Haven Lakeland Leisure Park – Nr Grange-over-Sands – UK and Eire

We visited Lakeland (Haven Holidays) at Grangeoversands for the first time. We used the touring site which was cheap but a bit of a shambles, it lacked basic management decisions and proper organisation on a day to day basis.
The touring caravans section warden is a really nice bloke who tries hard to make the best of a bad job but he is badly let down by his managers (are there any?)who dont seem to support him in his job at all. Some of the customers would be proud to even reach the proud status of Chav and they no doubt contribute to the feeling of neglect at this place. Spitting in sinks, poo (looked like it) on floor in toilets, a man having a jimmy riddle in broad daylight into a fence outside his tent, loud swearing and rowdiness,kids everywhere running free late at night, clusters of friends huddling caravans together in a territorial manner, caravans and tents straddled all over the field in a mish mash, copious dog logs and the total absence at long periods of any security staff or supervisory staff, are a few of the points I noted, and i wasn’t looking for faults, these things hit me without looking too hard. The field is a shambles and the pitches are allocated on a freeforall basis when the warden is not present which seems to be quite often (is he part time?).Add to this rumours of a caravan raided and items stolen and you have a recipe for anarchy for which Haven will charge you around 40 quid a night for a tent in April. My advice is don’t go there until they shape the place up a bit and allocate pitches clearly and offer some support for customers who seem to just turn up and pitch where ever they wish some of the time. I was asked by 4 separate incoming campers if I was the warden. When I replied no they said ah well we know what to do and proceeded to use any pitch that was available…SHAMBLES!!!!There isn’t even a decent tap to fill up water containers let alone somewhere sensible and hygenic to deposit waste water which is remote (removed from) from fresh water supplies. The staff here are on basic minimum wage and I think they are heroes to make this place work even at 10 percent efficency, Haven should give these people medals for the shambles in which they are expected to work. This could be a first class touring site with a little operational intervention, planning and not much money spent, so come on Haven as well as the new swimming pool spend a few quid on the touring site which could be so fantastic. Some hints for spending are tarmac roads and paths, divide up the touring field into proper designated pitches, have hi vis security patrolling occasionally in daylight hours and after dark, level the touring field and cut the grass now and then, give the warden proper back up and enforcement authority to deal with idiots, ask customers for feedback to target ongoing spending, if you try to improve things the pack them in mentality will disspear and you will attract more happy customers in the long run who will possible buy statics from you!!

Stayed here? Add a comment below with your opinion to help other travellers to this destination.