Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
Utterly disappointing. What was promised to be a 'luxury glamping experience' was a far cry from anything but.
Signs of disorganisation were clear prior to arriving with discrepancies between the website and welcome pack (needing clarification from Lizzie via email), and also a lack of presence on social media leading up to the festival, which would have been great to show guests what to expect etc. As a suggestion, maybe hire someone specifically for socials and comms ahead of 2027?
Arriving to camp, I was met by security who clearly weren't briefed on any processes for arriving guests. I wasnt asked for my booking ref or proof of purchase, and was on camp for 2 hours before security came and handed me a wristband - again, no confirmation needed. The team were also still setting up, putting up string lights.
The POY was on very stoney, uneven ground on top of a steep hill overlooking the VIP section - there was a distinct feeling of "us and them", and no inclusivity. The restaurant and wellness area was placed at the bottom of the hill, requiring the POY to walk up and down in the blistering heat - many didn't bother due to this. We had 3 food vendors - all open in the morning (The Little Pink Door coffee lady was lovely), but nothing when you came back to camp. Your only option for breakfast was a full or half English - when it would've been more cost affective for the vendor to make bacon/sausage rolls which were of the request of many campers (including myself).
The toilet situation for POY was a disgrace - 6 toilets (3 women's & 3 mens) for roughly 100 people on POY was far too little. Very often running out of toilet roll and paper towels with overflowing bins which rarely got emptied. The only drinking water point was a tap nailed to a plank of wood with no lighting which made this difficult at night.
Onto the shuttle - echoing the reviews of many others here, it was a disaster. My friend and I returned to Bronze Gate for pick up where another camper had been waiting over 30 minutes with no sign of the bus. My friend called Lizzie who stated the pick up point had been changed to Gate B (we were not informed of this and neither was the other camper), this was apparently emailed to only lead bookers earlier in the day. The email had gone to my friends Junk folder, and no consideration from Lizzie/Team of if groups had split up at the festival to see different bands etc and were not with the lead booker or didn't have signal. Lizzie's attitude wasnt great when she replied stating "fine, I'll come and get you". The transport situation definitely made me anxious about returning back from the festival site which is a shame, as it was on my mind while trying to enjoy the festival.
The lack of communication and presence from Lizzie and the IS Team while on camp was poor - I saw Lizzie once and only when another camper was venting their frustration. The security guards were not sympathetic to campers who were voicing their concerns when asking about the shuttle situation, and was met with "you don't know how much work Lizzie has put into this". It felt as though we were being unreasonable.
Additionally, it was stated guests would receive a towel - this did not happen. And when pulling out of the camp to leave on what is a very busy and fast road, someone had placed an Inner Sanctum sandwich board to the right, blocking the view of on-coming traffic, making pulling out a real blind spot.
Lizzie needed a contingency, and seemed extremely naive. It appears the appropriate checks were not made regarding the drivers, when issues were raised, Lizzie went into hiding and did not communicate to campers, which was the simplest thing to do and would've gone a long way. Either the IS team were trying to cut costs, or completely underestimated the additional facilities required for POY, however the amount of toilets, showers and food vendors was too little.
This site had and does have so much potential. Lizzie and Team, please learn from this experience and drastically improve the site for 2027, or...
Read more
I would not recommend staying with inner sanctum, our stay this year was a total disaster, and the staff were either incompetent or wilfully deceitful on a number of occasions. While there were a lot of issues, primarily with the transport, the lack of communication and refusal to apologise when things went wrong made everything a lot worse. There are also very misleading / untrue statements about services offered on the website and in the welcome package.
On arrival at Glastonbury main site at around 12pm my husband called to request picking up (as it is stated in the welcome pack that if you arrive by train this can be arranged) but were told no; the shuttle didn’t begin until 4pm.
At just after 4pm we arrived to the pickup site (Bronze gate) to find around 16 other people also waiting for inner sanctum. After no word from the camp my husband called and was told that 3 minibuses were on the way. Multiple calls were made by several guests who were told different versions of the same thing ultimately ended when after 5pm the buses finally arrived. We later discovered that the owners had been let down by the company who were supposed to be driving and they had to arrange something last minute. Had this been communicated to us, and apologies offered, we would have absolutely understood - these things happen. All it would have taken was on arrival for us to be told “I’m so sorry, this is what happened, we are working to make sure things are sorted asap, have a drink on us”. Sadly we got nothing of the sort.
The website lists a shuttle which runs 24 hours to and from the festival. On site we were told actually there is a break 6-10am (not a huge deal, but still misleading).
