William's Den — Attraction in North Cave

I’m a little torn on this review.. there was some lovely moments, but there was some not so great moments too. So here is my honest opinion…

We stayed here Mon-Wednesday (just got home).

The good parts - *Staff are friendly *The woodland walk is peaceful *The kids enjoyed the outdoor water fight *The space is clean, tidy, and looks pretty.

The negatives - The staff when we arrived didn’t have a clue what was going on, ‘we have some books, but we’ve ran out, we might have some more in a few days. *The place shuts down from 4.30pm basically… we got there at 2.30, but the time we got in and got given our wrist bands and the not really sure what’s going on info, and then drove through and was unsure where to go, set up the tent, then realised everywhere was shut, luckily we bought picnic foods as we were under the impression there would be things to do on the field (£159 for a TENT pitch up on just a field with a portaloo and freezing shower). We basically wanted to leave that day as the kids were so bored, only so long you can kick a ball to one another and wait for it to get dark and light a fire. *Breakfast was unsure what to do etc as again no leaflet or info on arrival. *Camping man literally saw him once, and the shop was never open, we needed a charging bank and couldn’t get one there. *Visited the Den at 8.40 for breakfast after following another camper. (Really expensive, thought it may include breakfast in the price but nope, £11 adult breakfast and £6+ for kids). *We came back at 10 when opened and did the woodland walk, we got lost and did the map for a ‘prize’…. One gold coin chocolate. Usually places like that you get a colour pack or lolly and certificate etc. nope. *got the kids an ice cream (£12!) for 3 kids *did everything on site in a hour and half and the kids were bored, the place was rammed so couldn’t move much. *we got some alcoholic drinks, expensive again. *coffee, and soft drink expensive. *We asked about pizza as I saw good things about this, the pizza man is morbid and doesn’t even smile or acknowledge, and was doing the loudest chopping during breakfast which sent me crazy as I have adhd and repetitive sounds trigger me. The staff didn’t know about when we could order pizza or what or when, about 5 of them discussed it between them, back and forth before we were told, we had to order at 3.45 for full menu, or just pizzas after 4.30, spent another £62 for pizza, loaded fries, halloumi and coleslaw. …. Gross! Looked ace. Didn’t taste it. *back to the field,,, to do nothing again..

What exactly did we pay £159 for? Space on a field to park and put the tent? And 2 hours on site back and forth for food and drinks?

We needed power bank, the staff didn’t know where to find them, they charged my phone for 2 mins using my charger so I could pay for the power bank, but had to get the owner to ask about them as didn’t have a clue.

We spent £152 whilst there on top of the £159, plus the power bank at £12, and a football at £8.. we didn’t even know if we could play any of the other days, as the staff just don’t know anything about the place.

It’s got so much potential, fairy lights across the field, music playing on one side maybe, a singer or entertainment for the summer months, outside bar, food hut? Something to offer the campers aside from the empty field which only had 4 tents one night, and just us and one more the next night. Place just shuts down. It’s a real shame. It’s just basically a play park and bit of a climbing frame with water.

Staff are polite and friendly but the prices for what it is is just a lot. The website and Facebook really does make it look like there is so much on offer, to charge prices like that you need better camping facilities unfortunately.

I work in hospitality as does my husband, please take the comments on board. We could have gone to a camping resort and spent less, and had more to do. If we had known before what we now know we wouldn’t have gone...

What a fantastic experience for kids and parents!

William’s Den is a proper adventure play location for tots to teens, with something for everyone who’s ever wanted to go climb a tree, play in a mud kitchen, or fly down a zip line! In an age of video games and soft play areas, this is a return to true adventure play in its heartiest sense.

From arrival in the perfectly appointed parking bays, you will see that great attention to detail has been taken to make William’s Den a professional location. The reception is clean and modern, with a spacious entry area and views into the indoor play area to one side, and the large toilet facilities to the other. Reception itself is a combination of customer service area, small gift shop, and well appointed ice cream parlour.

Guests are identified by unique Tyvek wristbands, with space for an emergency contact phone number to be written on, should your little ones become separated or lost. This was a fantastic idea and adds to the overall feeling of safety and professionalism. Parents/carers are expected to supervise their own children at William’s Den, placing the focus on family rather than strangers to look after them. The massive upside to this is that you get to spend quality time with your kids, whilst staff can focus on upkeep and delivering a quality experience.

The large indoor play area can be described as a Peter Pan’s village/treehouse, constructed of both finished and natural wood elements. There are giant cargo scramble nets to climb, secret tunnels/passageways, and neat hidden features like speaking tubes and wooden instruments. Both water and sand play sections are incorporated around the base, whilst seating is afforded to guardians around the exterior walls of the building. A small snack bar is located in the back corner, accessible both inside and outside, serving hot and cold drinks as well as a small array of sweet and savoury foods.

The restaurant is located directly off of the reception area, serving a full range of snacks and sit down meals. Despite being in this child-oriented environment, the quality of food and beverages on offer is phenomenal! From real wood fire pizza oven to delicious homemade bakery goods, the restaurant at William’s Den would make stand-alone eateries pale in comparison! Prices are reasonable all round, especially considering the level of quality on offer.

The outdoor play area is comparable to something you might find at a PGL or Kingswood facility. From den-building to mud kitchens, zip-lines to tunnel mounds, the focus is very much of imaginative active play. Though many family attractions feature swings and slides, few to none place such a focus on real physical play for kids of all ages. Being allowed to just run free and discover experiences seems somewhat alien to children in the 21st century, yet at William’s Den it is wholeheartedly encouraged and embraced.

Finally, considering the entry cost to this fantastic experience, it is truly amazing value given the standard of facilities and service on offer. Taking a full day’s experience with the whole family into consideration, the value offered is incredible and worthy of praise. Well done to the William’s Den crew for a...

This is a must do activity for all of the family. Whether you have small children or older the activities and play equipment are amazing!! The grounds, the climbing frames and play equipment are vast in themselves but then the staff do planned and organised activities throughout the whole day. There were hale bales, pedal buggies, zip lines, indoor and outdoor climbing frames, different types of swings, climbing ropes, den making area, musical equipment, mud kitchen and a woodland walk area. It was a circus theme when we visited which was fun and engaging. Some of the activities our kids joined in with were learning circus skills, circus games, den Olympics, a water fight and a disco. Honestly the day just kept giving and it got better and better. A big shout out to Chloe and Sam who were friendly approachable fun and engaging and super enthusiastic getting everyone involved and making sure no child was left out. They were amazing and clearly enjoy their job which was just lovely!! I can't wait to see what's on offer the next time we visit. It was great value for money as we arrived around 10.30 and didn't leave until 4.30. So although it was £58 for the four of us (2 adults, 2 children) you really can't grumble. The facilities are great, clean and well maintained, never ending entertainment and super fantastic staff. There are some areas that include water play so if your children enjoy that sort of thing I would recommend taking change of clothes and towels. There are plenty of nice areas to enjoy your own pic nic but the cafe looked lovely and offered reasonably priced food. There was an ice cream parlour which was a little pricey but no more expensive than any other ice cream place and it was...