Camping Pergola — Hotel in Lons-le-Saunier

We towed our caravan from Scotland to the French Jura and picked this campsite because of its proximity to Lac de Chalain. We paid extra for a "Top Presta" pitch and although the website was unclear on what this entailed, we imagined it might involve extra space and a fully serviced pitch. ||Check-in was fine although remember to get a barrier card - we weren't given one at first. We were directed to our pitch to discover that "Top Presta" meant fully serviced, extra space, a covered picnic bench and a shed with a large fridge freezer, a sun lounger and a BBQ! For these we were asked to pay a £100 deposit. All of this was very nice to discover and would have been even nicer if the picnic bench, sun lounger and BBQ had been clean (they weren't). The fridge was very handy though and held a large volume of liquid refreshments 😉. ||The pool area was great. There are two pools, one of which is covered for less sunny days, two flumes and a new "Space Bowl" flume which only opened in the afternoon whilst we were there. The kids loved all of these as well as just playing in the pools. Life guards were always present but each seemed to have a large area to supervise. We did see a couple of older kids being chastised for not wearing swimming trunks of the Speedo variety so make sure you have these with you! ||Sun loungers are arranged around the pool on a slightly raised decking area which is nice to walk on when it's hot. As with many places, sun lounger availability became much more limited towards late morning, after which time you could forget it until late afternoon. We quite liked a system that was in place at another campsite we visited, where in high season loungers were charged at a couple of euros a day - this meant families were more likely to share a couple, rather than commandeer whole rows!! 😂||The lake was the star attraction for us though. There is direct access from the campsite onto a sandy/stony beach and a beautiful aquamarine lake which was the perfect temperature for swimming. There is a supervised swimming area but also loads of free space along the long beach. There is also a small jetty with lots of pedalos for hire, including one with a slide which was in hot demand! However although great fun, this one was much harder to pedal than the ordinary ones and the slide acted like a sail if the wind was up! ||There is a path all the way round the lake, a distance of 12 km which was easily managed on bikes with our 11 and 13 year olds. The path takes in the Domaine de Chalain campsite, some rocks which are fun to jump off and a small beach at Doucier with a nice cafe. We stopped off here on our circuit of the lake and also cycled the short way round one day just for an ice-cream - it's only about 15 minutes from the campsite by bike. ||There is a reasonable number of visitor attractions in the area, including the canyon, caves and abbey at Baume-les-Messieurs which we really enjoyed. There are also lots of local markets on different mornings of the week and our kids particularly enjoyed a visit to the beach and diving tower at nearby Clairvaux-les-Lacs. Overall though this is quite a peaceful area which doesn't seem overly touristy. My husband had brought his road bike and revelled in the quiet scenic roads which seemed to have been recently resurfaced for the Tour de France! ||Back at the campsite, we didn't particularly like the restaurant because the huge numbers of flies made it difficult to enjoy a meal. We understood that this was Simply because of the proximity to the lake but it really didn't make for a pleasant experience. The pizzas were good although my husband felt the mussels were not particularly fresh. ||In general the campsite was well-run. The main toilet block which we used was a unisex affair which worked well and was always kept very clean. We noticed that staff would be in cleaning at various times of the day and would just clean whatever units were vacant - instead of the annoying British habit of closing the blocks for hours at a time to do one big clean (five minutes after which the place would be manky again). ||The site allows dogs - we are dog owners but didn't bring ours - and owners were generally very responsible. However beside the main path running between the swimming pool/shop/reception area and the camping areas, we regularly saw dog poo that had not been cleaned up by owners. No doubt this was down to a few irresponsible individuals, but we felt the campsite could perhaps have been more pro-active about encouraging clean-up - there were no signs or poo bins. ||The site was quiet at night and generally pretty peaceful - it seemed the vast majority of clientele were families looking for a relaxing holiday. That was just what we got, and aside from the few points raised above, we really liked...

Lake Chalain itself and the Jura area is extremely pretty and well worth visiting. However, I would strongly advise avoiding La Pergola campsite. I can only confirm other reviewers` comments when they refer to complacent staff. This campsite staff appear friendly and enthusiastic at the start.. reserving you a pitch (which, on arrival, has not actually been checked and is in an awful condition!) and answering questions via mail. HOWEVER, once your payment has been received and you are "on location" then the customer services is extremely poor/non-existant (as other campers have sadly experienced). During our visit we also had a few issues. I mentioned this to the staff on duty on 3 occasions during our weeks stay - but absolutely nothing was undertaken to rectify. After our holiday I wrote to the "management" of the site.. and I wrote again and again and again - but with no response. How strange that the campsite replies to requests PRIOR to booking but, once they have your money, they are not at all concerned about offering any service. If you wish to visit Lake Chalain then do not be influenced by the 5* rating (I do wonder how this rating was actually achieved!!). There are other less noisy sites where you can relax and enjoy your holidays. The swimming pool may be a bonus at La Pergola but, to be honest, we spent more time at the lake (more space, much nicer, less overcrowded). The pool area did not offer enough sunbeds and there were only a few umbrellas for shade (not good for kiddies). Summary: visit Lake Chalain, the whole area is very beautiful but spend your money on a campsite which will truly offer you a service once you get there! This is, after all, your holiday. La Pergola, going by my experience - and the experience of other campers - is one which takes your payment and THERE the service finishes. Very disappointing!! Ps. We also had an unpleasant experience when staying here... which is not an ideal campsite for families. We would certainly not go to this campsite again - but we do wish to return...

