Delftse Hout Site
Delftse Hout In a word don't bother with this site, seems that they like to pack you close together i.e 2 feet from the next caravan! and five caravans or motor homes in the same very small enclave!
We was under the impression that as this is an affiliated site with the club then there would be certain safe guards? and as for booking a comfort pitch don't bother they are much all the same out there! As for the facilities saying they are a little dated is putting it mildly! watch out for the weekends just take your own loo roles!
Trip via Harwich to Hook of Holland was great and would recommend that way to the continent but next time over we shall just drive through into Germany before we stop!
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Wow! I read your full review of the site. You really didn't like it, did you. But I can't contradict because I never felt inclined to drive just 15 miles from the ferry port and stop there - with everybody else.
We always went straight off to Keukenhof in the spring, the open spaces (and all the Van Gogh paintings in the museum there) in the Hoge Veluwe National park in summer, and the warm indoor attractions of Amsterdam and Haarlem in Autumn. We never made it to Maastricht in the far south but Groningen up in the north is a lovely town.
Give the Netherlands another chance!
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Firstly it is not an Affiliated Site. The CMC may include it in their Overseas Travel Brochure but it does not have to follow club rules. No site abroad does.
It's main attraction is the ease of access to a very pretty town in Delft. Secondly it makes a convenient overnight stop if you don't fancy a long journey after getting off thd ferry at 6 pm ish.
On saying all that I agree that it's not the best site that we've stayed at, just the once and for 1 night only, and I wouldn' t pay top price either. We used our ACSI card and used our own facilities, that's what they are there for.
Agree with EuroT. Netherlands is great but we stay away from the seaside places. BTW Maastricht and the Limburg adea well worth a visit.
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Strange that, packing in tight, because the last twice we visit was just overnight and both times we had pitches where we could leave the van hitched.
We stay there for convenience, we leave home at 5am and drive to Harwich so by the time we get to the Hook we don’t want to go much further before relaxing. Also Delft has quite a good nature reserve, so that will do me.🦅
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Being Dutch and having grown up in nearby Den Haag, we have used that site on a number of occasions to visit family/friends, but not in the last few years. Things must have changed, as we were never packed in that tight as described by the OP, and toilet facilities were very good. The one thing I didn't like was the proximity to the motorway and the noise from it, but it was a means to an end to us.
The site we really didn't like was Kijkduinpark, on the outskirts of Den Haag; it was more convenient for us, but once was enough! No issue now anyway, as they no longer accept motorhomes. It's mostly statics, and touring area was always muddy and the facilities left a lot to be desired.
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Hi All
Thanks for your opinions however we are still well disappointment with the standards at this location! and what's more if its not affiliated site then why does the camp have a massive board outside on arrival stating its a Caravan & Motorhome site? this is also just outside the window of reception so please excuse us for thinking it had anything to do with the club?
But as we said next we shall drive straight through Holland and out the other side to look for a better run location with higher standards like those we visit in the Uk all the time at "Tranquil Parks" now these sites really do offer comfort pitches in the real meaning and hey ho its worth paying the extra buck because as they say you always get what you pay for!.
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Hi Gateway, I hope things go better for you in future.
You don't need my advice - but I would warn others not to book and pay in advance in September for sites they don't know and might not like. Paying for just one night at ACSI card rates is no great loss if someone finds a campsite they really don't like - we had that at Narbonne in June this year, and simply left in the morning.
Good wishes for your future travels.
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We stayed at Delftse Hout about 5 years ago. Don’t remember it being over crowded except where in the area where there was a C&CC Rally. It has the advantage of being walking distance into Delft. No Van Gogh museum. But there is the Vermeer muesum. Shame it’s only 15 Miles from the ferry. If this is an issue you could drive in circles to get the mileage up.
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- Our pitch at Delftse Haut last September.
We arrived early, from the Rotterdam ferry, and were allocated the pitch even though it was well before normal check in time.
We were in Holland for the Champions' Leauge game at Feyenoord, and didn't want to stay in Rotterdam.
Public transport very good for trips to Amsterdam etc, we had no problems whatsoever with the trip or campsite.
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Oneputt, if you are stopping there in near future then try the bottled beer, called Vermeer I think, that they sell in the bar. It's about 6+% abv and I had it as it was wheat free. Mrs WN, not one who drinks a lot, was giggly after 2 bottles!
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Totally agree re booking outside of season. That happened to us this year in the Dordogne. Our chosen site was awful, we hadn't booked so the next day we just looked for somewhere else ad left.
