Club site awards
Hi All
Can anyone member on this forum please tell us which club sites in the UK as a whole have won and have been presented with a 2018 award? or 2017 or even 2016? as we would love to try them out!, or is everyone going to say awards don't count including AA or Top 100 site finalist etc? we await the long list with anticipation
Just our opinion and question folks don't wish to upset anyone on here!
Comments
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I’ve no idea and, personally, I don’t really care.
What does an award mean? To my mind it just means somebody has judged a site to be good using criteria that could well be a light year away from my idea of good.
With a few exceptions, such as racecourse sites, Club sites are of a standard, so you pretty much know what you're going to find.
Try a few and see what you think, Gateway.
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Hi Tinwheeler
What we are after finding out has any of the club sites been awarded anything for what they are? Like for instance best club site in the UK 2018 or AA 5 star site or Tourist board awards or practical caravan award 2018 or before! in fact again we ask the question has any club site been awarded anything? we would love to know as other sites in the UK have and Yes we have tried them to find out why they win these awards! Or is this club to select to even think they should enter such awards?
Don't think you have quite answered what was being asked however but thank you for your opinion but that is only your opinion! and if possible we would like some straight answers to the questions rather than opinions although everyone is entitle to theirs!
As we said we don't wish to upset any member! but would still like either a simple Yes or No! and what award was given in what year if anyone knows?
As an established member don't you feel all the newbies may benefit from such knowledge rather than just members opinions?
Its a simple question being asked it just requires a simple straight froward answer which would be really appreciated but again thank you for your opinion on the matter
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"Don't think you have quite answered what was being asked however but thank you for your opinion but that is only your opinion! and if possible we would like some straight answers to the questions rather than opinions although everyone is entitle to theirs!"
I don’t think you really asked what you wanted to know, Gateway.
Yes, that’s my opinion/view and it’s quite clear.
Reading your various posts, I'm starting to wonder if you have some hidden agenda or are on a mission of some sort. What exactly do you want from this club you have chosen to join of your own free will? I’m very puzzled by it all.
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Hi Huskydog
Have checked that out and that's great if you are doing your own judging but best site in bloom or best tow car or even best CL site etc isn't really the awards we were looking for as these are judged by the members?we are looking for more like independent awards not judged by club members (if we have any?) but judged by independents outside the club and purely based on club sites and facilities would be great?, although whats there is fine for members but we would like to hear about the AA Star rating or RAC if they do one? and Practical caravan award? or tourist board awards? would be much more helpful as these are more independent of club.
Thanks for input though lets hope someone else knows of some independent awards which the club sites only have been judged and have been awarded a bit like if you want to stay in a 5 start hotel you would seek out loads of reviews and perhaps chose those with the most ratings and best reviews? or perhaps you want to eat in a great restaurant again you would seek out a good food guide and award etc? Or even if you wanted to know what the best TV was perhaps you would check out "Which" again independent of all just good old fashion honest comments which you may chose to consider or not as the case maybe!
Surely we must have some as we are a very large club and having been around for a few years now?
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Why not ask the club rather than the members, Gateway? Obviously that wouldn’t give you the opportunity to make whatever point it is you’re trying to state.
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Hi Tinwheeler
Why does asking a very simple question to be read by all be come an as you put it "agenda or Mission"
There is no underlying agenda or conspiracy! Just an answer to a very simple plainly written question has this club ever had any been awarded any of the current awards mentioned on previous post?
Please not try to deflect the question just a simple Yes or No would be great and if Yes which ones and when?
Have we made this plain enough for all to consider and reply please without wishing to upset or annoy anyone but we were asked to start this thread by a club member elsewhere which we have done!
Thank you all for your replies
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Hi Tinwheeler
This is a forum which all members can use we believe and that is exactly what we would like all members to let us know if they know of any and perhaps if there are none perhaps we could move forward!
In answer to why not ask the club! well that is what we are doing on this forum! we are asking CLUB members not the powers that be what awards there are aware and they are aware of if any?
Again simple answer but we thank you kindly for your opinion/views
But online perhaps you should check out these?
https://www.theaa.com/hospitality-awards/news/caravan-and-camping-awards-2018
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See my other post immediately above yours. That is where you will get your answer - the club.
I believe it was suggested you start another thread because you were way off topic in the overseas section.
To my mind, your style of posting tends to be elusive and suggests undercurrents, hence 'agenda'.
You have my opinion and my advice on finding the answer to your question.