Wir waren im August 2021 zu sechst (2 Erwachsene, 4 Teens) in einem Mobilheim für 6-8 Personen. Der Campingplatz besteht fast ausschließlich aus Mobilheimen und ist sehr groß. Hat zur Folge, dass man von vielen Mobilheimen sehr lange Wege zum Schwimmbad, zum Strand, zur Rezeption, zu den Angebotenen Aktivitäten, zum Kiosk und zum Restaurant hat. Der Zugang zum Badestrand ist nur am Eingang des Campingplatzes möglich! Ansonsten ist der Campingplatz mit einem hohen Zaun vom Badesee abgetrennt. Sehr schade wenn man einen Platz direkt am See hat. Der See hat einen lang gezogenen Kies-Sand-Strand wodurch man immer einen freien Platz findet. Da der einzige Zugang über den Eingang des Campingplatzes liegt muss man jedoch ggf. weit laufen um noch einen freien Platz zu finden. Ein kleiner, markierter Teil des Badesees wird durch Personal des Campingplatzes beaufsichtigt. Es besteht die Möglichkeit gegen Gebühr Tretboote (mit und ohne Rutsche) und Kanus auszuleihen. Hier muss man ggf. mit langen Wartezeiten rechnen. Das Wasser ist klar und sauber. Das Schwimmbad war in der Hauptsaison sehr gut besucht. Das Innen- sowie das Außenschwimmbecken waren entsprechend überfüllt und an den Rutschen entstanden längere Wartezeiten (Corona konforme Abstandsregeln konnten hier nicht eingehalten werden). Um einen Liegeplatz zu bekommen muss man früh kommen (Schwimmbad öffnet um 10:00 Uhr). Wir waren deshalb eigentlich immer am See und sind nur zum Rutschen ins Schwimmbad gegangen. Das Restaurant haben wir nur einmal zum Muscheln Essen besucht. Die Qualität hat uns nicht überzeugt. Am Kiosk bekommt man die üblichen Kiosk Speisen in „Kiosk-Qualität“ zu normalen Preisen. Die Wartezeiten waren hier oft sehr lange. Der kleine Lebensmittelladen ist gut sortiert und im Durchschnitt etwas teurer als die großen Läden. Hier gibt es Baguette, Croissants und Pain au Chocolat zu günstigen Preisen und in guter Qualität. Auch diverse Nonfood Waren sind im Sortiment. Unser Mobilheim war für 6 Personen recht eng. Das Geschirr hat gerade so ausgereicht. Es gab kein Schneidebrett und keinen Schneebesen. Es empfiehlt sich ein gutes Schneidemesser mitzubringen. Unser Geschirrspüler war leider defekt. Obwohl wir das gleich am 2. Tag gemeldet haben wurde er erst nach wiederholter Nachfrage am letzten Tag ausgetauscht (die am 2. Tag erschienenen Monteure meinten sie hätten derzeit kein Austauschgerät und müssten sich mit dem Chef besprechen. Sind aber nie wieder aufgetaucht…). Das war sehr ärgerlich. Außerdem lag das Mobilheim zum Ärger unserer Teens außerhalb des (zahlungspflichtigen) Camping W-Lan Netzes! Auf Nachfrage hieß es, dass das nicht sein könne und man sich darum kümmere. Bis zu unserer Abreise war aber immer noch kein Netz verfügbar… Für einen 4 Sterne Campingplatz und entsprechend teure Mietpreise war das Mobilheim eher eine Enttäuschung. Billigste Plastikgartenmöbel, billigstes Besteck und Kochgeschirr, der aufgeführte Grill war bereits durchgerostet und bietet maximal Platz für 2 große Steaks, nur eine Liege für 6-8 Personen, ein defekter Geschirrspüler, kein W-Lan Netz und sauber war es auch nicht. Da wir die meiste Zeit unterwegs waren hat uns das nicht allzusehr gestört. Etwas mehr Komfort haben wir aber schon erwartet. Die Betten, der Gasherd, die Mikrowelle, der große Kühlschrank mit Gefrierfach, das Warmwasser, die Klimaanalage und die Heizkörper sind gut. Auch die Verdunklungsmöglichkeiten der Fenster sind positiv zu erwähnen. Die Animationsangebote sind allesamt gut. Es gibt von morgens bis nachts vielfältige Angebote von jung bis alt. Auf dem Platz gibt es ansprechende Allgemeingrills mit überdachten Sitzgruppen und einer Wasserentnahmestelle. Licht gibt es hier keines. Ab 23.00 wird auf die Einhaltung der Nachtruhe geachtet. Insgesamt waren wir zufrieden, haben aber mehr erwartet. Bei Neuerstellung war der Campingplatz sicher einmal seine 4 Sterne wert. Vieles ist nun aber in die Jahre gekommen und sollte erneuert bzw. aufgewertet und verbessert werden. Wir hatten eine schöne Woche, werden hier aber eher nicht noch...