Proportion of Serviced v Standard Pitches
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I would think that the reason that they don't is because they would find that they have a lot of grass pitches not booked, as those that could not get a H/S pitch would go to sites that can ensure that they can get what they want. Whereas at present some will book what's available in the hope that they can get a H/S pitch when they arrive and will accept that they might end up with a grass pitch. The other club of course have many tent members who fill up their grass pitches.
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Maybe, for those grass pitches, it's time to consider allowing tents and tent owners to become members. After all, trailer tents and pup tents are regularly seen on sites and a few sites already have tent areas. Many of us started in tents, we are not aliens. Like pods they are just another accommodation variant of our camping pastime. Why not I wonder, is it the lack of wheels?
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yes I think you are spot on
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Isnt the word "Club" in the name?
If the members want it, how can it be denied?
My perfect pitch is hardstanding for the caravan, left and right level most of the time, with grass for the awning, simple to peg out.
Apart from drains, surely the cost of laying blue water pipe to a pitch is minimal ?
I see miles of the stuff in farmers fields just to fill one drinking trough. So no real reason as to why there cant be more drinking water taps dotted about, or even one per pitch.
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Whilst I have nothing against tents. There is another thread about awnings / groundsheets and the damage they do on grass pitches. Although it seems a good idea, surely allowing tents to use the grass caravan pitches will just increase the incidence of damage.
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The club already have three maybe four or five types of pitch that are book able
1 serviced
2 awning
3 non awning
4 economy?
5 tents
When and if the next booking system is introduced we may get the option of booking hardstands but I think will be also a price diferential to encourage more grass pitch bookings
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This is one of the arguments I have put forward as a reason for the 'levelling out of bookings' throughout the year. There are people (like me, for example) who will not book Club sites in season as a hardstanding cannot be absolutely guaranteed, so therefore people go elsewhere. All the the points made in this discussion, and others too, I have made to the Club and will continue to do so. I shan't be letting the issue of booking pitch types drop....
- couldn't find an emoticon of a dog with a bone!!!David
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as David says, different campers enjoy different surfaces...some, like us, prefer grass.....some, like David can only camp on a HS...
by allowing us to book our grass pitch and David his HS wouldn't we all be happy (even happier
)?....(Jack Spratt comes to mind) as it happens, we have an all weather pitch at the moment (not club, booked to be adjacent to our pals who prefer HS) which has large grass areas between the pitches....we are enjoying our coffee sat out on the beautifully kept lawn area (no shoes required...) and wouldnt dream of sitting on the 'hard' area....
if the club could match the ratio of pitch surfaces to customer preferences then 'what a wonderful world this would be' (with apologies to Sam Cooke)
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We have been on nine sites on this "outing"and although it is not peak period the sites have all been very busy and one site turn I g people away, even where we are now they turned two motor caravans away yesterday ,one oould have stayed but wanted a level pitch
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My perfect pitch is hardstanding for the caravan, left and right level most of the time, with grass for the awning, simple to peg out.
I agree, I would love to see smaller hardstandings just for the vehicles and be able to step out onto grass. I rarely put up or wind out an awning. I am also not in favour of being able to book hardstandings of the large type the Club endulges in. I prefer grass but often find it impractical to use it because of potential bad weather. Having to book in advance would mean I will not have the choice to use a grass pitch on arrival because you have no idea what the weather is going to throw at you when you book. It is nice on a lovely dry sunny spell to be able to turn up and decide to use a grass pitch rather than a large bleak hard standing. In my ideal world I would book a grass pitch everyttime but only if on arrival the weather is bad or forecast to be bad over the stay there is the opportunity to switch to a hard standing. I guess the only way there will be real choice is to just turn up and hope there are free pitches of the type favoured at the time.
peedee
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I think Nellie is spot on with his post. Personally, thinking from a tent point of view, we have spent years camping on mixed pitch sites (ie tents and vans mixed in together) and have used the Clubs separate tent areas. Of the options, much prefer separate tent areas rather than mixed together.
I seriously doubt that the main demographic of this Club (which let’s face it is primarily over 50’s couples in expensive outfits) would find mixed pitches to their liking, especially in the busy Summer month’s. Tent camping is more family orientated, and tent campers tend to spend a lot more time outdoors. We learned to avoid school holidays camping as there is no doubt that the noise levels are far higher, and I am looking back thirty years ago, when parental supervision tended to be greater and you didn’t get TVs in tents!