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Gateway, I made the point to you some months ago that only a small proportion of the club membership use this forum. You are not reaching "all members" and neither are you reaching the club itself.
If you truly want the answer to your question, rather than using it as a means of debate, go to those who know.
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Gateway
I am pretty sure that the Club does not put it's own sites forward for such awards. To win such awards any site would have to be open for anyone to stay on and as many Club sites are members they wouldn't qualify. Even if Club site do accept non members there is a significant extra charge so again a site with two levels of charging would not qualify to my mind. Some competitions run by camping magazines may well get a Club site nominated by readers and I suppose a site could win. But that would be outside of the control of the Club.
Having said all that Club sites are often featured in magazines when they are doing a piece on a particular area of the country like the Peak District but that is different to winning awards!
David
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Hi Tinwheeler
As we have said on many occasions opinions are just opinions and we are all entitled to have them, however we would still like the views of others on this forum as your opinion/view has been read and noted now perhaps you will allow others to write their reviews on the subject be it bad or good?otherwise you could be misinterpreted as trying to stop this thread unfairly and we shouldn't allow that!
So again we respectfully thank you for your views and points of view but perhaps now it best as you have no idea of any independent awards which have been awarded to OUR club as have not placed these into this thread then perhaps its time to let others comment who may be better informed about such things don't you agree?
All the best Tinwheeler
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Hi David
Thanks for those comments and Yes perhaps that might be a good reason why the club has no awards by outside bodies but we are fairly sure (not 100%)that things like the AA 5 star awards can apply if the club hierarchy would invite them in the inspect and judge?Perhaps that would be a cherry on the tree for the club should it be awarded 5 star AA awards?
But thank you David for a very informative post
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Hey guys, don't knock Gateway, my new ally. He's got a point.
Practical Caravan magazine publishes a list of 100 favourite sites chosen and voted for by its readers. 99 of the 100 on the list are independent commercial sites. Only one is a site run by this Club. The list on line and I suggest it's worth looking at.
The British public has said what they like best.
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Hi Tinwheeler
Thanks again for your post but as there has been 39 reviews so far perhaps shall we just let this one run! besides we have all paid our membership fees to be here and this is what forums are for discussing and finding out things aren't they?or are we only allowed to discuss certain things pertaining to OUR club?
But again your comments/views have been noted but still would rather others commit as well we are sure you will understand and allow others to take part.
But thank you once again
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Hi Eurotraveller
Thank God there's light at the end of this very long tunnel..lol
This is the point I'm making why isn't our sites being awarded anything? perhaps established members need to be aware of these awards and start involving others to get some for our clubs?are we not meant to be the best club to join?and here is the link for anyone to check practicalcaravan.com/top100-2018
Thank you very much for the support
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39 reviews?🤔
Who has suggested we can only discuss matters pertaining to this club? UK Sites and Touring is for discussing all UK sites.
Everyone is free to take part in this discussion and I'm not preventing them doing so.
I repeat, I don’t give two hoots for awards and whether or not a site has one does not influence my choice and I suspect I’m not alone.
Have you asked the club yet?
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Hi Tinwheeler again
Yes we are asking the club sure they will return our email at some point but note that you don't give as you say "Two Hoots" but others like Eurotraveller on this forum do!
So again with all respect we have noted your latest comments perhaps you would like to review Practical Caravan list of top 100 sites 2018 as this may possibly just open up a new world for you! Just our opinion mind!
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Well done, Gateway. You're really good at evading points you don't wish to answer.👏🏻
Study the list of top 100 sites - open up a new world? After 45 years of LV-ing I don’t think so. 😂😂😂😂
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Hi Tinwheeler
Hot off the club press room! what about this then?
The Caravan Club's online community, ‘Club Together’, reaches over 230,000 members
Thats some forum isn't it?
Here is the link for you to catch up on
Hope this helps
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Hi Tinwheeler
As far as we are aware we have evaded nothing but just posted our question which by the way has had some response?
If however you feel after reading the clubs post about being the largest forum in Europe with some 500 thousand post that our club shouldn't be heading for newer heights then as we have stated before this is your opinion but still feel many may agree and disagree but that is up to them to post.
But again thank you for your valued input
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As far as I can see from reading the information on the AA best campsite awards <<HERE>>
The AA awards are given to the best campsites each year from those which are listed in their guide. Again, as far as I know, club sites don't feature in the AA guide at all, therefore none would qualify for any AA awards.
