Parkdean Resorts West Bay Holiday Park, Dorset

We enjoy coming here because of the access to the harbour and the local eateries and pubs. We have a Motorhome and most of the tierd pitches are badly off level which is a shame. The showers and toilets are a little tired. The Elsan point has the shortest hose on the tap I have ever seen which I can't understand. It needs to be a foot longer so you don't spray water all over the place when you are swilling out your cassette. The two men who greet you at the touring area are really very nice, friendly and helpful. The Boathouse, the onsite bar and restaurant, has a good selection of drinks and the pork scratchings they sell are excellent! The food was really really good. Very tasty. The star of The Boathouse though, is Louise, she is the most lovely person I have met in a very long time. She was friendly, welcoming, funny and it was a pleasure meeting her. Off season camping, if the weather is good, is the deal of the century. 5 nights in October on a Star pitch £104.00. Bargain. The small dog walk is ideal for a quick stretch of the legs. The harbour is busy at the weekend, even off season and can be packed during the holiday months.

We recently returned home after a 3 night stay during the October half term (2 adults, 1 child and our dog). Our original caravan we were given was filthy - overwhelming smell of dog and clumps of fur throughout the caravan including floors, cushions and sofa. We went to reception with photos and the lady (I think Ellie May?) was fantastic and so apologetic. We were instantly given a lovely clean caravan super close to the clubhouse, swimming pool and play area etc which was great. The swimming pool area didn’t feel very clean and there was grit/sand/dirt at the bottom of the pools which was grim! The kids entertainment was very “ok” but was still good for an hour on the evening. Soft play a great addition albeit very small, our 4 year old loved it. And the arcade - actual 2p machines which was fab! Brilliant to have dog friendly restaurant onsite although it was expensive for average food we still ate there a few times and service was very good! Location is brilliant - just a couple hundred meters if that to the beach, pubs, shops and a 25 minute drive to Lyme Regis. Personally, we wouldn’t return to West Bay Parkdean but we did have a good few days.

In a word, Gross! Didn’t seem right to leave one star as we stayed for the entire trip but honestly that extra star is mainly due to the location, which the park should hardly be rewarded for! We’re campers so can’t really comment on the statics. Even though the pitches are tiered they’re very unlevel. They’re quite narrow which makes it tricky to get set up with a really annoying rail in between each pitch. The trees aren’t really maintained so even if you’ve booked your pitch and entered your size the trees take up a lot of space so you basically have to be pitched into them to be off the track! Pitches obviously haven’t been rested and maintained through the season so they’re basically just mud! The worst part about the camping is the toilet blocks. They’re just out and out disgusting. Several of the cubicles are out of order, there’s constantly pools of water leaking out from under them. One had the same vile towel and bucket left in it the entire week. Cleaning staff keep leaving multiple wet floor / cleaning signs dotted about making it difficult to even get in the building with a bag / buggy. Hairdryers are either broken or taped up. The shower cubicles are just plain grotty. I think due to the run down nature of the toilet blocks it just seems to encourage people to further leave them in a mess - leaves a very unpleasant experience. Repairs have obviously been carried out on the windows but then no one bothers to touch in the paint, it just looks like no one cares! Popped into the restaurant planning to have a drink, no one is clearing tables and there’s food and drink bottles on the floor, so odd in the middle of the afternoon. The toilets in this building are pretty grim too. The pool is suitable as a play pool for children, little bit dated but clean enough. Annoyingly there is only two pool side showers in the complex which means you’d have to head off elsewhere - mainly the horrible shower block for a proper shower. The reception staff in the main building aren’t really interested in talking to campers, clearly they’re only there for the statics. Any time we popped in to ask a question it was always answered with having to go and find someone else to help. Maybe this is explained in the t&c emails but a bit of friendly customer service wouldn’t hurt. The clientele around the park tend to be a bit ‘rough’ groups of children with a loud speaker move about on mass. Obviously not everyone on the park is like this but there are a fair few. The two gentleman operating the hut for campers are absolute gems and a credit to Parkdean. Lovely walk into west bay which we found a nice place to visit. We’d never want to stay at the holiday park again, and would say we won’t use a Parkdean site again.