Venture Abroad magazine.
I think the Clubs maps have still not been updated to include Europe and Scandinavia.
All that money and postage we are paying to produce a book containing a list of 100 pages of French campsites!
Comments
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Having read through it yesterday and considered a trip down to La Rochelle area what is really disappointing is seeing some sites in the book which 'online' have dreadful reviews eg Huttopia Rambouillet (P17)
Titles of reviews include...Nasty....Why is This Included In The Brochure....Disappointing Site.... Doesn't the Club review either the reviews or the sites?
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We've stayed at Huttopia Rambouillet in the past, and it's so very different to a Caravan Club site, that I'm surprised that it's in the brochure. BUT I would be no means call it nasty, disappointing, or anything like that. We liked it, but then we were there in lovely weather, and it may be very different in wet weather.
It's a rustic site, with interesting wooden buildings, but very nice modern sanitaires which include all-in-one bathrooms of a good size, and there is an ECO swimming pool (natural filtration). Pitches are in quite mature woodland, separated by a few bushes and lower vegetation, which Caravan Club members, used to pitching on flat hardstanding pitches where they need to line up to a peg, may find very threatening, but we liked it there and would happily go back!
There is another similar Huttopia site at Senonches, which has some more open areas, a lovely bar/restaurant overlooking a lake, but the same facilities rustic buildings, and state of the art wooden washblock!
I think both of these will be a bit extreme for many Caravan Club members but for those more used to French campsites of all types, they will be perfectly acceptable.
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I went to look at other reviews of that Rambouillet site in other places - ACSI, Zoover and UKCampsite. They aren't glowing but aren't as scathing as the ones Paul has spotted. I like best the format on UKCampsite where you can immediately see whether it is someone's first overseas site review, and can compare their other reviews with one's own experience. Know your reviewer.
As far as Caravan Club members are concerned there seems to be a difference between Caravan Club members who travel independently, and those who book sites from Venture Abroad and then write reviews about those sites - perhaps after experiencing some culture shock on what may be a first visit. But I'm letting my prejudices show !
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I am sure Val will confirm but it used to be called Camping De L'Etang D'Or. We stayed there 10 years ago and I have a site review, with pictures, here. I did mention that initial impressions were not the best but the campsite grew on us during our five day stay. I don't know what changes Huttopia have made since they owned the site.
David
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David's correct - it was an ex-municipal site, and was taken into Huttopia ownership. We were there the first year after it re-opened, and have been back since as it was convenient for our route up and down through France. However, we had difficulty finding it the first time as their were roadworks on the access road and a (not signposted) diversion in place which didn't indicate where access to the site was!
It's not easy to say exactly what changes have been made - pitches look as they currently are, but there is now a large new reception/restaurant/bar area to the left of the entrance, with the pool nearby, between the building and the lake. The toilet blocks (click for images - first two on the left) have obviously been significantly improved since David's visit, and as I said, now have some individual bathrooms with loads of room. They are wooden buildings, so perhaps may not stand the test of time, but were fine last time we visited.
Sites in the Caravan Club brochure used to be inspected - a friend of mine and her husband were inspectors - and it was quite a rigorous process which they enjoyed for many years. I don't know how the inspection process works now, as when the Caravan Club took over Alan Rogers Organisation (who already had their own inspectors) the Caravan Club Inspectors were offered re-employment but on different terms and conditions. They chose not to stay on, as did many of the old team, I think.
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I just wonder if this should be in the 'Overseas' thread, where it may attract more contributions from those who travel in Europe, rather than those who just browse the 'Club Products and Services' thread?
There may be more valuable comments to be made by others who use sites in the brochure.
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Val
On balance I think you are right about it being in the Overseas Section. I understand why the OP posted in Club Products and Services but the thread has expanded beyond that.
David
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It was my suggestion that it might be more appropriate here The original post is about the magazine, but the main point seemed to be sites with poor reviews and why they should be used by the Caravan Club. I just thought it might be helpful if others who
use sites from the brochure could list their experiences - to reassure the original poster, or to confirm his impressions of the site he refers to.All threads tend to waver around a topic, discussing different aspects, but I would consider that this one is still on-topic (unlike some which go completely away from the point of the original post!).
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Val you are forgiven, my little fit of pique is over
PS. I see the heavy hand of authority moved it anyway!!