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Hi Justus2
Thanks for that but again would ask why don't we have any listing in their guide then?what stops the club inviting them in to judge our sites next year? Practical Caravan carries out yearly awards based on camping sites throughout the UK and readers put forward the ones they think are the best! This year 2018 out of 100 top sites only 1 was a Caravan & Motorhome site! Not exactly what we would expect from a club that states its the biggest? If we are the biggest should we not then have the best?
But thank you for your post
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Gateway, Sites have to pay the AA to be in their guide as far as I know. The club doesn't need to advertise itself externally as it relies, and is sustained by members who are fully aware of the club's sites. Furthermore, these sites are usually very busy in any case without any awards.
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Helps what? Your quest for info about awards?
That links to info 4 years old so us hardly current and Club Together is much more than just the forum. It is capable of reaching 230000 members but that’s not the same as having 230000 members taking part.
Thankyou sooo much for helping me catch up. 🙄
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Hi Justus2
Thanks for that info, but isn't that just the point we think we are the best but because we chose not to be judged by independent bodies does this mean we are the best?
Whereas other sites which have been judged and come out on top surely have the upper hand on appeal and bookings as they are getting better exposure having obtained such awards?
But again still want to state what have we got to hide by not opening up the club for closer inspections it must make for a better club all round surely? or are we worried we just wouldn't even make today's grades in camping and facilities as some of our sites do require a little updating which perhaps you may agree or not?
But thank you for that and perhaps our club could afford as we are the biggest to enter us in to the AA for 2019 judging?
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I’ve just come back from a tour of Scotland and as part of our travels we stayed on two former winners of the AA award. One I may return to and the other I definitely wouldn’t go near again.
So I’m not sure that I’d personally attach much value to the AA awards.
We've also stayed at one of the practical caravan regional winners and whilst it was a really good site I’m less appreciative of the emails I’ve received in following years asking us to vote for them again.
I personally see these awards as backslapping exercises of little value. I attach far more value to reviews on sites like ukcampsite and increasingly tripadvisor.
We did stay at 2 club sites out of the 6 we used and whilst I’d not vote for them being the best they definitely weren’t the worst. I think the value of club sites is their predictable nature. A reasonably safe bet in an unknown area.
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I know many caravanners who are members of the Club only use Club sites as they are aware of the quality of the sites that are provided. I suspect that those who are not members are more likely to look at other means to find sites of 'quality', hence they look for sites who have 'awards'. Awards do tend to be more important to non-club sites as they have no large database of members to use as 'publicity'. This is a contributory factor as to why private sites tend to show an active interest in awards, often promoting and encouraging visitors to vote, even by giving out 'voting cards'. The Club has no real need to get involved in this as it has it's own membership base.
Some of the 'awards', however, are not always determined by voting - they are determined by inspection - e.g. the AA pennant system. Again, the Club has it's own inspection process. There are also standards which the Club maintain which are not reflected in the pennant system.
There are many different ways to find out about sites and to find a suitable site for our needs. These involve individual reports e.g. the reports on here and on such sites as UKCampsite.co.uk and elsewhere.
I think there is one major problem with the 'pennant' system. If a caravanner goes to one site with (say) 3 pennants, and has a bad experience, he/She is very likely to equate other sites with the same pennant in the same way. Sadly, that is not always the case - things go up and down on a regular basis: the unkind person who leaves the toilet/block in a mess and it is spotted by another member before site staff have had time to attend; the lady in reception who is having a bad day; the electrical /water /drainage problem that effects the site because the workmen a couple of streets away have dug up the amenities etc.
I think these are all reasons why the Club does not actively get involved in awards/pennants. .....it could however be far simpler! Perhaps no-one has nominated any of the sites... 😂
I don't think we are achieving an aweful lot by prolonging this discussion, and indeed we have caused a little discontent, so I will close this thread for the time being and refer it directly to the Community Manager who may be able to answer the original post more directly, or maybe decide to reopen the post for further discussion.
Thank you all for contributing.
David
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Many thanks for everyone’s contributions to this discussion. I have forwarded the discussion to my colleagues regarding awards and will post a response from the Club.
It’s also worth noting that many Club Sites have achieved the ‘Certificate of Excellence Award’ from TripAdvisor which is based on reviews and ratings from people who have stayed on the site so hopefully this gives a true reflection of the quality of our Club Sites.
I will reopen the discussion once I have a reply regarding other awards and appreciate people trying to keep discussions constructive and friendly as we want Club Together to be a useful resource and a welcoming place to be. Many thanks.
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