Empty sites
Comments
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Yes, I agree - how many complaints do we read on here about wardens being abrupt and stand-offish. The last couple of sites we went to we'd visited before, knew which area we wanted to be in and were accompanied there and left to make our choice. No need to return to the office to let them know which pitch we were on.
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same here, M...a lot of myths about CCC 'pitching'...we just tell them (guide them) which pitch we want....it really isn't a problem.
althpugh i do agree with Alan that press button showers can be a bit of a pain as can the 1 o clock arrival (depending on how far one has to travel) but bins, deposits or site plans aren't issues for us.
Hhowever, Peedee's mentioned discount at £50 a week is certainly better in my pocket than someone else's...
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Agree that this thread is not about “over there” BUT I learned something interesting from an ACSI site in France where we know the owners very well. Sites with swimming pools do very well and maintain high levels of occupancy (though rarely “complet”) sites without a pool often struggle and suffer low occupancy.
So, how would a Club site with no pool, no bar, no restaurant, and no activities other than a tiny children’s play area survive as a family holiday venue? Beats me. Have the Club got the business model totally wrong and will they eventually find that their only clientele are oldies who hate children, can’t swim etc. Is this sustainable?
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That is not how i saw it at Sandringham ccc site as the queue at arrivals at 1300 hrs was back beyond the access road and the managers did not have time to "chat" except to point to the allocated pitch as they cycled by,
and the manager in the office said the head honchos who thought up the system need to go to a busy site and see what delays it causes while the new arrivals have to wait for the next available "escort"
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I’ve noticed the queue problem since they made arrival time 1300. It’s as if the former 1200 arrivals have had to wait and their number, added to those who would have arrived at 1300 under the old system, causes a massive log jam that wasn’t apparent previously. Instead of a gentle stream of arrivals, they now have a tsunami.
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All the issues revolving around arrival, pitch choice, being escorted etc.
Why does the club not join the rest of the world of travel booking and put a pitch plan on the booking site and allocate at time of booking? This would mean that the arrivals would drip in and not have the 12:00 scrum and queues.
Most of the commercials and even the latest CLs I have used advise pitch allocation at confirmation of booking. It is the norm for virtually all accommodation booking why not the club?
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I don't understand why you'd have lost 3 nights? I thought I'd read on site notices that if you were leaving early just let the wardens know and you would just lose the first night's fee. Have I mis-read? We'very never been in that situation so I really don't know.
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Our daughter who has a motorhome tried to book a popular CMC site on the East Coast, at short notice. She was told that the site was full even though it showed pitches available on line. When she questioned this she was told that they consider the site full when they reach a certain number of people on site. I have never heard of this before, can this be right? This could also be why some of the popular sites 'seem' to be not full at this time of the year.
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I am not sure on that one, I think she rang because she wanted to go in the next couple of days and she wanted to make sure that it was OK.
The reason could be that they increased the number of pitches a few years ago but did not increase the facilities and by putting a cap on the numbers stops queueing etc. for the facilities. They also have a swimming pool so it could be for Health and Safety reasons during the busy season. I just found it strange when she told me.
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But there is also the Scarborough Camping Club site which is within walking distance of the north bay beach and has a bus to town centre from the gate if required. In the school holidays it is always full and is the one I would choose over any of the others if I were visiting the area from elsewhere as it is the best positioned. I walk past it two or three times most weeks. The Caravan Club is far from being the only provider on the Yorkshire coast. People are probably avoiding Cayton and choosing an alternative / better site or provider.
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Clearly I know the price of everything but the value of nothing. I'll still opt to save £49 a week though.
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It isn't having to push a button that is the problem for me David. It is the fact that following radiotherapy some 26 years ago the skin on stomach and lower back are sensitive to heat and you cannot regulate the temperature. My solution is to go early for a shower at 6.30am before the heat has reached all showers. Run shower until just tepid and then get in and soap. Push button again to rinse off. Sounds easy but it means that I start in almost cold water and finish having to get out as it is too hot. I usually have a strip wash in a cubicle instead.
