Is it a rip off?
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I have been happy to stay on Cherry Hinton and have been fortunate with pitch choice. I will no longer use it due to visibility on exit combined with right eye being of little use plus arthritis affecting quick head movements. I would probably choose C&CC site instead.
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I think the problem is that if you try and limit how much you spend a night on a campsite surely you compromise your touring. Should people not be looking at their total spend rather than the cost of one individual night. So if you allow £1000 on site fees and go away for 50 nights that is on average £20 a night but some of those sites could be £30 a night for perhaps a stay on a special site but using less expensive sites for the bulk of the time will bring you back to nearer the average. It seems strange to get too hung up on not going above a certain price when there are other mechanisms that can be used to even things out. We are all going to have some constraints on our spending ability but is it better to go away for less nights but go where we really want to go or be slavish and keep to a higher number of nights away but economise of how much we will spend per night. Life is full of choices.
David
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It would have been interesting when in Holland in June 2017, to compare costs of sites there with here, especially as they have their own Club sites, which we have used twice.
Plus of course one cannot say they have a lot more space so lower land prices than here, as Holland is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe.
We stayed on a commercial site within easy public transport distance of Amsterdam, the cost was 17euros per night for the 2 of us, including everything,
Is it reasonable to compare that with the cost of staying at say Abbey Woods or Crystal Palace? I have no idea what the cost there was then, but I feel certain it was way more than 17 euros.
After Amsterdam, we stayed on a Dutch Caravan Club site, where we received a very warm welcome, and much interest in our outfit. We were also invited to group coffee and cakes plus discussion, where we met one of their ACSI inspectors. The site cost was some 13 euros per night, including electricity.
In 2016 we stayed on another of their club sites, near Keukenhoff, in early May, and the price was only 9 euros per night plus metered EHU.
Both these sites were full facility and had communal meeting areas, so reasonably comparable with our own Club sites.
Our Club sites certainly seem expensive in comparison,
If going to Holland, it is certainly worthwhile to consider these sites, and I am sure you will be made very welcome, as we were.
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Yes, that is what we are now doing, using Club sites when we feel they are reasonable, CCC sites if they are where we want to be, and otherwise CLs. occasionally we will pay well above our average if there is a good reason. That way our average over a trip is under £20.
We try to keep our nights away up to the same level each year, but where this is not possible, as in 2018 and this year probably, we work to our decided average site night cost.
We have no problem finding something to spend any savings on! Grandchildren can be very expensive, but we love them anyway.
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I don’t think Merve finds it acceptable either☹️
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Ok , I will sort something out for you tomorrow. Glad to be of help, Nellie of course is a mine of information for CLs etc....
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I do agree with you David that we all have choices, but the choices we have made, as a couple, are a little different to yours.
Firstly, we pay around £1200 per year to tax, insure and service our van before it turns a wheel towards any campsites. When we bought it, we decided that we should use it for around 90 nights per year so as to get the best value out of its running costs. You call that slavish, we feel that is sensible use to get the best value out of the annual costs and indeed our remaining life.
To that end we have a budget to cover our sites and fuel, some are nearer to home than others. Shorter trips nearer to home and longer ones further afield, again to get the best value out of the journey time and fuel.
We look at areas we may want to go, but if all the sites within that area are more than we are prepared to pay we find another area, or perhaps another time of year, again to get the best value.
Our personal site limit is an average of around £22 per night and to that end we are for example staying on four no facility Caravan Club sites this year and a number of Camping Club and private sites which usually offer a slightly better nightly rate than this club.
We sometimes have been know to pay as much as £26 per night, on special occasions, but we will not pay any more than that ever, because cheaper alternatives and or times of year are usually available, and staying away from £30 per night sites keeps our average for the year and our annual spend where it needs to be as finding very cheap yet acceptable sites to redress any £30 per night spend is not easy.
Also, this clubs sites are predictable certainly, but some of them can be bland, much like a Travelodge. Some of them can be a bit tatty around the edges and they are not, for us, always the automatic first choice, we always look at alternatives. But as you rightly say, that is our choice to make and the same applies of course to every member.
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perhaps a better way of describing where the club sits re VFM might be 'CC offers basic facilities at median prices?
That is the point being made by some of us. It is the perception of being asked to pay Pagani Zonda prices for a mid-range Merc. There will always be a gulf between those who will pay what is requested and others who want more 'bang for their buck'.
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It's been interesting to read the different views on here about what people think is value for money. As an aside we don't budget at all but neither do we go away to the extent that some are able to do. Our last eight day trip averaged £80 per day, this included fuel, site fees and two lots of family meals out etc (seeing two of our grown up children and families en route.) I could tack on the purchase and running costs of our van to that but if we keep it ten years I can see the average costs on that and it works out reasonably well.
We're hopefully going on another short trip in May and June, then after that will be looking at THS sites for the expensive bit through the summer because I really think some of the club sites will not be value for money.
Yesterday I read a review from Hillhead, expensive over Easter and half full. Hillhead is easily accessible by many for an Easter break, the weather was lovely, the site is well equipped in all respects.
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The wine box that we have been buying at Tesco for ages, went up in price again the other day. I can't say I have noticed any difference in the quality.
It is unfortunately a fact of life, costs such as wages, fuel, utilities etc go up and the prices we pay follow.☹️
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Yup, I think it’s called the cost of living SL, to some it’s obviously a new irritating phenomenon🤷🏻♂️😊
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Good point AD(maybe not on a trailer park mind) maybe in more luxurious surrounding👍🏻😊. Enjoy your day.
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