Tattershall Lakes Country Park — Local services in East Lindsey

To whom it may concern,||Myself, mum and little boy (3 years old) recently stayed at tattershall lakes in a superior caravan for 2 nights (Sunday 14th to Tuesday 16th September). |We were thoroughly looking forward to this albeit short break as my mum hardly gets away and I have a busy work schedule we thought it would be nice to have some quality mum/ daughter time and to take my little boy away. ||We have visited other big named holiday parks in the past and come home with the most amazing memories and experience and with tatershall being "on our door step" and having a (supposedly) gleaming reputation we thought we would give it a try. ||However it was a shambles from the get go. |I saw you offered a two night break Sunday to Tuesday which suited us perfectly around work and nursery days. |Before booking I rang to check there would be activities still going ahead as children were back at school and thought it may have been "out of season" however I was reassured there would be things still running during our stay, Only to find out after I had booked it and downloaded the app that it only showed daytime activities for children on the Sunday and nothing for Monday or Tuesday until the evening entertainment. |I then called again to ask why I couldn't see any activities for Monday or Tuesday. |I was told Monday and Fridays are the parks turnaround days so therefore no activities take place on these days. |I did express my concerns over the phone and said no where on your website does it state no activities will take place on these days. It just shows in season and out of season activities such as watersports and the months they run not days. |I then asked if we could arrive early on the Sunday and collect passes to take part in activities before we check in, I got a hesitant unsure reply of you should be able to. |We chose to arrive early on the Sunday for around 11am to collect the passes and enjoy a look around and lunch before taking part in the build a plushie. |We were welcomed at guest services by Mandy who explained it was far to early to check in however presented us with our passes and said we could come back and try at 3 to see if the caravan would be ready for us to check in a bit early. |We had lunch in the spitfire bar which was a huge disappointment. We both ordered a large loaded fries for near enough £10 each. When it came it looked mediocre and for the price was ridiculous! I would have hated to see the portion of a regular. We ordered food bang on for 12 as the plushie making was at 1 so this gave just enough time for my little boy to eat before it started and to say lunch service had just started the food was tepid. All the bar and waiting staff looked miserable and like they didn't want to be there.|We headed back to customer service at 2.30 as with minimal things to do my little boy was soon fed up. We were told again by Mandy that it was still not clean and told us just to go play in the park for a bit. (Which we already had done)|No fault of the parks but the weather was a washout on Sunday afternoon and we had nothing else to do but pay for the mini landrovers to pass the time. Chloe was fabulous. She was great with my little boy and made it very enjoyable despite being saturated! |We then headed back to guest services at 3.15 to still be told by Mandy our caravan is still not clean. Despite checking in a lot of other families at this time (I am sure not every one had paid the extortionate £40 early check in or staying In elite caravans) I have worked in both hotels and holiday parks and if someone comes a bit early we ask the cleaning staff if theirs can be done first or asap. Mandy was not welcoming and lacked in customer service she came across argumentative and rude. There was numerous other staff in the reception area and they all turned a deaf ear and no one stepped in to help. |If check in days are Monday and Friday like I was previously told why was our caravan not ready for Sunday? By the time it was ready it was 15.50. if check in is 4 the cleaners should have been out long before this. |When we finally got to our caravan, bags of linen were still left outside the door and we were welcomed with a strong blast of bleach which lingered in to the evening.|The overall standard of the caravan was poor. Both the sofa and carpet were stained and holes in the bed linen. (Pictures attached) |On the Monday we booked to go swimming which was fine, the male life guards were friendly and welcoming, as were all the staff on the door checking the passes. |We thought we would head to the propeller bar for some lunch, to see if that was any better but surprise surprise it is closed on a Monday and Tuesday. |We also went to play in the park again but couldn't believe that the one thing that would entertain my little boy for a while, was you guessed it... Closed off!! There was maintenence taking place and was taped off and digging up the wood chippings. Why this was a necessity to be done In the middle of the day especially when everything else is closed I don't know! |We did head to the toddler park however he was too big for everything and soon got fed up. |My mum was woken up at 4 am Monday morning by a slow car diving past. This unsettled her and we headed to reception just to check if you had security that did patrols. The girl was polite and answered our questions and explained you do have patrols. As we were about to leave reception I told my mum to wait a minute because as she turned her back another of member of staff hiding behind a computer screen waved the girl over and what I can only in a polite way describe as "gossiping" about us "behind our back" but they were soon shocked when they looked up/ turned round to see that we had witnessed the whole thing. The girl soon ducked back down. I presume this was the same girl that was also on check In on Sunday with Mandy. |When we checked out on Tuesday morning the lady spoke more to my 3 year old than she did to me and my mum. Again there was no customer service of "how as your stay?" " did you have a nice time?" Or even enjoy the rest of your day. |It was just a thankyou and bye. |The evening entertainment staff that ran the bear in the woods were great! And couldn't fault them. |Overall I would suggest that you don't offer 2 night stays Sunday to Monday. You pretty much lose your Sunday if you dont check in till 4 and then there is nothing to do on the Monday. It's a waste of money. I would also suggest some customer service training for your reception staff.||I also emailed this exact review to them a day after our stay and 2 weeks later had no response or receipt of...