Only after my post suggesting it would be better here. However back 'on topic, has anyone got any comments about the accuracy of the reviews in the Caravan Club Venture Abroad brochure? Accurate, or not, to be trusted or not.........., up to date, out
of date..........! I don't know which sites are in there, or what the reviews are like, because we don't book using that brochure, but others may do and have opinions which may help other members make decisions.0 -
Thank you everyone for your posts on this topic, it’s always interesting to hear what you think of the Venture Abroad brochure. I can see from the thread that there are a few points that I would really like to clarify.
First of all the brochure – it’s hot off the press and will have been delivered to any member household who booked an overseas site with us in the last couple of years. We now work with over 280 sites throughout Europe and we keep adding to this annually
as we want to provide our members with as wide a choice as possible when it comes to their holidays abroad. We do work with a lot of French campsites, but this is because France is the most popular destination amongst members. We have however grown our network
in other countries this year, with new sites in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Slovenia.In order to produce the brochure each site is inspected by experienced site inspectors who are contracted by The Caravan Club, they spend most of the summer months visiting sites, negotiating the best rates and special offers for our members to include in
our brochure. They also carry out health and safety inspections. We try to be as accurate as possible however sites can make changes at the last minute and as with every travel brochure by the time it goes to press some of the information may have changed.For 2017 we have introduced a member rating as well as a star rating in the brochure. The star rating is set by the site but the member rating is based on our member reviews found on our website, we feel that this will give our members a better idea of
what to expect on-site.If you use our UK sites you are probably used to exceptional standards that The Caravan Club is well known for, the reason for this is partially because we own many of these and we employ the wardens so we have a lot of control over our UK sites. As far
as our overseas sites are concerned we have partnerships with them which we work hard to maintain but apart from that we don’t have the same control as we do in the UK.I agree that there have been some very disappointing reviews regarding the Indigo/Huttopia sites, which is a shame as these more rustic sites offer very relaxing, back to nature holidays. They have a strong emphasis on the natural environment as opposed
to huge pool complexes and 5* facilities. As with any online review, they are subjective they shouldn’t be treated as gospel. If anyone wanted more information from The Caravan Club about a site they’d like to go to but feel the reviews are concerning, please
feel free to contact us and we can discuss it with you.Sarah
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"but the thread has expanded beyond that."....is that CC forum speak for 'off topic'?
EJB986
Rather than off topic I think I would use the word complementary. Perhaps by coincidence you also got an official response
David
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First of all the brochure – it’s hot off the press and will have been delivered to any member household who booked an overseas site with us in the last couple of years.
Sarah
That's odd, we received the brochure, but have never, in over 25 years of membership, booked an overseas site through the club. In fact, we never book sites at all and never have done, so not sure how we came to be on that mailing list.
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First of all the brochure – it’s hot off the press and will have been delivered to any member household who booked an overseas site with us in the last couple of years.
Sarah
That's odd, we received the brochure, but have never, in over 25 years of membership, booked an overseas site through the club. In fact, we never book sites at all and never have done, so not sure how we came to be on that mailing list.
Neither have we but maybe a ferry and camping cheques count as a booking
Agree that a ferry booking + CCs would probably count as a booking. However, we haven't booked a ferry with the club for years either, nor bought CCs.
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I received the booklet and I have only booked Red Pennant with the Club for years.
David
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I appreciate the Club goes to a lot of trouble to inspect sites and produce the Venture Abroad booklet - but the inspector might like a site and yet other members might not. Just look at the conflicting reviews and reports for Camping de Courte Vallee at
Airvault. Superb or dreadful. It's as stark as that.I would be pretty fed up if I had paid up front for a site and found I dispiked it as much as that, or even if all the other Brits there were objectionable, or if I found how little there was to do in the area, or if the weather forecast for the next week
was bad.So I would always want the freedom to move on, I would never book through Venture Abroad, and the Club, wisely, hasn't sent me a copy.
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We stayed on a site Acro Iris near Madrid, where we met CC inspectors evaluating the site. It has now appeared in this booklet, but the description is wofully inadequate. It does not mention;-
That most of the tourers choose to pitch at the top of the site, which involves a long decent and return climb to the pool area and site entrance.
The bus to Madrid involves a change in the next village.
The pitches are on the small side, and not level and uneven.
The site suffers from mosqutio infestation.
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I'd never take any description in such publications as gospel. They'll make any site sound fantastic and what people want to read. It's easy nowadays to find reviews on 't interweb about sites, UKCampsite is a good one, as is Zoover. There is far more
info to be found there, and out of a lot of reviews, you can usually find out the general "flavour" of a site.0
