Whitemead Forest Park — Hotel in Forest of Dean

We stumbled across this site when looking for a last minute getaway during half term and what a treat it was.

We arrived and got booked in by a very pleasant lady who gave us all the required information and gave us a map and directions to our assigned pitch. There are pitching guidelines given to you as to how you should pitch, so rather than reverse the tourer in, we unhitched and pushed it in so we could make sure the positioning was more precise than my hit and miss reverse skills. The pitch was level and we didn't have to make any adjustments across the caravan.

The site seemed busy with lots of new arrivals, but all the guests I spoke to were friendly. It appeared that all the families were pitched together, with couples without children being pitched a little further away.

The restaurant and bar served a good selection of food and drinks which allowed us all to find something to eat, albeit the pints of Staropramen were £5.80 and to feed a family of 6 with a drink each was roughly £90, it felt a little pricey, but not uncommon for a venue like this. The food was however, tasty, served quick and filling.

The placement of the facilities seemed suitable so that none of the pitches were too far from a water point or the shower/toilet facilities. There was a washing up station and disabled/baby change facilities close to the water point we used which were tidy (and warm) as they appeared to be inside a glamping-type pod.

There were two parks, one for younger children and another for older children, a swimming pool which was warm and a good size. The pool was quiet when we visited, but we were midweek after the English half term had finished, so we got lucky! Additionally, there was a gym and onsite activities like archery, slime making, mini golf etc, though we didn't partake in these this time.

There is a showbar with daily entertainment, kids disco, kids bingo and adult bingo with live acts. This was all very good, and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening here, the live singer was superb!

An onsite shop, again, pricey, but it contained all the essentials, some camping gear, and fresh local meats which were extremely tasty! Some of the thickest bacon I've ever seen was more like gammon!

The shower block was clean, warm and the showers themselves had a temperature control and no push buttons, you could turn it on and have a really good soak. There were plenty of hooks to hang up your clothes and a bench too.

There was free wifi on the site, which was adequate, my son managed to play Roblox for a while in the evening, the speeds did vary a bit. The mobile signal, however, on Vodafone and O2 networks was great most of the time.

For the cost of the pitch, and the available entertainment, this was a very enjoyable trip. We did try to extend our stay, but they were fully booked for the weekend ahead, so were unable too, but we look forward to returning again.

A few negatives:

On arrival, I was a little confused as to where to park to book in, initially a little hut looked to be the place, but this seemed to be a storage cupboard, and then ended up going past the booking office and parking outside the showers and running back. Not a big issue, but the signage could be improved here.

The Elsan point was a hole in the ground, which felt a little difficult to coordinate without making a bit of a mess. I'd have preferred something not at ground level, but there was a hose pipe to clean up somewhat.

The shower block isn't immediately obvious because the signage makes it appear to be just a toilet block.

In the pool changing village, the family changing cubicles didn't all have a baby change point in them, which made it a little tricky to change our son, additionally, I didn't notice anything on the leaflets to indicate a pound to use the lockers, albeit this is a common thing across pool changing rooms, it would be good to see it in the...

Liked: We stumbled across this site when looking for a last minute getaway during half term and what a treat it was.

We arrived and got booked in by a very pleasant lady who gave us all the required information and gave us a map and directions to our assigned pitch. There are pitching guidelines given to you as to how you should pitch, so rather than reverse the tourer in, we unhitched and pushed it in so we could make sure the positioning was more precise than my hit and miss reverse skills. The pitch was level and we didn't have to make any adjustments across the caravan.

The site seemed busy with lots of new arrivals, but all the guests I spoke to were friendly. It appeared that all the families were pitched together, with couples without children being pitched a little further away.

The restaurant and bar served a good selection of food and drinks which allowed us all to find something to eat, albeit the pints of Staropramen were £5.80 and to feed a family of 6 with a drink each was roughly £90, it felt a little pricey, but not uncommon for a venue like this. The food was however, tasty, served quick and filling.

The placement of the facilities seemed suitable so that none of the pitches were too far from a water point or the shower/toilet facilities. There was a washing up station and disabled/baby change facilities close to the water point we used which were tidy (and warm) as they appeared to be inside a glamping-type pod.

There were two parks, one for younger children and another for older children, a swimming pool which was warm and a good size. The pool was quiet when we visited, but we were midweek after the English half term had finished, so we got lucky! Additionally, there was a gym and onsite activities like archery, slime making, mini golf etc, though we didn't partake in these this time.