Came to Tattershall as a last minute back up after the Presthaven water issue. After booking, saw the reviews and weren’t quite sure what to think. 4.2 stars is about right for what we experienced.

PROS: The entertainment staff are incredible, so friendly. Made huge effort with the kids.

The evening entertainment is fantastic, bear in the woods is perfect for little kids! House Dance Party is great fun for older kiddies aswell.

Love the fact there’s kids entertainment in a separate area alongside adults bingo etc. Gives options rather than just waiting for something kid friendly to come on.

Movie nights in the outside amphitheatre! Absolutely brilliant, wish they had one on every night.

Plane themed, can see planes flying over site. They’re so loud when in the outside pool and our toddler loved this.

Pools had walk-in sessions which was great as we had no time to book due to being last minute. Outdoor pool was actually a good temperature.

2 age appropriate play areas & fun activities like mini land rovers, arts & crafts and laser tag etc.

Cons:

Cleanliness was a huge issue. We arrived at a lodge and on arrival there was a lingering smell that was like rotten food/milk. Cobwebs all over the lampshades & doors and the bed frames are not stable. We reported to reception (the desk team were quite arsey) and someone came the day after to clear the drains. The smell got temporarily better and then worse but we decided it wasn’t worth ruining our holiday by spending it complaining. If you’re placed in Swan Lake #6 lodge definitely watch out for this. We found out shortly after, the couple before us got moved as they complained about the same issue.

The indoor pool is small and means it’s very hard for walk-ins and it’s also colder than the outside pool. The indoor splash zone however you can access fairly easily without requiring a booking.

Food wasn’t great. Chippy was decent (please I beg sort your gravy out, it was like watery Bisto!) Spitfire bar - read the reviews online before you go. Long wait times and it’s basically whetherspoon food but longer wait and more expensive. The Tattershall lakes restaurant is a little better but still not great although higher marks for the gravy there, thicker bisto! On a plus, kids eat for £1 most nights so there’s swings and roundabouts. Pizzas were probably the only rateable tea time food but for £15/6, 12” it’s quite steep.

On site activities are expensive for what they are and I feel they could have a bigger variety. Because most are suited to an age group, I.e: younger or older then it feels like the selection is limited as they can only access half the activities. Would be great if they had more activities that covered a wider age range. Our toddler turned 4 so was okay but I’d say better for older kids 6-8+ preferably.

The outdoor splash pad is always dirty, more due to the floor type, not much they can do but would be nice to see them give it a mid day jet wash or something. Not a biggie.

Plans could be too loud for others, it’s comparable to the level of noise you can hear at the airport pub in Manchester.