Funnily the only time we have met with a full site outside of season and using ACSI was Delfts Houte. There was only one pitch available and it was waterlogged so we declined. The site manager showed us to the motorhome area which was being used by a Dutch classic caravan rally. There was a pitch available which was ok so we accepted. The people on the rally welcomed us and we joined them for two of their evening socials. It worked out ok in the end we had a great time but always have a back up site if you can if arriving unbooked.
We found the site totally acceptable for our needs and spent seven nights there. That was ten years ago so things could have changed.
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Hi Eurortraveller
Yes agreed good advice about pre booking unknown sites and it seems given some of the comments on this discussion forum site some peoples expectations are how can I put this? lets just say their expectations seem to be met at different levels! as we said before we all have opinions all of which differ quite a lot and besides our choice would be to pay a lot more for a much better location but as they say you pays your money and you takes your choice! But believe us when we say this site hasn't put us off going this ferry route again but as we said next we will try Germany or Italy and not bother stopping in Holland and anyway the brand new van needs some miles on it so why not as they say have van will travel, we have even thought of Croatia as loads of reviews much like Germany and Italy, so onward and upwards and maybe we shall spend some weeks over there at our leisure.
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"it seems given some of the comments on this discussion forum site some peoples expectations are how can I put this? lets just say their expectations seem to be met at different levels!"
I wonder, was there any need for this part of your reply. To me, It has undertones of peoples social class and it would appear because of your own personal expectations your monetary standing sounds quite high. I found it totally unnecessary.
Every type of holiday is budget led but that doesn't mean people are of a different class.
In my post above re the Dordogne site. Both sites accepted ACSI at the time of our visit. However if paying the full price, the first one, the one we left, was €8 per night more and suggested in the site blurb it was akin to a 5* hotel (their words). I can assure you it was not, whereas the second one was lovely and I would dare say even you would have liked it.
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Hi HarryB
Please accept our apologies for those particular comments which seem to have been interpreted incorrectly, what we was trying to say is that the sites facilities where some what lacking and yet some people seem to accept these standards in the facilities onsite even though it is recommended by the club?
We would ask the question would we accepted the same poor facility standards from a site based in the UK without complaining? but just like texting most comments can be misinterpreted!
For the record social classes was not mentioned or referred too in our post as we were just trying to express an opinion which seems on this site to be as we stated misinterpreted perhaps by yourself or others?
Of course all holidays are budget lead totally agree! but we don't accept and neither should anyone else we believe accept poor site standards in facilities when this particular site which is advertising touring pitches for club members especially when your paying for something else which has been advertised and when you arrive you find "Comfort pitches wedged between 4 other vans" "No loo Rolls" Toilets not cleaned at weekends" we have complained to the club and we are sure they will look into our complaints.
As for some of the pictures shown on this forum when we stayed at this site It was full to over flowing and quite a few vans and motor homes were being parked up outside the site until pitches became clear and then they were brought into the site? perhaps earlier in the year you may find this site empty but not when we were there.
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Gateway
The Club have a partnership with a series of European sites as a means of providing those members who prefer to buy a complete package from the Club rather than making their own arrangements. However the Club have no control over the sites and the only sanction open to them is to remove them from advanced booking system. They do inspect the sites although I am not sure how regularly. Delftse Hout is a very popular site with members of both Clubs and independent travellers. I am sure the Club will take note of your comments along with comments from other member and if there is a trend they will no doubt discuss this with the site.
David
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"But believe us when we say this site hasn't put us off going this ferry route again but as we said next we will try Germany or Italy and not bother stopping in Holland and anyway the brand new van needs some miles on it so why not as they say have van will travel"
Gatewaya89, ok, so you were disappointed with Delftse Hout, but don't let that put you off staying on another site in Holland. Just because one site disappointed, that doesn't mean each and every site in Holland will also disappoint you. I accept that you want to put some miles on your van, but believe me, some sites we've stayed on in Germany were very regimented and also quite tightly packed, but not every site is the same, so we still go to Germany. Same with France, we've stayed on a few sites there, which were not to our liking for one reason or another, but that doesn't mean that every site is the same. As for Italy, I think you'll find sites there are also quite tightly packed, that was our experience anyway.
