Haven Burnham-on-Sea Holiday Village — Hotel in Great Britain

We arrived on Monday afternoon, a little ahead of schedule. On arrival we were told our accommodation wasn't ready yet, but we could head on to the site and we'd receive a text when we could head in. We parked in the assigned bay for where we were staying, and a supervisor told us the cleaner still needed to hoover and mop the floors, and we could then go in once we saw the cleaning staff leave. 4 minutes later they left, and we entered. The floor was dry, which called into question the mopping, but it appeared clean and we ventured in with everything we'd brought with us. A cursory check showed that the table needed a wipe down and the fridge wasn't quite as clean as we'd have liked, but it wasn't worth raising as an issue as they're things we'd normally give a wipe-down ourselves for peace of mind. We sat down for half-an-hour, then headed to a nearby supermarket to get food for our stay. Upon arriving back at the caravan and offloading our shopping, and before bed we happened to open the dishwasher. It was full of stagnant water and absolutely reeked. It was here the issues started to accumulate. We ran the dishwasher overnight to flush out the mess. The next morning, we got up and opened the fridge for our breakfast. It was warm and a significant amount of the food we'd purchased had spoiled. I fortunately managed to correct the setting so the food would be chilled in future, but a lot of what we had already purchased went into the handily located bin. We also went under the sink where the pans were stored to learn that the pans had been used to catch water from the leaking sink drain, fed by a broken tap. This water also stank and appeared to have been there for some time. To add to the list of issues, the shower door fell off as my wife was showering. As we were already late to set out for the attraction we'd pre-purchased tickets to (£120 and a 90 minute drive) we headed off, with a view to visiting reception on our return. Unfortunately due to traffic and having to visit a shop to replace the goods that were spoiled by the fridge, our return to the site was after receptions closure. Maintenance were no longer available so with the assistance of Google, I gained a new skill as a shower door repairman and managed to reconnect the runners. By this point, we'd become very angry. We visited reception the next morning and listed the issues with the accommodation, but requested they didn't arrange for maintenance to visit whilst we were out. They asked for us to notify reception again on our return. We got back in time to visit reception, but had decided that we didn't want to be disturbed by maintenance and went to reception to advise them. They appeared to have no record of our earlier visit and after explaining everything that had occurred to a team leader, we were offered vouchers for a meal. We turned this down, having already purchased food to cook ourselves. They advised that the issues would be escalated to the site manager, from whom we have heard the sum total of nothing.

Broken blinds, warm fridge, areas of stagnant water, significant leaks, broken shower doors, window and door trims that constantly fall off, broken kitchen tap, bathroom handle that sticks and locks you in (this wasn't mentioned to anyone by us, and was discovered on the final day.) I'd argue that the majority of the issues could easily have been picked up with a basic inspection to ensure key functionality and the level of cleanliness a guest would expect and deserves after outlaying not insignificant sums of money. I'd suggest checking every facet of any accommodation you may have from them and escalating issues at the first opportunity. Bear in mind that reception...

Where do I start! Maybe from the point of booking this deceptive holiday experience. So we looked online for a lovely family holiday park in the UK. I had a few options and from photos and description on Haven website, this looked great. The lodges were spacious and had "luxury" furniture, amazing lake views, lodges were spaced out nice on pics and the whole accomodation looked a home from home style. So we thought this would be a lovely family location.

Booked it and when we arrived we were given nothing other than told to follow the app to the lodge. Got to the area the lodge was and there was a gate for cars to go through, we did not have the code so had to go back for this. Once at the lodges staight away I could see they were not spaced out like the pics, they were all side by side with minimal space and they all looked like caravans not lodges again as described on website. The lake looked like an unsightly swamp. Going into the so called lodge, the gate on the stairs up to door was hanging off, we walked into the lodge and could see straight away it was just like a large caravan. There was NO luxury furniture and all the beds and rooms were smaller than made out on pics and beds were cheap caravan style metal beds. None of us had a good night sleep!

The double bed was broke, there were marks all over carpets and windows, the patio door to the decking area wouldnt open, lock was broken. Freezer was broke and finally no accessories as listed such as hairdryer etc. Oh and for a £1300 3 day stay, NO WIFI!!

All in all very dissapointed and felt like we were mis-sold this holiday. Complained, as normal not much they did other than send someone out from maintenance to half heartedly fix the door and bed, still played up all holiday.

Got home and complained officially on email to be told that the pictures are only for marketing and not representative of the lodge you get!!!! How on earth is that legal? How can something be advertisted but you get something totally different and of an extreme lower standard/quality?? There was no normal luxury beds as shown and listed on spec. Bathrooms were typical tiny caravan bathrooms, nothing like the pictures. It was a total scam! I am absolutely gobsmacked they get away with this. Either way I have reported it to the bank and will be speaking to trading standards, as we did not get what we paid for. Regardless of their small print and get out of jail clauses they try and hide amongst it all to deceive people into thinking they are getting more than what they actually get in reality.

All of this is before even getting to the things like the amateur onsite entertainment, screaching down the mic giving you a headache. I could be here all day listing other negatives, but I think it is clear what Haven are. A bunch of lying...

MUST BE THE WORST HAVEN WE'VE EVER BEEN TO!!!!.

Currently at the park. On our arrival we were greeted by a lovely female Security Office. She was full of enthusiasm and fun. We thought "great, this looks great here, if that's the welcome we have". We went straight around to the van 18 Glastonbury Way. Broken the van checked seal, and oh dear, whats that smell??. Both my wife and I thought, prehaps the vans been locked up for a while, the smell would go with some air. Well it didn't because it was being caused by the grubby dirty sofa and the rest of the van. I called reception, who said they'd send someone along to take a look. Day 3 still no-one. We always allow for a bit of dirt ect. As everyone's idea of clean is different. So, we set about our usual routine. Wipe the tops over, handles, toilets, remotes etc. We have todo this as 2 of our children medical problems that react to dirt, dust and certain chemicals (asthma & dermatitis). We dont expect Haven to cater for this, so we just do it every time.

This time we were horrified by what we found. We now understood why the van was smell. Quite frankly it was filthy. Grubby seats in the lounge,excrement on the underside of the toilet seat,radiator in the bathroom that's breaking down due to the urine cracked paint (yes it stank), mirrors and windows you could see through, as it looked like someone had wiped over them with dirty water, cobwebs everywhere, spiders nest everywhere and the dust, wow its thick. On Tuesday, still no-one from Haven has been to see us. Tried to call reception again. 27mins on hold, then hung up. Had enough, so I rang Headoffice. The lady was lovely, couldn't be more apologetic. She said "don't worry, I'll send an email to the site now and to our Guest Experience Team, someone will be in contact today". We're now on Wednesday, still no-one from Haven, so I tried to call again. 30mins no answer. Called Headoffice to update, another email sent. During this time, I spot a maintenance chap. I asked him if he could help. He contacted his colleagues, one of which was with the team who should be helping us. The response comes from an Amy "Ive tried to contact number 18 Glastonbury Way a few times, but can't get through". Absolute rubbish, as we've been in the van, Ive called out twice and received other calls. Oh, it's 11 o'clock and still no-one.

We've used Haven a few times now and couldn't be happier with the cleanliness and service we've received. Donniford Bay (spotless and so helpful), Seton Sands exactly the same. Both of which we are returning to. But here, Never Again!!!! Which is a real shame as the park itself has everything here and is close to the beach etc. Save your money and travel 20mins more and go to Donniford much better park...