The best evening shows were chargeable (standard evening entertainment is free) but just be warned. Although WORTH paying for, they’re amazing (£6.50 per person)

Wasn’t enough early morning/day time entertainment for us. Comparing to havens character meets in the day time etc. would be nice to have a similar thing in the morning/day for the kids.

My other gripe is down to the app, I don’t think it’s clear where the activities are. E.g: Archery & mini landrovers are in the same venue but one says “hanger” and one “marquee” and both aren’t listed on the map. The app also removed location once the activities are booked which is just a pain.

All in all, would probably go back when the kids are older, wouldn’t eat out as much & would definitely be pickier with location or maybe book private on site. But very fun location and something a little different. Great if your kids love planes.

Side note: Check out Tattershall farm park if you can, an...

We had an enjoyable break here at February half term with young children, staying in an 8 berth 'luxury caravan'. We were 5-10 mins drive from the leisure area staying in Pastures which imo definitely isn't walkable with children, there are no pedestrian walkways until you get very close to the leisure area. Pastures doesn't appear on any sign post until you actually get to it so it's not the easiest to find the first time around, even with the map! The van itself was quiet, fairly clean (although I looked under the fridge for a toy and came across numerous bits of old food 🤢) & comfortable. Nice welcome pack with washing up liquid etc & the pet pack with blanket, poop bags, collapsible bowl, wipes & pawfume was fab! The 3 bedrooms were of adequate size, the heating (once turned up) was v. effective and the pull-out bed in the lounge was comfortable. Some hooks on backs of doors for towels etc would have made thing easier. A few teething issues (toaster not working, missing can opener, unusable oven tray) that were resolved fairly quickly but one thing that never got resolved was the WiFi. After being given a 2nd password when pressing guest services (initially I was told 'it's a private caravan we don't have the passwords!') and the WiFi still didn't work, we were then told 'there's no guarantee you'll get signal that far out'... we abandoned pursuing it. So if you want guaranteed WiFi make sure you're not in the Pastures! On the plus side, we enjoyed the pool & splash area every day (make sure you book when slots come out) and the pool, although not massive, was fine for our small children. Splash area was pretty good with a slide & lots of sprinklers, the non-slip floor was excellent, we didn't see anyone slip the whole week. Both areas & changing rooms/toilets were kept clean. The view from the splash area over the lake was beautiful. Amusingly the leisure area is set up so you have to walk through the arcades to get to the pool/splash, which of course resulted in pleading from the kids and we spent a few hours getting fleeced on the slot machines etc! Outside there is a good playground but it's v small - it started to feel busy if there were 20+ kids. Outdoor pool looked decent but not huge, it was of course closed in Feb, and the outdoor splash area looked basic. The man made beach was tiny and the water quite frankly looked disgusting, there is a kind of wooden breaker to separate a small area from the main lake and it must cause stagnation even with movement as the colour of the water appeared greenish 🤢 I'm glad we weren't there in summer when the children would have wanted to play there! Overall staff were friendly & helpful and the shop wasn't massively overpriced. Some of us tried the high ropes course on site which was fun & definitely worth the money. The most baffling thing for us was how the facilities accommodate what must be thousands of people descending in the summer months. There are many lodges and caravans here but just one hub with a few bars/restaurants and the leisure facilities mentioned. We could only imagine the playground and outside splash as v unpleasant in summer when it must be crawling with kids and we expected it may be difficult to get swim slots in and outside given the size of the complex and the number of holiday homes which must surely overwhelm the facilities on offer. We thought parking near the hub might be a problem too. Obviously the lake will be used in summer but it wasn't clear what if any areas were designated for paddling/swimming (other than the tiny beach,which wouldn't accommodate many people at all) and in any event children are drawn to the pool/splash/playground areas which seem too small. For a cheap, out of season break like we had, I would recommend and definitely come again. Having not been in summer I obviously don't know for sure what it's like but having seen what's on offer I definitely wouldn't choose to come in the summer months with children unless other leisure areas were developed on site to relieve what must be a huge strain on the...