Camping San Damiano — Hotel in Bastia

As this isn't positive - please keep in mind its just my opinion.||||Generally I would say the reception staff all rely on the QR code system to get information far too much; simple questions like what the childrens program was, or whether there are french lessons available, or where we can rent mountain bikes resulted in referall to the internet.||||I'm in IT, I've written software for 25+ years, I know what I'm doing with the internet - but what I want on a holiday is to use local knowledge to short cut the discovery work and get results fast. That's completely lacking here. The staff know the check in process, but that's about where the help stops. Just my experience, I hope yours is better.||||We are in a 6 person cabin/bungalow situated just south east of the pool/entertainment area. While the bungalow itself is newer than what we've made use of in the past in other campsites, it's layout and space usage is quite poor, some examples are:||* wasted space due to lack of shelves in a few cupboards||* very limited storage space, the kids rooms have the same amount as the double bedroom.||* kitchen is tight - the long doors, while they look modern, are easy to hit your forehead on||||Good parts:||* clean!||* its well equipped; microwave is a plus and there is enough cutlery for up to 8 guests||* wooden table outside + 2 deck chairs is great.||* separate rooms for the kids is nice (less arguments).||||The camp site plan indicates there is a tennis / football field here. This is true, but be aware it's 5 euro EXTRA per hour to use it. Take that for what it is - we paid more for this accomodation (by about 20%) compared to our holiday in Italy in a better equipped camping ground; and we still need to pay to use a run down court? You judge how that might feel.||||They say that there is WIFI in the camp. I've spoken to a few people here - and unanimously; the WIFI is worthless. Your devices will connect but at best the connection is spotty, usually it just simply does not work at all. I tried moving from our bungalow to the reception area but this didn't seem to make any difference at all. My recommentation: get a data roaming pre-paid SIM card before you get here. We had a card from Orange and it saved the day.||||The supermarket is excellent - LOTS of stuff there and the staff are friendly!||||Clearly it's a good idea to have some french skills before coming here - I do not; and that's my shortcoming. I wish I knew more because I believe it'd pave the way to a better experience.||||The music in the evenings is super loud - to the point of pain and potential hearing damage I'd guess. It runs from 9 to 11pm.||||We met some real nice people here - and go to explore the camping area, which is on the other side of the camp compared to where we stayed.||||STAY IN THE CAMPING AREA :-) It's quieter and there is more space between each site. Really nicely done area.||||That's it - take it for what it's worth. I won't be coming back, better value can be had elsewhere I believe.||||Update: 3 days later after having been in the pool each day the gent at the pool entrance gate decided to enforce, pedantically, the rule that you cannot swim with swimming shorts. Then he intelligently suggested I could either use underpants (seriously?) or buy some “proper” swimming gear. Certainly I understand there needs to be some rules, yet I fail to see the hygienic difference between shorts and tighter fabric swim pants. Add to that he suggests underpants and I’m...

As this isn't positive - please keep in mind its just my opinion.

Generally I would say the reception staff all rely on the QR code system to get information far too much; simple questions like what the childrens program was, or whether there are french lessons available, or where we can rent mountain bikes resulted in referall to the internet.

I'm in IT, I've written software for 25+ years, I know what I'm doing with the internet - but what I want on a holiday is to use local knowledge to short cut the discovery work and get results fast. That's completely lacking here. The staff know the check in process, but that's about where the help stops. Just my experience, I hope yours is better.

We are in a 6 person cabin/bungalow situated just south east of the pool/entertainment area. While the bungalow itself is newer than what we've made use of in the past in other campsites, it's layout and space usage is quite poor, some examples are: wasted space due to lack of shelves in a few cupboards very limited storage space, the kids rooms have the same amount as the double bedroom. kitchen is tight - the long doors, while they look modern, are easy to hit your forehead on

Good parts: clean! its well equipped; microwave is a plus and there is enough cutlery for up to 8 guests wooden table outside + 2 deck chairs is great. separate rooms for the kids is nice (less arguments).

The camp site plan indicates there is a tennis / football field here. This is true, but be aware it's 5 euro EXTRA per hour to use it. Take that for what it is - we paid more for this accomodation (by about 20%) compared to our holiday in Italy in a better equipped camping ground; and we still need to pay to use a run down court? You judge how that might feel.

They say that there is WIFI in the camp. I've spoken to a few people here - and unanimously; the WIFI is worthless. Your devices will connect but at best the connection is spotty, usually it just simply does not work at all. I tried moving from our bungalow to the reception area but this didn't seem to make any difference at all. My recommentation: get a data roaming pre-paid SIM card before you get here. We had a card from Orange and it saved the day.

The supermarket is excellent - LOTS of stuff there and the staff are friendly!

Clearly it's a good idea to have some french skills before coming here - I do not; and that's my shortcoming. I wish I knew more because I believe it'd pave the way to a better experience.

The music in the evenings is super loud - to the point of pain and potential hearing damage I'd guess. It runs from 9 to 11pm.

We met some real nice people here - and go to explore the camping area, which is on the other side of the camp compared to where we stayed.

STAY IN THE CAMPING AREA :-) It's quieter and there is more space between each site. Really nicely done area.

That's it - take it for what it's worth. I won't be coming back, better value can be had elsewhere I believe.

Update: 3 days later after having been in the pool each day the gent at the pool entrance gate decided to enforce, pedantically, the rule that you cannot swim with swimming shorts. Then he intelligently suggested I could either use underpants (seriously?) or buy some “proper” swimming gear. Certainly I understand there needs to be some rules, yet I fail to see the hygienic difference between shorts and tighter fabric swim pants. Add to that he suggests underpants and I’m...

The tent pitches are generous many of which have some amount of shade, very few are in total sunlight. Although, choosing a pitch of your liking is impossible as it is handled automatically by the electronic check-in system at the reception.

Beach is neat with fine sand and you can spot small fish at the shore, water is mostly clear.

There is a restaurant on the campgrounds, menu choices are few but the food is tasty.

The campsite has good proximity to the Bastia harbour and I think this might bring a lot of it's downfalls. Because of the proximity many will choose it for a short stay, and will not threat the place as their home, going too fast with the vehicles and raise a incredible amount of dust. The toilets are mainly clean in the morning after cleaning, the same 1-day tourers are wreaking a havoc there too IMHO, the kids have their own miniature toilets which is a neat thought. You have to carry a toilet paper roll with you when needed...

Our daughter has a breathing problem(asthma) that was aggravated by the dust issue and we asked for an earlier checkout because of it(checking out after 11 days instead of the 19 days that were paid in advance) and we were told that we can checkout but that there will be no refund... The personnel seemed to be fine with the idea of taking money for services not rendered, asking about a penalty but not the full amount was met with the same response as above, no reimbursement... We had to force our way from the pitch with too much dust as the personnel told us we can't move but then we could, and we ended in a pitch without dust but where you could not sleep that well because of the noise from the cars that everyone else is mentioning.

All in all we'll choose SanDamiano as a transition camping in future but not for...