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Surely with your circumstances it would be better to use your onboard shower where you can regulate the temperature at and the time of day would be irrelevant.
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yes, one of my biggest bugbears....and this happens at both clubs.
stand in the centre of the shower cubicle and you might as well. not be there....
the last commercial site we used a few weeks ago had oversized cubicles, adjustable shower heads and temperature control....lovely...(oh, and they didn't close for cleaning, either)
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Hitch, really good question...
.many who post on here who 'have no need of.....' the facilities you mention (those that you, we and many others take for granted when 'away') are what could be seen as Current Club Core Members and, being of a certain age (or more) have grown up kids and just want a bit 'peace and quiet' (probably not realising that this is also perfectly possible on sites with the facs you mention)
..but, in time, as these members drift away from vanning and younger ones (with kids of that certain age) replace them, will the 'Club formula' be enough to keep/attract them against the (perhaps) more rounded (better suited) offerings of the go ahead commercials?
dont get me wrong, we love tiny CLs in the middle of nowhere, THS sites in school fields and rugby clubs but as a 'destination site' for a longer family stay you can't beat having all the trappings of a holiday hotel on site, but just pitched in the van rather than a room.
many successful continental sites also have 'mobile homes' for non vanners to stay (we've used these at times with non touring family members) and I see now on a recent visit to Sandy Balls, that they have completely removed all the touring pitches replacing them with rather swish lodges...
what makes this a hugely popular spot, apart from the terrific location, is the array of 'things to do on site' when folk need a break from touring into the forest or down to the coast or.....
ok, its expensive, and getting all the facilities for a cheap touring fee was real steal, but that's all gone and the direction for that site is clear.
plenty of CL (£13) and THS (£10) sites within a couple of km of SB, so 'cheap as chips' camping also available but where does this leave the club with its £40 a night familty pitches that offer nothing but a parking spot?
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Unfortunately wouldn't work on some of the municipal sites in France. I was using a cable tie. Unfortunately some clever designer has made a version that you press in to activate, but it then immediately pops out and delivers anything from a few seconds to several minutes of water. Holding it in gets you nothing.☹️
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And that's absolutely fine for "elsewhere" particularly for long term touring I should imagine. But it's simply not the case "over here" on any main site that I know of, possibly works on some little CL/CS sites and apparently on THSs. Many commercial sites ask you to pay the whole lot weeks in advance.
To use this as a reason to knock the club seems a bit unreasonable to me any way.
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I paid for our Henley break a few weeks in advance at Swiss Farm, but one would expect that for such a high profile event.
for this CL we didn't know exacly how many days we were going to be around so we agreed I would drop the cash in when we left.
Club sites (both clubs) always require payment in advance (even in the middle of winter when half empty) and this has always been an annoyance which restricts easy variance of a schedule.
perhaps, when sites are under occupied, a pay as you go approach might work, say commit to two nights and if you want to extend just let the office know....better that than committing for a week and getting bored with a place halfway through.
i think with 'linear' MH touring and the 'this looks nice, let's pull in' approach that forms a part of our long tours, it's easy to think a place has more to offer than it actually does, but having to go back to office daily to 'attain flexibility' even on an empty site is a bit of a pain..
but back to the OP, I agree and posted elsewhere (yet another 'price critical' thread) that the club might need to move from its 'vanilla' template (nice, clean but that's it) as the market moves towards a wider offering of bars/restaurants/pools to attract the younger market and their families.
there are expensive sites with all the bells and whistles, there are cheap as chips CL & THS sites, with the clubs in the middle ground with rising prices but no upgrade to their bland offering.
2 adults and 2 children at the new forest centenary site up the road £43 tonight.
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but back to the OP, I agree and posted elsewhere (yet another 'price critical' thread) that the club might need to move from its 'vanilla' template (nice, clean but that's it) as the market moves towards a wider offering of bars/restaurants/pools to attract the younger market and their families.
Guess what my favourite icecream flavour is BB ....... yep!
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