Nortfield Holiday Park, Borth.

Borth Holiday Park

Accommodation
in/near Borth, Ceredigion,
Wales Mid

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Review added: 05/11/2009 23:02
By: StOswald (£1.50 earned from reviews) Earn £££'s

"Welcome to Northfield Holiday Park, 5 star Welsh Tourist Board rating.
Plus Points
Small site
Laundrette
Play Area
Quiet

Bad Points
not 5 star rating
our caravan had single glazing
Catering equipment was sparse
Cutlery didn't match.

I chose this site as it was unbeleivably cheap for October Half term and the area is nice to visit.

When we arrived we were greeted by the owner, who came around to show us over the caravan. We had a 3 berth pet free accomodation. The accomodation was well laid out and an almost Tardis like interior, TV, DVD player and microwave were standard, as were sheets, pillows and duvets.

As our only previous experience of a static caravan was a Haven site in Cornwall; this site was far better, granted it had no pool, tennis courts or club house, but we didn't need those with 3 young kids. Also we weren't charged a deposit for the bed linen, unlike Haven.

The caravan was tidy, aired and there were no signs of damp bed linen. It was only after a couple of days that we noticed a slight stale smell when returning to the caravan, a quick look at the ceiling confirmed that in previous years smoking was allowed inside and there were 3 ashtrays available to use.

Night time the bed was okay, I found I had to swap pillows over as the top one kept going lumpy and as the site was quiet were were not interupted by people going home when the club shut.

The living area was spacious, TV was an old CRT with BBC1,2, HTV Wales & S4C, and the DVD played most titles. The living room and dining room were carpeted and the seating was well padded and flush to the floor - everything felt solid and well put together.

In the kitchen a shortage of cooking equipment ment even heating up a ready meal, required caution as there was no baking tray. Only 1 saucepan and 2, 2 handled steel pots. There were no oven glothes (which you would expect), there was also no cleainng equipment.

However there were enough kitchen knives and bread knives, even a fishing knife! But the cutlery was disappointing, I don't think it was possible to get a complete matching set. Unfortunately the mugs and glassware were the same, 2 mugs matched, 2 wine glasses matched as did 2 small beakers. Everything else was a mix. Strangley there was only 2 wine glasses and 2 others "suitable" to use.

The cooker and hob were both gas and both required a manual spark to ignite the gas.

The bathroom and seperate toilet were compact. The toilet was clean and a toilet mat provided. The shower was reasonable, but needed a good clean, marks were evident around the door. We also found that the water supply was to restrictive, run a cold tap and the shower cut out - this might be due to the park being on a steeep hill.

The exterior facilities included a small wooden play area for children upto 12 and a couple of picnic tables. A laundrette is available, with 1 washing load costing £3 a wash, (park information said this was £2). A tumble drier was also available, this took 20p's and after an hour the clothing was still damp - an hour would cost about £2.40

Car parking was adjacent to the caravan on a hard standing. Bird Table and picnic table was supplied.

Now I don't know how the Welsh Tourist Board rates sites like this, but I felt the 5 star rating was optomisitc - I felt the site was a 3 star plus rating. Simply because if I went to a 5* Hotel, I would expect certain standards. In order for it to reach 5* I felt the following needs to be done.
Ensure that all cutlery/pottery matches.
That there is enough cooking items to prepare and cook a Sunday Roast The Beds should be made up on arrival Caravans should be smoker free and they should be steam cleaned to remove any stain's or odours.
The gass cooker hob should be connected to the electricity so the electronic ignitors worked.
Double glazing or central heating as standard.

Borth is famed for it's long sandy beach. From Northfield the beach is about 5minutes walk dow a mostly pavement free and fairly steep hill. When you arrive at sea level, there is a Lifeboat Station and then miles of sandy beach (at low tide) leading all the way to the Dovey Estury, some 4 miles away.

Borth village with a chip shop, Spar, several local shops and numerous cafes and a pub. There is a Nisar mini mart that sells most food you may need, they also sell local bread and cakes. Nisar has a chargable cash machine.

Surprisingly Borth has a railway station, and you can get from Birmingham on some trains without the need for changing. Borth also has a regular bus service to Abeystwyth and a bus stop was minutes from Northfield.

I feel Northsield needs to make some changes to quantify the WTB giving it 5 stars, but lets not feel down hearted, our caravan cost £200 for October half term week; you can't complain at that really.

We hope to return to Northfield in a future holiday."

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