Sites without a toilet block

WTG, that booking system is grand, but there are only a limited number of CLs that are members of the group. There are also a few other CLs that have their own booking systems but it does mean searching for them.

Mnl, there are also a number of other smallish commercial sites that I know of which do not have toilet blocks, should you be interested.

Thanks Burt for your explanation it helps, but I'm not sure Steve does? He might but I don't know but could be why he uses CLs with HS?

As you say we are all different and have differing needs and preferences hence I never try and ask/guess why people book/pitch/use one type of site over another, too many variables.

You can also pitch in a way to suit views (if there are any of course) and sun on a number of sites and definitely on club sites, I do the same.

Ok yes, but doesn't the sun move around quite a lot, and even more so in summer, so even if you're orientated one way on your limitless grass CL unless you're moving your caravan about a lot in one day it won't make that much difference and only be really aligned with your preference for a few hours at best?

I go for sun in the evening on the awning side and front of the caravan and never been disappointed even on a limited orientation club site.

Off topic now, apologies as I'm quite sure that's not the reason for the OP wanting club sites with facilities or not? 

We did not get a caravan until I was 52, having previously tented. Having gone to the expense of getting a suitable tow car, caravan and organising storage, I not sure the cost of pitches would put me off. Typically while working we managed 42 nights away, so £840 at £20 a night, £1680 at £40. Even the higher figure isn’t a major sum when you consider the cost of owning a caravan and suitable towing vehicle. I think that is far more likely to be the determining factor.

I think that it is natural for people who have been members of the club for a long time to reflect back to when they started this hobby as TG has done above, but nothing in this world stays still. So put yourself in the position of the many thousands who have recently taken up touring, the majority of their units will have heating, toilets, showers, solar, TV's, WiFi  and other mod cons and they will see the facilities of club sites and todays Club prices as their baseline and not the prices of 5 or 10 years ago. I expect that those who remain members as long as some of you have  will be saying in 20 years time remember back when we started the average price for a pitch was £30.

For me (I am comfortably off) it is not about costs, its about why should I be paying for facilities I do not need. I can and do take other forms of holiday and if I am on a cruise or staying in a hotel, you do not take your facilities with you and rightly so you pay to use theirs. This is not so with modern vans which are fully self contained and you take your facilities with you. In many cases all that is required is a safe pitch, nothing else. 

As I have said elsewhere, with the recent increases it is becoming harder to justify paying for facilities I do not need.

peedee

The main problem for us is, as TG has said, that when one retires one often has to reign in spending a bit, or even a lot, look at what one has put by, and decide whether one can reasonably supplement regular spending from savings, or whether these need to be allocated to capital purchases/home upgrades/etc, or even whether savings need to be increased to cover future costs.

We have used a fair bit from savings lately on 2 bathroom refurbishments and a new boiler, and as everything in the house was/is now 34 years old, there will no doubt be a few other things that will need to be replaced in the next few years.

The huge increase in the cost of gas and electricity is something nobody, working or retired, will have planned for, or indeed the present rate of inflation.

And, of course, cars/caravans/MHs do not last forever and cost a lot to replace, and prices of all these have certainly risen a lot since I retired!   Our present van is 15 years old and the equivalent model, probably with a lot of unnecessary features, costs over twice what we paid back in 2008, so we  will not be replacing it, just keeping it going for as long as we can.

Our tow car is only 5 years old, so hopefully has many years of service left. When we bought it, which was not in our original financial plan, it made a bit of a hole in the savings, so we have been replacing the money from income, leaving less for other things, such as holidays.   £30+ every night for a site is certainly out of question now as far as we are concerned.

Like TG, for a few years now we have been using, and enjoying, CLs and a few no facility Club sites, and also some CCC sites when the age related discount is available.  That way we can use the caravan for long enough each year to justify the cost of insuring and servicing it.

Not complaining, just being realistic, and financially cautious.

We now have our daughter and family using our caravan for an additional few weeks in school holidays.   They consider it an "inexpensive holiday" as they are not paying for anything other than site fees and a contribution to the cost of us towing and siting the van for them.  

It would not be inexpensive if they had first had to buy the van, and a suitable tow car, and then get maybe only 6-8 weeks use per year.