Cost of pitches
I for one will be looking at alternative options once my membership ends this time, which I find sad as I have been a member for many years.
Comments
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@JessR don't give up your membership, look at the small 5 van Certificated Locations, or CLs for short. Lots to choose from, they vary from "mini club sites" (my terminology in order to describe them) with toilet, shower, EHU and hard standing, to a basic CL on grass, with no facilities other than a tap, chemical emptying point and rubbish bins. Plus everything in between. They've gone up in price as well, but they're nowhere near £50 a night!
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It is, of course, Easter.
I’m shocked at the price of many things these days so would expect site fees to have shot up similarly.
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@JessR Well the 'evidence' as far as I can see is that it will not will totally price many out of the club. I'm going away tomorrow where I'll be paying over £55 a night for the Saturday night and the site, which is a large one at (from memory) over 149 pitches including 38 service pitches is full tomorrow and Saturday night (it's actually showing full till May but that's a mistake as it was only showing full Friday and Saturday last night?). Looking forward there are many sites where it is difficult to get a full week on, especially on a SP.
And as for independent sites being cheaper, again not always true. The nearest site to TH is charging £5 more on either standard and SP for any particular date. Of there are cheaper sites out there and more expensive, club sites are still middle of the road, and in my view offer far better quality and value but everyone makes their own mind up on that.
I was away at February on another club and the site was full on a few days during an 11 day stay.
But it has to be said that the figures you're quoting really only applies to this weekend and other BHs, most of the time outside of those most sites at about £35 - £40 per night on a standard pitch so you're skewing the price a bit, in fact the price at my site drops from Monday to £42 for a standard pitch then £38 from 1st May and stays that at price till July (BH excepted) when it goes up to £43 and stays at that till September when it drops back to £38, so quite a way from your £50+.
But the good news is that anyone is not forced to stay on a club site, if one finds a site that gives what one is after at the price they want then go for it.
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I wonder if the cost is the reason that there are so many club sites that have spaces for the whole of the Easter weekend. Inevitably has to look at the "Late Availability" page to see what I mean, and it is particularly obvious in the South Wet where out of 20 listed sites one can get a pitch for the full holiday weekend, Thursday through to Monday on 19 of them!!
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I see there is another Free Night for May and June which could help with the cost?
@nelliethehooker I would agree that it is a bit strange that sites are not full over Easter. Is it possible that the fact that most kids go back to school next Tuesday might have put people off going away? We have three neighbours with caravans and one went away last weekend, but as far as I know the other two have not gone away this Easter.
David
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Easter week and we will be on a pitch at £25 per night for 2 adults on a Club Site and in a popular holiday resort.
I could have got on an independent site in a beautiful location not far from it for £55 per night.
Anyone that knows my preferences will know I'm not a Club Site fan but sometimes they do have bargains. Not often mind!🤣
One other thing, I have had 2 (out of a possible 3) free nights on club sites since my last renewal of membership plus savings with various Outdoor Clothing Companies.
At the end of the day if you are rigidly stuck to club sites then you are missing out. But it's your money, you spend it as you wish.
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@nelliethehooker Are you looking at the same LA as I am? I know your definition of many might be different to mine but I see a completely different and healthy picture with. equally, many sites full.
Lake District all full bar one that's low, Peak District the same, Yorkshire three full and two low, North East 4 full and two low, East Anglia 5 full, 2 lows out of 9. East Midland is all full or low, West Midlands is 1 out of 2 low (only four sites in the midlands). That's over 19 sites full among these?
These are the 'central' sites and easy to get to from most places, yet others are still doing good. Wales is 6 lows out of 9, South East has 10 full or low out of 15, Southern has 8 out 16 low or full. Scotland have plenty of places as does Devon and Cornwall, but these always do and so it's not a fair test in my view to pick D&C guide to what's happening elsewhere? I assume that's what you mean by the south west - which doesn't appear a separate region in LA.
A quick look appears that most or many sites are doing very well to me.
Also of course it's impossible to say how close to low some of those other sites are. As I said it look a pretty good picture to me.
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How many similar posts have we seen on this subject? At the ed of the day it boils down to a lot of us [me included] think Club sites are expensive, which they are, but so are many independent. So we look elsewhere and find CL's offer a more affordable alternative. If we really search, then we find attractive prices at nice independent sites with good facilities can be found, but you really do need to spend time doing so.
As members of a "Club" should we have to go to such lengths to find these sites when you would have thought it reasonable for your "Club" to be a logical first choice and it would be on one of "Our" sites that we would make our booking.
Colin
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For many it is the logical first choice and it is the ones that many people make their booking with, especially in Yorkshire hence the full sites as I posted about before.
And what such lengths? I can only assume that if it does take that long to really search then they are not that many cheaper than club or independents sites out there.
And I would say, if such lengths are needed for those who want to use club sites but then have to really search for these cheaper sites why are these club site 'non-bookers' remaining in the club?
I know people state they remain for the CLs but that doesn't match up with your post? I mean if they are members for CLs only then these are really easy to find without such lengths and having to really search for them?
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Just to make it clearer with totals.
and I made a serious error with Yorkshire that has 13 out of 14 full and one low. Now to me that is very good making 33 sites full in just those alone
Lake District all full bar one that's low out of 6 (before anyone posts, an extra site has now space but it wasn't, and showing low), Peak District the same with 7 out 8 full and one low, Yorkshire t
hree full and two lowout of 5, North East 4 full and two low out of 6, East Anglia 5 full, 2 lows out of 9. East Midland is all full or low, West Midlands is 1 out of 2 low (only four sites in the midlands).0 -
sorry I don't know why an empty post was made, well it was empty before I edited
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Or…at the end of the day if you are rigidly stuck to using non club sites then you are missing out. But it's your money, you spend it as you wish. 😊
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Whoops, I obviously touched a nerve there. I thought I only said "really search" once.
