Pontins, Prestatyn - Club Accommodation

After last year's enjoyable time at Pontins I decided that I would go again this year, this year staying in Club accommodation - this is the highest grade available.  But this year's experience was the complete opposite!

Parking was easier, but I should have paid more attention to the number of minibuses and people carriers scattered about.

Check in this year remained in the Reception area, but it was still chaos, I nearly cried and walked back out when I saw the queue, but like last year I couldn't face the drive home after just driving 250 miles.  Thanks to people cutting the queue or heading straight to the front if thay had a query after they had received their keys, it took me 90 minutes from joining the end of the queue to getting my key. I had to remind the person serving me that as I was in Club accommodation I should receive a free bottle of wine and free newspapers so they had to go off to find the vouchers.

As a Club customer I was also to receive free bedding instead of paying per bed, as I wasn't given any I assumed that it was already in the chalet.  It wasn't, although as all chalets now seem to be left unlocked until occupied there may have been some in there at one point.

The chalet was not very clean, unlike last year, I had to clean the work surfaces, table tops and chairs before they could be used.  The hob was rusty and the fridge leaked.  The windows were dirty and greasy.  The bathroom door did not shut completely and scrapped across the floor with the movement that it did have.

I had to carry the microwave across the kitchen as there were no plugs near it.

You can just see the rusty hob.

The heater was badly marked.

The leaky fridge

A hole in the worksurface where the old telly used to be.

The sum total of the crockery in the chalet

A rare moment of peace.

Last year in my Classic chalet I had constant hot water without having to switch between hot water and the hob/oven being on so I assumed that in the higher grade accommodation that this would be the case too.  It was not, as I found out at 5am on the second morning.

I got very little sleep on the first night due to the noise by other holiday makers, I know this is not something Pontins can control, but it goes to show the level of guests this time that they stand outside a stranger's chalet to smoke and chat so as not to disturb people in their own.

There were also a lot of school age children about, mostly in the triangle of chalets where I was based, the group above me were particularly noisy - dragging furniture, slamming doors, throwing things off the balcony, shouting at people in other chalets - even when they arrived back in the early hours of the morning.

It turns out that I was sharing my accommodation triangle with groups from two schools for disadvantaged children and children with behavioural problems, all paid for by their local council.  Why Pontins chose to house a single traveller in this block I do not understand.

The next morning I went to the shop to pick up my free newspaper, despite being advertised as opening at 8am it did not open until 9am.

The swimming pool did not open until 10am by which time I had lost interest in going for a swim.

After a second sleepless night I decided enough was enough and packed up ready to go home, this was when I found out that the hot water DID in fact run out.

I was on my way home by 6.30am.

I will not be going to Pontins again unless changes are made. 

Pontins, Prestatyn

I need to start this review by saying that the chalet was so much cleaner than the ones at Southport last November, but that is one of the few stand out positives.

According to my paperwork, I was supposed to hand one of my vouchers in at the gate, as there was no-one on duty there I just carried on in.

Not being able to check in until 4pm I had delayed my arrival to just before and parking was a nightmare, not because I can't park (I can) but earlier arrivals had just abandoned their cars anywhere within the parking area.

I went to Reception to check in, as per my paperwork, to be greeted by a Bluecoat and told that check-in was now in the Fun Factory, the room formerly known as the Ballroom.  I made my way round and it was chaos.  But this was down more to the clientele than the staff.  In fact, if I hadn't spent the best part of 5 hours in traffic jams I may well have turned round and gone straight home again.

Kids were being allowed to run riot, whole families seemed to feel the need to queue instead of just one person, everyone was more concerned with what was on their phones than what the staff were saying to them.

When I eventually made it to the front of the queue I was dealt with very efficiently and off I went to find my chalet.

I had booked a studio apartment so I knew that I was not going to get a palace but the room was tiny.  The location was excellent, away from the main road around the site but still only a couple of minutes walk back to the main facilities, but the apartment really was a disappointment.

The double bed took up pretty much all of the floorspace and this only looked more after I put on the fluorescent 100% polyester bedding, which were at least clean this time.

The kitchen consisted of a sink, a draining board which was home to the microwave, a small area of work surface which housed the kettle, a cooker and fridge.

The bathroom was larger than the kitchen and featured a fantastic shower, another plus point, which nearly blasted me into next door it was so powerful.

I ventured into the Queen Victoria pub, every Pontins has one, on the first night, thanks to the 'who can scream the loudest' competition that was being held I did not visit again, but again this was the clientele rather than the staff.

I attempted to buy some chips from Captain Cod's shop on the second day, after more than 10 minutes of queueing in which only one person was served I gave up.  On the last day I attempted to purchase a meal from the restaurant, but the pay up front rule, the state of the tables and the noise put me off, so at least there was no food poisoning this time. I would have tried the Indian/Chinese takeaway in the Queen Vic if, again, it hadn't been for the noise.

Whilst there is not much that can be done about the clients, I do have some suggestions for the apartments for future refurbishments or quick wins now.

• Move the microwave, it needs it own space to allow the draining board to be used.
• Put toasters back in the chalets, I was losing the will to live using the oven to toast my bread.
• There needs to somewhere to sit and eat, a breakfast bar at least.
• Fit a towel rail in the bathroom, I had to hang my towel over the shower rail.
• Bring back the £1 electricity cards, the complimentary £1 card I received ran out Saturday evening, I had to purchase a £5 card for the rest of the weekend of which I spent just over £1.
• Stagger the check ins more, instead of Club at 2pm and everyone else at 4pm, try 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.
• Install cameras above the tills, I witnessed some money being palmed, very inexpertly.

If I ever want a base for a few days in North Wales I would stay here again, but I certainly wouldn't stay here for the amenities.  And I would take my own bedding, or at least a sleeping bag.