There is a showbar with daily entertainment, kids disco, kids bingo and adult bingo with live acts. This was all very good, and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening here, the live singer was superb!

An onsite shop, again, pricey, but it contained all the essentials, some camping gear, and fresh local meats which were extremely tasty! Some of the thickest bacon I've ever seen was more like gammon!

The shower block was clean, warm and the showers themselves had a temperature control and no push buttons, you could turn it on and have a really good soak. There were plenty of hooks to hang up your clothes and a bench too.

There was free wifi on the site, which was adequate, my son managed to play Roblox for a while in the evening, the speeds did vary a bit. The mobile signal, however, on Vodafone and O2 networks was great most of the time.

For the cost of the pitch, and the available entertainment, this was a very enjoyable trip. We did try to extend our stay, but they were fully booked for the weekend ahead, so were unable too, but we look forward to returning again.

Disliked: On arrival, I was a little confused as to where to park to book in, initially a little hut looked to be the place, but this seemed to be a storage cupboard, and then ended up going past the booking office and parking outside the showers and running back. Not a big issue, but the signage could be improved here.

The Elsan point was a hole in the ground, which felt a little difficult to coordinate without making a bit of a mess. I'd have preferred something not at ground level, but there was a hose pipe to clean up somewhat.

The shower block isn't immediately obvious because the signage makes it appear to be just a toilet block.

In the pool changing village, the family changing cubicles didn't all have a baby change point in them, which made it a little tricky to change our son, additionally, I didn't notice anything on the leaflets to indicate a pound to use the lockers, albeit this is a common thing across pool changing rooms, it would be good to see it in the...

I have been a Boundless formerly CSMA member for around 40 yrs and last stayed for a proper holiday at Whitemead in the middle 80's with my young children. I have stayed a few times at the Boundless West Cliff Hotel and the Ghyll Manor Hotel (which CSMA used to own). This visit was a week, last few days in August to 5th September with my daughter and grandchildren. The check-in was lacklustre, met by two young ladies on the driveway who were about as welcoming as a ferret in your trousers. Only two lodge door entrance cards per booking regardless of how many adults there were. The lodge was fine, no complaints about that. My biggest issue with our week's stay was:|(1) All family functions and entertainment ceased on the 1st September. That had never occurred to me... when making the booking. No September entertainment guide was issued or in the lodge until we went and asked for it. |(2) Children's activities... we caught the tail end of these, and boy were they expensive... and overpriced. The two grandchildren were looking forward to the Chocolate party which we paid £16 for and the guy running it never turned up. We never got a refund in spite of asking and were met with a shrug of the shoulders. The Water Walker Ball in the pool was also £16 for 2 but on seeing that each child got only 5 minutes in the ball, that put paid to that one. The mini pedal boats went ahead at £20 for 2 and they got 15 minutes.|(3) There were queues early evening, 15 long waiting in a line to be served at the bar. Prices were more expensive inc for kids than I anticipated. The kid’s entertainment in the evening in the 'Venue' was loud music and some guy dressed as a bear with a Whitemead employee shouting constantly down the microphone. Second night was a man throwing custard pies (shaving foam) into kids’ faces. My grandchildren were scared to death but luckily as he approached them, he realised that and left them.|(4) Clearly the site was winding down after summer and I hope the general indifference of the staff to guests was because of exhaustion rather than poor training. Even the lady in the main booking office was unwelcoming to any enquiry or advice. The best employee on site was the young lady with piercings and dark hair that was running the outside cabin selling ice cream, milk shakes and hot drinks. She is the only member of staff throughout the week who actually smiled and was helpful. |(5) The Crazy Golf was overpriced at £20 for a family ticket and that was to Boundless members, it looked tired and uninviting. |The grandchildren enjoyed it but that was to be expected at 2 and 5 years old. At least the indoor swimming pool was free. |I was talking to a man in the steam room who was staying with his wife and caravan at Whitemead for a few days. He enquired to book at the end of August and was quoted £92 a night for a pitch!! He declined and stopped for 2 nights at a pub site near Gloucester before arriving at Whitemead to stay at September prices. |I always try to encourage people to join Boundless and pointed out the discounts to him and the Boundless Members weekend hotel breaks we enjoy around the UK. I told him the benefits of membership but at full price for non-members I would give...