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Hi InaD & David
Thanks for those opinions both of which we shall take on board however talking to other caravan'ers and motorhomer's who are not members of this club they are telling us to seek out some private sites in both Germany & Italy as these in their opinions and they have used over current years seem to offer more than both our UK clubs offer? Now perhaps this is the way to go rather than tie ourselves to either UK European clubs that are on offer? we have of course all the necessary European medical cover and also full RAC cover abroad so maybe this we feel is the way too go as in the UK we are now tending to use more and more of the private touring sites which do seem to offer more than the 2 large UK clubs offer within the UK?
Some of these private sites which we have tried do include things like great club houses offering live entertainment Friday/Saturday nights ,fishing lakes, swimming pools, spa's etc all of which are available to and included within your prices should you wish to use them and considering price comparisons they stack up fairly given whats available to our UK clubs both of which we are members of.
We also noticed that on arrival at these private location sites each and every new arrival is being handed out a full guide to the site and its facilities! but more than that notes on best restaurants around walking and cycle paths etc and loads of local information and places to visit all of which is presented to you upon arrival at reception in a folder, this information also includes emergency doctors telephone numbers local emergency vet numbers local hospital A+E directions! now in our opinion only of course this makes for better weekends away having all the information you need to read over your first cuppa? but would you not agree its a nice little touch to welcome your new business to their park perhaps both large UK club sites should take a leaf out of their books as we have never had all of this information given to us upon arrival at either Caravan & Motorhome or Caravan and Camping sites although in some cases there are little rooms with local information available.
But this seems to be a standard throughout all their private parks! So again only in our opinion that use of these private sites seem to offer more bang for the price and as we said its on a par with the costs involved staying on some of this clubs locations and the other UK clubs.
But each to their own opinion and type of site of course which they wish to stay on! but ours are tending to swing more to privately owned than club owned purely for whats on offer for the price you pay, but we are sure as experienced tourers you have both tried these kind of sites anyway but if you haven't then we would recommend them as a great change to the normal club sites
The new private sites throughout the UK in our opinion only are tending to target new business more and more and are offering more and more even down to pitch sizes,No membership fees, and also the way you have to pitch as well as on most of the private owned sites we have used pitch sizes range but on average we have had 10 metres by 9 metres size pitches! massive! and therefore this allows you to pitch any which way you like according to views around(again nice little touches) this is just of course our own observations only having stayed on these types of privately owned adult only sites although there are family sites available with these types of facilitates we stayed at one last week "The Deepings Caravan Park" what a great site with great pitches and entertainment for all the family all year round!
We have also of course like yourselves stayed on both CAM sites and CAC sites within the UK and of course but having to pitch in a particular way while using club sites (well in our opinion only) is a little bit dated and given that the wider differences between club and privately owned sites perhaps the club needs to look at updating some of whats on offer and the way they ask us to pitch perhaps
We suppose anyone could argue the point that the club offers so much advice etc but ask yourself doesn't "Google" & "Utube" offer more now than any club can offer but which helps everyone to enjoy caravaning more and more and get the answers they need with site reviews and how to do things?How many club members now use these facilities to check out their next location? the world is changing and so is caravaning.
But as we said we thank you for your comments and will take then on board.
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Gateway
I am getting a bit confused about whether we are discussing European Touring or UK Touring?
As far as European touring is concerned I think you have to be prepared to go with the flow a bit more. Sites abroad probably vary more widely than UK sites. Some will seem like large CL's whilst other will be full blown holiday centres. There is no standard approach. If you are able to go out of high season they will be less busy.
With regards your comments on UK sites it seems to me that the Club sites generally just don't suit your style of camping although I do question whether you actually have much more freedom on how you pitch on private sites as opposed to Club sites? For many of us Club sites suit our needs. We get decent sized pitches, we know what to expect from the facilities. Often Club sites are a means to explore the local area rather than being a destination in the own right. I appreciate that there will be a difference between weekends where peopl may just wish to relax and longer stays where people may want to get out and about. Many members like Club sites because they don't have bars and entertainment. Because location and access to public transport is important to me I have used a fair few commercial sites in recent years and with a few exceptions at best they are the equal of Club sites and at worse not of the same standard.
David
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Hi David
Appreciate your comments and opinions totally but our opinions only of course is that there are quite a few private sites out there that offer the tourer better club sites with better overall facilities offered and with the exact same access to all public transport links which as you state is important should you wish to leave the car or motor home at the site
Granted you do have to do your research but in the end it always pays off for us and thank god for the likes of Google,Utube and bloggers for candid real reviews which we find always helps.