After the first day the pickup location was changed (to Gate B) as it turns out that one of the vans had failed its MOT and were banned from using the gate. Luckily for us my husband received a text with the change, so when I decided to go home later on (alone) I headed to gate B to be picked up, thinking there would be signs or someone would be able to tell me where to go, or it would be otherwise obvious. To cut a long story short; after a 90 minute walk back and forth in the dark I was picked up on the side of the road on a grass bank. Many were left standing at the other gate and walked home in the dark.
The walk across the fields was shut as it was deemed to be a security risk, so the only way to walk to/from was 35 minutes along winding country roads with no light. People were left waiting for an hour+ at times and asked to get in the back with no seatbelts.
My husband communicated his frustration on Friday night via text and asked for a meeting - this was ignored completely. When eventually seeking out the owner, complaints were met with vitriol, excuses, and absolutely no word of apology.
This really impacted our experience of the festival - rather than being able to enjoy it knowing that we had an easy journey home, we had to cut evenings short and worry about when, how and even if we would be able to get back safely.
The pitch your own felt like an afterthought - it was new for this year. On arrival, no one greeted us, and we were met with “Oh I don’t know anything about pitch your own, sorry, just wait for X” when we asked about checking in. So we sat around waiting and after 20 mins taken to pitch our tent. No other information was given about anything. The bar which was supposed to be open for guests was still being built.
It felt like no thought was given to the additional guests this year. The generators kept becoming overpowered, to the point where sockets provided for electronic devices in the ‘getting ready’ yurt were removed leaving just 1 socket for everyone to charge phones and use hairdryers (again this was not communicated - we heard eventually by word of mouth that this was the reason). The toilet paper and hand towels also ran out across the site including for those booked into the Yurts. The toilets and showers for PYO were also cleaned maybe once the...
Read more
Do not book for PYO. ‘Pitch Your Own’ was very clearly an after thought.
To start, the company clearly had not told the stewards about their existence because I had to drive round 3 times to get in - they wouldn’t let me through despite being 1 minute away.
Upon arrival, it was chaos from the get go. Lizzie gave me a band (didn’t check name or ID) and I just drove off and found my friend who was there but didn’t have a band. They came round a few hours later and just gave her one - didn’t check name/ID/booking etc.
I won’t bother saying about the shambles of the minibuses because other people have - in my opinion Lizzie should have had contingencies there. She should have done her checks on the company. Saying it’s the companies fault is not good enough. There was no communication from her the whole weekend - people just wanted to hear from her. She could have apologised and offered a drinks voucher but nothing.
Back to PYO - we were at the top of a windy hill (large stones on the pitch site which is not good on knees when in the tent!) which was on a 60mph road.
There were 3 women’s toilets and 6 showers for everyone. Often no loo roll so you would have to go back to the tent to get some. Only two small sinks - not a luxury experience.
The water available was one hose attached to a plank of wood that didn’t even have a light near it. Basic thing… got muddy near the area because obviously people let the water running when they couldn’t see what they were doing.
There were three food vendors. A crepe place, a coffee hut (the loveliest lady and the nicest coffee!) and a breakfast place. The breakfast only did full English. I asked - and I heard two others - ask if she would do a sausage/bacon roll but she didn’t have bread. Could have gone and got a bag of rolls. So we didn’t have breakfast on site. The VIP food was only available from 12 and the minibuses didn’t start till 10 so basically your option is a crepe or full English. Also all food vendors shut really early - they didn’t even stay up for after the headliner finishing which was disappointing. Appreciate there has to be a cut off point but again, basic to stay open till that point. Also the coffee and crepe had left on Sunday. So your Monday option was cheap but overpriced tea/coffee from the full English lady and that was it.
Security onsite didn’t check wristbands. Weren’t always on the gate. Didn’t walk round site - didn’t feel safe and secure.
There was a tent to get ready in but we didn’t realise this is what it was until Saturday because no one had told us.
Everything else was down a huge hill. So off putting. We didn’t go down apart from to attend a beauty appt.
I was also disappointed that PYO were treated like the peasants of the site. Everyone else was VIP. We had still paid a premium to stay on site - and for what?!!!! So to separate and differentiate like that is poor.
Car is close to you and could have it next to you as you pitched so that was good.
I’m disappointed by my stay here - it didn’t feel special and all the stress with minibuses and pick up points and drivers that swerve in the middle of road, put people in the boot, and ignore the queue of people at the gate and pick up people on the road, just ruined it. On the last night it was utter carnage and we had to walk back alongside buses, cars and uphill in the dark, gone midnight.
With it being a fallow year next year Lizzie and co have enough time to get this all in order but as far as this year goes - an absolute fail and I wouldn’t risk staying again.
Lizzie should email everyone with a sincere apology and offer some compensation. Appreciate this seems harsh but it’s just not good enough when we are paying for a service that is once a year - there’s enough time to plan...
Read more