Perhaps I should explain. When looking for a site my priority is not simply price but the overall package and I am generally not fixated with visiting a certain very specific location. As we have a car we tend to visit places in the area, so we are look for a site in an area of interest and that site must has nice facilities, good reviews etc.
The bit that usually surprises me is that being a member of a club I naively expect that the "logical first choice" would be a club site, but this is seldom the case.
If you simply book into a club site you are automatically rejecting a great number of potential sites. Yes I know they may not be perfect, but the same can be said for any site, club or other.
Colin
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No nerve touched here @eribaMotters but perhaps I have with you? I mean I didn't realise that if you only wrote it once I can't quote it twice? Is that what you're saying 🙂
I'm a member of many clubs but that doesn't mean they are automatically my first choice as for me they are a means to an end but we're all different.
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I am afraid inflation is hitting us all and the £50 a night site is a problem at the moment. Most large operators like the club are in the same boat as they have overheads smaller operators do not have. What this means is that the smaller sites often family run can usually undercut larger operators who need a head office structure and more employees rather than family members working there ay far higher expense. You do have to look carefully at the structure of the operator before jumping to conclusions..
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No, I'm fairly thick skinned. I believe everybody should be allowed to have an opinion, whether others agree with it or not. It would be sad place if we lost this. (Obviously rules of law and good manners apply)
Colin
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@KjellNN I had an email on the 16th April offering a free night. What I don't know is whether it's a targeted "free night" as the last time I used a Club site was about a year ago before we sold the motorhome. Can't imagine it was just for me. Perhaps they are only sending to members who haven't used a Club site for a while? Anyone else got the same email?
David
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I received an e-mail 2 or 3 days ago, the reason given that I had not used a Club site for some time. I think a minimum of 4 nights needed to be booked at some time in April or May.
Colin
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The Yorkshire sites are only full until Sunday. After that they all have pitches, only YRP showing as low availability. I suspect that this might well be the same in other areas, the BH weekend well used, but midweek not so busy.1
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And the following weekend nearly all club sites are showing plenty of availability, @Takethedogalong
@Cornersteady the reason I mentioned The South West, oops sorry Devon and Cornwall, is that it is regularly the prime holiday destination during the holiday periods with thousands heading that way causing huge traffic delays, and I was very surprised that there were so many sites which had free, ie not booked, pitches during the Easter weekend.
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@KjellNN I have not received the said email, but perhaps that's because we have made use of all the free nights offered prior to this one, and the club is trying to attract those members who have not taken up the offer in the past.
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@nelliethehooker Maybe while a popular holiday destination it maybe too far for towing and smaller roads unsuitable for other LVs. It is also a dead end accessible only from one side whereas other area are accessible from all directions. Also this is just a BH weekend meaning perhaps people want a shorter distance to travel.
For what ever reasons the D&C sites are always not full so in my view should be taken as a 'barometer' reading for the health of all club which is the way I read you earlier post.
As to traffic it took one hour to travel from just before Penrith to past the M6 today hence the full sites here
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But it isn't just a weekend as the schools are off over roughly a 3 week period and lots of families use those times to get away, with D&C being a prime destination. The Lakes have been busy for weeks now, as they always are, from March through to November, so no surprise that getting in and out from them takes a long time especially these three weeks.
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Trouble is, if parents had to work Thursday and the kids go back to school on Tuesday, it’s hardly worth the trek from, say, the Midlands to D&C. Most places seem to have the school hols from 7 April to 21 April rather than the 3 weeks you and I enjoyed all those years ago.
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Easter holidays are two weeks (some independents have three) and while they may move to have the Easter weekend either at the end or in the middle school children (usually) have working parents who probably won't want to use up all their holidays over two weeks.
@nelliethehooker Not to go over old ground but you posted:
l wonder if the cost is the reason that there are so many club sites that have spaces for the whole of the Easter weekend. Inevitably has to look at the "Late Availability" page to see what I mean, and it is particularly obvious in the South Wet where out of 20 listed sites one can get a pitch for the full holiday weekend.
As I've shown apart from D&C so many sites are full, and it is, to use your own words, particularly obvious in central places like Yorkshire, the peak and lake districts. So I can't agree with your first sentence.
D&C are never full even in summer possibly due to their 'our of the way' location.
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These types of post about club sites getting more and more expensive have been going on for a good few years, and it was common as well to have forecasts of empty sites and closures. There's always been calls for cheaper basic sites rather than full fat expensive ones.
But what sites have closed? The cheaper and more basic sites because we were told no one was using them, or using them enough to make them viable.
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It’s the same old story. Weekends are busy, particularly BH weekends. But midweek there’s plenty of space. My marketing head is telling me it’s the prices. The Places are nice, the Product is good, but the Prices are off putting, and the Promotions are poor. The midweek marketing mix isn’t working.2
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‘Twas ever thus - weekends busy, mid week quieter. For years there have been complaints about weekenders even though a lot of us have done it during our working lives. I don’t think it’s cost that keeps people away mid week but the fact that people want to go away at weekends when their kids are off school and they, the parents, aren’t working.
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