thank goodness we were required to take our own bed linen as at least we knew they at least would be more than satisfactory.
The Park itself has a nice lake in the centre with lots of geese and swans and a ittle stable so the kiddies could have pony rides aroung the park, the only good things I can think of to mention.
The complex itself where the bars are situated is a real shocker as you walk in. It's just one huge, noisy,chaotic, money grabbing amusement arcade. The bars are quite dingy and mostly packed to the hilt,so don't have any visions of having a few quiet drinks 'cos it ain't going to happen.
The onsite food is something else...and I do mean something else ! We had fish and chips from the on site chippie on the first night,most of it went in the bin as the fish didn't smell right and it was all covered in too much grease, promptly afterwards later that evening were rewarded for our custom by upset stomachs. Following that episode we didn't touch anymore of the onsite food on offer at all. We noticed the staff in the chippie and some of the other takeaway food places there employed no more than kids and didn't this didn't instill any sense of confidence in their cooking skills to be honest.
All in all, I would say to anyone thinking of booking a holiday here, don't feel you have to be put off by our sad experience, you might get a fantastic caravan and not be knee deep in mud when you step outside it and not mind all the noise and bingo and the like, but if anything, please think carefully before sampling the fish and chips if nothing else.Somehow I don't think we will be buying into the new lifestyle at Haggerston Castle anytime soon.
Review by Simone Bell on 5th June, 2008
Add your review Date visited: 24th March 2008
Just thought you would like to know about our recent visit to Haggerston Castle caravan park run by Haven (Easter 2008) I am unfortuantely unable to recommend this park due to our experiences there over the easter period. We collected our keys, unpacked and went out for our tea, when we got back our caravan and all our contents had been cleaned out by the cleaning staff, not that bad you would think, until we discovered that along with removing all our items, the cleaner had kept the contents of my underwear drawer, half of the contents of my soap bag, my makeup, books, all the food we had taken for the week (including my son's easter eggs etc). Haven accepted full responsibility for this and sacked the person involved. We were left with no means of having a decent holiday as we had to use the money we had taken with us to replace the stolen items, which was then not re imbursed until we came home, resulting in us being unable to enjoy our holiday at all. Haven's response to this was to offer us a small discount off our next holiday. Entertainment passes for the pool are useless without a swimming costume, money required for the amusements - not available, housekeeping staff rude, lots of road noise, tractors doing their daily run at 6am, caravan fires and trashed caravans from disgruntled customers. Not a good recommendation
Review by Stephanie and Ashleigh on 18th March, 2008
Add your review Date visited: October 07
We went to haggerston in October and from the time we were there we loved it! There was so much to do for every age group, young and old. The caravan was exceptionally clean on arrival and the staff were very helpful and friendly.
Was that good we are returning this April for a long weekend with our friends. x
Review by Lee O on 14th April, 2007
Add your review Date visited: w/c 09/04/2007
Great hol the kids enjoyed it there was 11 of us and we all had a great time so thanks see you next year. Wingers i hope you go elsewhere less people to ruin our holiday thanks !!!!
Review by faye on 15th February, 2007
Add your review Date visited: easter and 6 weeks hols every year
iv decided to write something in here becsue iv just read through whats been wrote about the place, iv been goin for the past 4 years every easter and for 2 weeks in the 6 weeks hols, there is absolutly nothin bad i can say about the place, i love id ratha go there than abroad!! the staff are amazin and there is so much to do, i never get bored the times i am there, the entertainment is really good esphically the night time disco!! there is so many people there to meet and everything is just great, the people who have complained should shut up becuase it cant be that bad if its 5 STAR!!! i love the place and everythin about it.
Review by Paul Rickett on 30th August, 2006
Add your review Date visited: August 2006
Absolute dissapointment, I don't normally bother with reviews but as no-one from haven has bothered to get back to me with an apology after my comments, well here goes- The actual campsite & our caravan was clean but thats the good bit done, The place is far to overcrowded, They have a monstrous amount of gaming machines for your entertainment-& for squeezing every last penny out of you which they are remarkeably good at on this site, The swimming pool was filthy, cold, over chlorinated, and there was not enough cubicles & showers for the mount of people they cram in there, the 1/2 queue was not worth it, the whole complex was filthy & stunk of cigarette smoke, at night we had to wait an hour to get a table in the only non smoking entertainment hall which itself was filthy along with the carpet, the Bar, the Beer, & the staffs attitude, all I got was abuse when I took a Flat, cloudy, disgusting pint back whilst avoiding kids lying on the filth ridden carpet, the "entertainment" was lacking, 4 fat blokes stripped to their waists making pratts of themselves, the following night a girl singing to backing CD's, then the police arrived no doubt on the lookout for some undesireable which there was plenty of, the following night we went to Main entertainment hall which was a bit better once we had waited 3/4 hour for a table which we had to clean ourselves but the stench of fags on all our clothes in the morning was too much so we didn't go back there. We went bowling only for a load of people to arrive playing football, giving up we mentioned it to the assistant manager who said they get too much abuse so they let them get on with it, that is one of the problems with this place, the management don't want trouble so they let the all day beer swilling, smoking, not giving a care what their kids are doing people who are unfortunately the majority in this place get on with it, well they make more money this way, they shan't be making any more money out of us as we'll never go back, we went to a British holidays site in Blackpool once which was great, now they have joined Haven its gone downhill at a rapid rate, Thanks to customer care at Haggerston who couldn't even be bothered getting back to me, if you had & apologised then this wouldn't have been written, we will never be back, I'd rather stayed at home.
Review by John Gallantree on 24th April, 2006
Add your review Date visited: 14 - 21 April 2006
Very disappointed with the facilities of this site. Although the site was nice and clean and the caravan was in reasonable condition.
The main problems are too many people for the facilities. You have to queue and wait for everything and I mean everything.
As they only allow 75 people in the pool (health & safety) and the pool is small and for every child has to be accompanied by and adult, my 6 year old son only managed to to swimming once in one week. I was speaking to other parents they had the same problem.
They have a system whereas the time you would like to swim you have to go an hour before queue and book a space(that's if there are spaces available).
Going out in the evening is a nightmare as well. The children's entertainment is standing room only and if your not in by 7-7.30 PM forget about getting a seat.
Overcrowded.
The on-site restaurants: You have an half hour wait to get in and it takes approximately one and a half hours to before your food comes out.
On the weekend/week we attended over 4000 people where on the site. The staff where reluctant to help.
Do not go to this site if you plan to use the facilities. Nightmare and very frustrating.
Review by Stuart Laing on 22nd October, 2005
Add your review Date visited: 17/10/05 - 21/10/05
Excellent site with lots to recommend it. The staff were excellent, friendly and always available to answer any queries. It was a lovely break for all the family and easy to get to, which is important if your a non driving family as we are. The bike hire and boating on the lake were fun (if tiring on the legs!)and the site was clean and well maintained as was the caravan.
The three main bars offer something for eveyone whether it's the sports bar and showbar for the adults or the fun kids music and dancing at Carnabys. I would heartily recommend the park to anyone looking for a fun short break.
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