Why is after 8 pm considered a 'late arrival'
I can happily turn up at staffed hotels from about noon until midnight, but the caravan club considers 8 pm late. This limits the radius I can travel, and makes a weekend getaway rushed and often unappealing. After finishing work at 5 pm (I have the misfortune of working...), safely setting up the van to tow and navigating rush hour, I can probably travel 150 miles before the risk of being left abandoned in a lay-by at destintation - with no guarantee of a pitch - thanks a bunch. Sure, I can take time off and do, but there are limits to the number of hours I can sacrifice.
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How many hours do you expect a site manager (warden) to work?
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Automated campsite check in should surely be possible - using a bank card to make the reservation and at the gate entering the check in code received in return. It happens at many cheaper unstaffed hotels across the world, though we were met by night staff at the the Ibis at Bangkok, whisking our luggage out of a taxi in the small hours of the morning.
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There must be a way around this. I don't think it unreasonable to say no arrivals after hours of dark, but 8/9pm in the summer months should be acceptable. You are in fact paying for your pitch from midday.
You do not need a site manager/warden to be available 24 hrs a day, but if on a large commercial site of 100+ units I would expect access to help at such a time. If in a hotel you would have this facility so why not on a caravan site. To be blunt it is not acceptable. 100 units at £35 a night. Work out the maths.
If arriving late any barrier code could be forwarded so you can access the site. Along with a site plan and allocated pitch number the member should be able to arrive, access the site and pitch without issue.
Colin
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It's a tad inconvenient but the law sort of insists that staff shouldn't work more a set number of hours per week, say 48, so working until after 8 p.m. would mean sacrificing some other times during the day when the office may have to be closed. When you have a staff of 2 one of them is normally responsible for indoor work and the other for maintenance although both will close the office to clean the shower block.
I daresay that members on site might well think that staying open until, when would you prefer, maybe 10 p.m?, and not receiving any new arrivals might not the best use of their time.
As for allowing automated check in I tend to agree in principle with ET in that there is technology that will do the job, but there has to be a time limit as I don't want people to be turning up at 10+ at night and setting up or even pushing their luck and turning up at 7 in the morning. There would have to be a set time when gates are shut for the night.
And no it's not better "over there" having had people turn up on sites in Spain at 11.30pm and get the barbecue out together with the radio on more than one occasion.
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Sounds like a great system. Various CLs I've travelled to have been accommadating until late. When the owner/warden was unavailable things are sorted out in the morning. I realise security and oversight is required on larger certified sites, so the flexibility of a CL is not going to work. However are there more imaginative solutions like described here?
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Mmm, a rota of 2 people who need to cover all the hours between them while paid a low wage and adhering to the WTD (which doesn’t apply in Bangkok).
Have you considered it may be your arrangements that need adjusting, 303, rather than the club's? The club cannot fulfil all the wishes of every member and such requirements would be detrimental to the staff and would increase costs which would be passed on to us all.
Might a seasonal pitch be of use to you, or have you considered travelling less distance in order to make your own life simpler? We all have to (or have had to) tailor our leisure time to fit around work to achieve a sensible compromise.
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It doesn't need extra staff. Already at the Club's Folkestone site, and at the commercial Dover site too, you can reserve and pay with a bank card, get a gate code in return, and let yourself in when you arrive after the site offices have closed. Now extend that to daytime arrivals too and it would quickly shrink the midday queues.
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I don't think it is beyond the wit of man to find a better solution. Have you considered how hotels cope and not only in Bangkok? Why detrimental to staff, I'm assuming staff would work voluntarily.
You offer a less ingenious solution, 'travel shorter distances', such flexibility. Alternatively, don't bother at all and hence reduced income to the club and higher fees. Now if it is just me, who cares, but if it is many people perhaps the club should care.
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I was just going to post that myself Steve, it is not just a club thing. I've never heard of all night arrivals till 12 on any site? I actually wouldn't want someone pitching up next to me at say 11pm in any case.
And just in case the OP is new, there are late night arrival areas on a good number of club sites so you can arrive after 8pm and stay there.
Personally I think 8pm is a reasonable cut off.
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In all my years on CT I've never read or recall of anyone posting for such a request so I don't think that there is a need.
Where would the increased income come from?
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such hotels usually have dedicated night staff and a larger staff altogether, not live in wardens, sometimes only 2, usually in most cases that means 4, sometimes 6 on larger sites, and yes they on call for emergencies.
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Ah, we're back to comparing caravan sites with international hotels (remember the comments about gold taps in the bathroom?)
I don't think there are many hotels of any standard staffed by 2 or possibly 4 individuals expected to be on call at any hour are there (well, Fawlty Towers springs to mind but even they had 5 counting the chef!).
All of us have had, during our working lives, to adjust our expectations to suit certain situations. What next? Turn up at 10 pm? Midnight? How about 6 in the morning? Why not? Might just be a bit annoying for the neighbours though!
I'll pop over and ask the owners of the site we're on right now if they'd be happy with 24 hours arrivals!
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Have you been member long? I only ask as one of the problem discussed a lot on here is that people can't a pitch due to club sites being so popular and that club sites are fully booked especially at weekends and in peak season.
Like I said you're the only one I can recall ever saying this should be done. The club doesn't at present on it's major holiday sites so you can push for a change through the club or find a site that does allow arrivals till later, have you found any?
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That's a bit unique as those sites are geared for ferry departures and arrivals, as is the site at Rookesbury Park, Fareham which receives late arrivals fresh from the ferry.
At both Folkestone and RP there are separate areas designated for those travellers and both sites are big enough to set aside pitches for that specific purpose. The club is therefore providing a valuable service and they receive enough bookings, in a normal year, to make it worth their while.
However the same need isn't there at say Buxton or Lady Margaret Park or most other sites in the club network.
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Why are some of you ignoring this? It is happening now. It could be applied to other sites.
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But why?
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< 5 years. Later opening hours, means larger driving radius, more booking options - perhaps that will spread things out. More bookings (because more places to go), perhaps more profit for the club.
I usually can't find a pitch because it take 10 seconds per click on the website and you can't filter sites in a sensible way for places with availability on your dates (at least last time I checked), but that's by the by.
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Remember Kirkwall, Brue. Yep the system works except you get there to find someone else took your pitch.😩
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It is only happening, as pointed out previously, in certain locations for specified reasons. I doubt there is sufficient demand to warrant its general introduction, given the occupancy rate at club sites for much of the year.
Talking of ignoring things, have you an answer to the question of which other (non club) sites use such a system allowing arrivals after 8pm ?
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Those are popular ferry sites geared up to exceptional arrival/departure times much to the annoyance of others pitched on site.
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