We just feel that this club perhaps needs to move forward in its thinking or improve on certain things like for instance the information folder given out at all the sites we have visited? still think that a little effort goes a long way in service standards don't you agree?
As for the record we do not use as you say "commercial sites" these are not the type of sites we enjoy ourselves we tend as said previously within the UK to go more for "Tranquill Sites" and as the name sounds they really are! You should perhaps check these out when you get a chance to do a proper analysis of sites to club sites it may just surprise you how far privately owned sites have come over the years to present day.
We do take your comments on board about sites abroad and will carry out some in depth research before setting out again but do thank you for your opinions and hope you will accept our opinions too!
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Gateway, I’m getting the impression that you’re not a happy camper. Why not simply try different sites here and abroad, stick with what you like best and ignore the rest? I think that’s what most of us do.
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Hi Tinwheeler
Totally agree but wouldn't it be nice if the club would just make some very basic changes to help all? if you have been following the tread we thought the info folder was a great idea carried out by private sites.
Perhaps this club could start there? but is that this clubs attitude has a thinking of "if its not broke then it don't need fixing?"but sometimes its not the fixing that is required just updating on old idea's perhaps! you tell us? but your right we do adopt your opinions and use the one's that best suit our needs, Thanks for the input.
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Gateway
Just for clarification, in my view any site that is not a Club site is a commercial site, I make no distinction between different types of commercial site.
As to information folders. I feel this would be a bit OTT for most Club sites as the information contained in them is readily available online or in the information rooms. I have been on sites that hand out such folders only to discover they mainly cover the do's and don'ts of staying on site. By and large this is not required on Club Sites as most members know what is required of them.
David
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Hi Gateway, on the other hand I don't want you to give up firing new ideas around on here - a breath of fresh air and a different way of doing things is always welcome on here - and needed too.
I'm sure that you and I will always go to wildly different sorts of campsites - never the middle of the road for either of us - but that's how we both are. I just sensed that Delftshout was never going to be right for us, and you found it out.
Good wishes to you.
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I am not sure I understand the terminology of your understanding of a caravan site, Club owned, Tranquil Park, Commercial site or Private site. They all take caravans and are run for the benefit of the people that use them. I am not sure but I don't think Tranquil Parks will have the clubhouse you wish for.
As for the nice touch of a information brochure on said sites. Well if I understand you comment about researching sites using Google. Won't the same achieve the same result. It will give you all the info you need. Maybe this would have helped if you had used it to research Delftse Hout and the surrounding area.
I think you've become confused as to where the club lies after your experience at Delftse Hout and this has tarred you views of club sites. Unless you are prepared to give club sites the benefit of your doubt than I can see no reason for you remaining with the club.
Just my opinion.
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We have stayed once at Delftse Hout,it was Easter, the site was busy, we paid full price, we were not that impressed with the pitch we were given, access was VERY difficult for a twin axle (only possible as we have a mover) but it was serviced and only for one night,so not a big problem.
However, I doubt we would use the site again, mainly due to access problems, they took our booking but did not take the size or type of our van into consideration. We generally use our own facilities, so did not look at the faciliies on offer.
However, this site has no connection with Club sites here, other than that they will book it for you.
When we go abroad, usually low season, we use Camping Card ACSI and get a good choice of sites for under 20 Euros per night, all over Europe.
Sites are very variable, you will find excellent ones, and some that are much more basic, that is what your own facilities are for, you can be self sufficient. My wife is disabled, she mainly uses our shower, if site facilities are good I will use them, if not then I also use our own shower, fetching and dumping water is not a problem for me.
For us, on a fixed pension income, cost is a big consideration, so we look to use modestly priced sites and use our own, very good, faciliies when necessary. Why have great on board facilities and not use them?
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As far as Club sites in UK go, we are generally very happy with them..........when we use them.
We have not used a Club site this year, a first for us, as they have become rather expensive in our opinion, instead we have used C&CCsites and CLs, and have had a very good experience, finding serviced pitches on several CLs for under £17 per night.
We do not find getting info on Club sites a problem, OH visits the information room and picks up the brochures on anything that interests us. We have NT membership and look at places we can visit. We go to an area because it looks interesting,so we have already researched the attractions.
When using CLs, Google is your friend.
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There’s no getting away from the fact that Delft is very busy probably due to its location as a ferry stop over for both the Hook and Rotterdam. Only once did we have a pitch we considered unsuitable so I ask if we could move and the reception staff gave a positive answer. We stayed at Delft at Easter and paid on arrival €21/night including free electric and WiFi.
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