Holmsley Campsite — Hotel in New Forest

As others have mentioned, the majority of the staff are rude and even aggressive, causing stress and completely unnecessary anxiety when all you want is to get a break from the everyday stresses of life. If that is what you are going camping for - do not go here! We were initially met by a very nice staff member, she was friendly and asked us to follow her on a bike to our pitches. We were with family and friends and had a mixture of electric and non electric pitches. It was discussed and agreed where we could pitch with 6m maintained between tents and all was good, apparently. The next morning we were questioned by two staff members who then went away and returned in a group of four. We were told that one of our tents which was non-electric, was in an electric pitch (there are no marked or designated pitches, only random timber posts with electric connection), and we would have to pay for electric that we were not using or move the tent. One male staff member was very aggressive, and became more aggressive when it was pointed out by one of my friends that he was being aggressive. After some time debating, where we advised the staff that all had been discussed and agreed with their colleague, we were ordered to go to the site office (we were just going out for the day). Upon arrival at the office/reception, we were again advised that we were costing them money by the tent being where it was, and that their colleague would never had told us we could pitch there (she was not at work today), and literally called us liars. They also had a pack mentality in their domain, with different staff members taking turns to attack, with no one person ever claiming or owning up to being in charge. We did not pay, or move. Later in the day, my daughter and her boyfriend turned up, advised the staff that they had booked non-electric and were told to go and pitch wherever they liked - the irony was not lost on us - would a different staff member then turn up and demand that they move or pay more money? I also overheard staff members swearing and moaning about their jobs when standing outside the toilet blocks whilst customers, including children, walked past. I also noted that at one stage the three of them stood in front of the entrance to the male toilets and made no attempt to either engage with customers or move aside so that they could actually get past - this may seem a small item though I believe it is indicative of the attitude and mentality of the staff to customers. At the end of the day, the electric post that one of our tents was closest to, still had all of the sockets taken by people who did want electric and maintained 6m so it was all completely unnecessary - the stress it caused and the aggression displayed by staff was never required or justified, and even if it had been, why they cant just speak to paying customers with civility and kindness, I don't know. As others have mentioned, staff were just rude and even seemed to have an agenda, obviously, there is discontent in the ranks which is also manifesting itself in their attitude to paying customers. In summary - go...

July 2023. Nice site in a nice location. You have the open New Forest all around you but also have Christchurch 10 mins down the road if you need anything. Paid for a superior pitch. Cost me over £57 a night. I'd expect a fully serviced pitch for that price but I took it anyway as there were no electric grass pitches left and the extra space sounded like a nice idea. There's nothing superior about these pitches. It's my third time here and it's the smallest pitch I've stayed on. I was right on top of the motorhome next to me. They could at least have the water to each pitch for this price, should be easy enough to get plumbed in. It's a bit of a trek to the waste water point too. Not happy with the allocated pitches either. For £57 a night I want to have say in where I stick my van. Should be allowed to choose like most other sites, especially at this price. Setthorns lets you choose and its part of the same chain. After all, you can't select your pitch when booking so you're not nicking anyone else's pitch. The rules state that you shouldn't walk through other people's pitches, which is right, but they have turnstiles dotted around the fence which means, if you're unlucky enough to be by one, you get ignorant people cutting through your pitch. They should at least allow for a gap between pitches where the turnstiles are. Overall, like the site and location but dissapointed with the pitch allocation and the overpriced supposedly superior pitch. May 2022. In a very nice location, ideal for walks in the forest. It's a strange site. Parts are beautiful and other parts, mainly hardstanding, look like a travellers site, but I suppose that comes from using a WW2 airbase. I stayed here in 2021 and had a great week on a good pitch. It didn't really cross my mind last year as we were lucky and I had no complaints with the pitch they put me on. This year I asked for the same pitch but they wouldn't allow it saying it was for groups only, but I wasn't in a group last year and the site was pretty full. This time it was fairly empty and what really got to me was the pitched I asked for remained empty all week. They did offer me another pitch along that row and tried to squeeze me in between others like sardines so I went with their first offer on the ridge. As it went, it was quite a nice pitch but we were told it was a quiet private corner pitch. It wasn't that private when people, mainly site staff, kept using our pitch as a walk through, which I thought was plain ignorant. When I'm away, I see my pitch as my space and I don't want people wandering through my space as I'm having lunch or any other time for that matter. I don't know why we weren't able to choose our own pitch, most other sites do, even other camping in the forest ones. It almost felt like they were being stubborn by not giving me the one I asked for when it was free. The none electric eastern end of the site looks really nice so maybe I need to get set up for no electric hook up. Also, the price is a bit on the steep side considering the standard of facilities compared...

I stayed as a backpacker (ie walked there) in June 2025. Different feel from other New Forest campsites I have been to - more open spaces vs woodland, more concrete (it was an airfield after all) and the ponies don’t wander around the site, they are just outside it.

Positives:

1. It’s amazing to have a shop. They also do hot pizza in the evening and hot breakfast food in the morning. Shop has a coffee machine and sells breakfast pastries and bread too.
2. Laundry and phone charging lockers. Not all sites have this. I didn’t use the laundry but used charging lockers for my power bank. Each locker has a plug socket and 2 x USB sockets. Bring a small padlock (or buy from reception) if you’re going to put your phone in one.
3. Proper shower and toilet blocks with good hot showers and large sinks. This is big if you’ve been to e.g. Roundhill which has flimsy little portapotty style temporary ones with tiny cramped sinks.

Slight negatives:

1. Feels very large and very busy. There are 3 toilet/shower blocks and it feels like there should be more as some pitches are quite far. In late June (ie not even school holidays) it was PACKED the weekend I went.
2. A lot of uneven or sloping ground. I had to do 2 laps of the site to find a flattish free spot for a small 1P tent. To be fair it was Saturday afternoon on a packed weekend but it’s been easier at other NF sites.
3. Awkward to get to without a car. The NF open top bus goes there from July. Till then there’s the public bus from Brockenhurst to Burley but only during the week. I got a taxi from Brockenhurst to Burley (£23) and it’s a nice 1hr walk from there on Forest tracks. On leaving, I plotted a 3.5mi route on the OS map, to Hinton Admiral station on forest paths but you cannot do this, they are private land! Ended up walking 5.4 miles mostly along roads and they are busy roads with no pavement. Just don’t attempt this!! It was not fun.
4. 3 different types of pitching areas with quite small signs so it’s easy to miss them and end up in the electric area or premium area by mistake.
5. The shop sells junk food. GREAT for drinks, toys, souvenirs and practical camper stuff like buckets. Usually I have to make do with water after hiking to a site but I gratefully downed a milkshake and a bottle of New Forest apple juice from the fridge! However the pizza is pretty bad and not good fuel for walking. None of the breakfast foods (pastries, egg/bacon/sausage sandwiches) are either. I was hoping for some porridge with stuff added or a home made scotch egg but to be fair most people are...