Bit of a dilemma for the Club. I can only hope that if pitch types do become bookable, that grass pitches come with a discount.
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Not sure if there would be sufficient attraction for tenters, especially as it may require a change of ground use with some of the lease owners and local authorities. At present, one of the reasons tents are allowed on sites is that it is a requirement of the lease or Local Authority. I guess it could happen the other way too? Don't know!
David
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Strangely, regarding the age of tent enthusiasts we tend to see more older people enjoying the basic style of tent camping. The families tend to go for huge tents or trailers with EHU etc. We also see the backpacker or cycling tenter but that's usually with the C&Cc and we are seeing less of those users now except in places on coastal paths or routes. But booking pitch types does seem to work and C&Cc site managers can be quite helpful if someone changes their mind about what they have booked. If there is room to be flexible it is a good system and it's surprising how many take up grass non ehu especially in good weather. It's choice that counts with me.
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But Nellie if that is indeed the reason it is a pretty poor excuse and even worse customer service. The Club know full well that the majority of its members want a hardstanding. If I could book a hardstanding it would be me limiting my choice not the Club because as you say if it looks likely I won't get a hardstanding I will go elsewhere, perhaps another Club site or somewhere where I know I can be guaranteed a hardstanding when I book. There are some sitess, although a fairly small number, where hardstandings are very limited and the reasons for that may not be of the Club's making but that is still not a reason for us to be denied the ability to book the pitch surface we want. As JVB points out we can already quite a few types of pitches that can be booked and it is beyond logic why we can't book all types of surface.
David
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Agree with that observation about C&CC sites. Last year we stopped at Kingsbury Water Park. We'd booked a HS pitch but when we arrived (in very sunny weather) there was a huge area of grass pitches with hardly anyone on. So we asked if we could change and not only was it OK but we were told to pop into the office when convenient to get a refund on what we'd paid for the HS pitch.
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I have never asked to change from what I have booked, I'll have to try that.
Interesting to note that Tewesbury may have gone for narrower hardstandings. Last time I was there it was all grass. It must be cheaper to create a hardstanding just for vehicles?
peedee
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Be careful what you wish for, with C&CC it is not possible to book without specifying a pitch type, they have a broader range of pitches to accommodate a wider range of campers/caravanners with very few service pitches. Generally speaking the pitches are not as good as C&MC pitches but they do have a more relaxed attitude to pitching whilst applying the 6 meter rule. They have a fairly expensive deposit system and no amendments within 30 days, I generally loose at least one per year but if you ring the site there is usually more flexibility. On balance I prefer the C&MC system, whilst not being a fan of year in advance booking
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David, who said anything about good customer service? The CC are a business and their aim is to fill as many of their pitches as possible. It is obvious that they think that by not allowing the booking of HS pitches they will get a greater number of their pitches booked. You say that they know that the majority of members prefer HS, but have they asked every member what their preferences are, or is it just the few that respond to the occasional questionnaire?
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But Nellie if that is indeed the reason it is a pretty poor excuse and even worse customer service.
It could be seen as good member service if it results in more pitches in use! I never thought for one moment that, following the trial, booking of hardstands would be implimented
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Nellie, putting aside whether its a Club or a Business the CMC is taking every opportunity to install more hardstandings where it can. That to me suggests there is a demand for hardstandings that has yet to be saturated. If that is not the case why are more and more CL's installing hardstanding? Being able to book a hardstanding pitch, or grass for that matter, is a question of customer service. I say that because the Club currently don't allow it and have not yet given any good reason for not doing so. The previous experiment seemed to come to an end because wardens found it inconvenient to explain to members that they had booked the wrong pitch. If as you suggest the Club is a business they should be looking at every opportunity to satisfy customer satisfaction, as most sensible businesses do?
David
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Most problems came about when members used to choosing any vacant pitch where advised any pitch for your 2week stay except hardstand number x as it is booked from next Thursday for the weekend,unless you are prepared to move and then return toa grass pitch on the following monday
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If we never used grass pitches we would we would be missing out on some of the best sites the Club has to offer, and thankfully two of our favourites are unlikely to go the HS route, Marazion and Nunnykirk. I don’t think either of these have serviced pitches either. I suppose being all grass does put them at risk of the Club deciding they are surplus to requirement, although I know Marazion is often fully booked.
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