Cranstar Holidays, Bude Holiday Park

PLEASE TAKE MY ADVICE AND AVOID THIS CAMPSITE LIKE THE PLAGUE

Arrived on site after nearly wrecking our car suspension on the many pot holes in the road to the park. Then it got worse - opened up caravan door and bitterly disappointed. After looking at Cranstar, Bude website we paid £30 to upgrade to the Belmont, which looked spacious and modern stating it is a 2010 model. What a shock, the van looked dated, very basic, not clean, rust around the window frame and not much room inside - the most spacious room was the bathroom!! We were had booked the weekend away with our disabled daughter and our other teenage daughter but it was impossible for her to get into the single beds due to such a small gap between beds and were only big enough for a small child. We asked to see the basic caravan, which can only be described as being fit for the scrap heap and I wouldn't even put my dog in there! I must thank the security guard - (two on the gate which I can only imagine is to stop people from breaking out!!) who was very helpful and apologetic. We used a promotion offer last May at Paignton and didn't pay for an upgrade,the caravan was extremely spacious, clean and huge compared to what was on offer at Cranstar plus the road and the facilities on the campsite were far superior it was cheaper plus we had a wonderful sea view. Totally disgusted and disappointed with Cranstar.

The park itself is NOT in Bude as such but a few miles outside. Unless you are a keen walker, a car is essential. The walk along the cliffs to Bude is amazing though...which is just as well as this makes up for the park and caravans. However, be aware that the walk is along very high cliffs and not suitable for those with walking difficulties. The cliffs are not fenced so you walk along it at your own risk!

The park is very tired and in desperate need of a complete overhaul. The caravan we stayed in was c1970 with interior to match. It was damp and draughty, meaning all bedding and clothes were damp. The beds are very small. Even the 'double' was less than the size of a single so if you are slightly larger than a 10 year old, you will find them very uncomfortable. The toilet sloped towards the wall and there was a dip in the bathroom floor. The cooker and hob had to be lit with a match and took eons to cook anything (and the gas bottles were almost empty). With only a noisy gas fire to heat the entire caravan, take plenty of jumpers to keep you warm.

The clubhouse was a bit of a ghost town with some dubious entertainment. We were told by the staff that it is up for sale and hopefully will have new owners next year. They didnt seem to care therefore that the place was falling apart and run down. The shop had very little to offer meaning a trip to Bude for any essentials.

The access road is full of craters that will take your exhaust off if driven at more than 5mph. The taxi driver told us that they were refusing to take people up to the camp unless Cranstar fixed it.

You have been warned......

The access road to the site is full of potholes and has to be negotiated very slowly to avoid damage to your car, although it is only half a mile long.

The caravan we stayed in was very tired 1970’s chic and in desperate need of a refurb. The toilet in the bathroom wasn’t secured to the floor, the bathroom stank of urine, the shower head fittings were broken and shower itself is very weak.

All the window locks were rusty and bent meaning anyone could pull the windows open from the outside and security had to tie wrap them to secure them properly. The caravan was generally dirty and old and the TV’s sound buzzed alot.

Because of the problems we asked to move and were shown to a 2 bed caravan which was in the same state, so we stuck with the original. Although friendly, maintenance were useless and their answer to fixing the problems was to remove the tie wraps put on by security so we had to get security to put them back on the next night, that was it.

Reception told us a couple of times that the site was full and they were no other accommodation available to move us. We know this was simply a lie as we checked online and there was availability.

We left a day early on the Thur (5/9/2013) because around 02:30am that morning we were woken by the family in the caravan nearby (31) having an almighty fight and the Police turned up and a male was arrested. We got the impression that 31 was a permanent resident as security told us they were always having ‘problems’ there. We had heard them arguing earlier in the week and didn’t want to stay any longer as a Holiday is supposed to be relaxing!

Bude is a great base to visit places like Port Isaac (home of Doc Martin) but the Bude Cranstar (or Crapstar as we call it) should be avoided at all costs, unless you like dirty 1970’s caravans where staff have a cavalier approach to cleanliness and maintenance, lie to you and your neighbours are a nightmare!

Just got back from cranstar bude holiday park the road into the park was not very good loads of pot holes caravan park very clean caravan not to bad could have one with a bigger tv only a 16 inch lady in supermarket very pleasent only trouble we had couples fighting with each other at 2.30 in the morning police had to be called could do with more things to do on the park could have had comfortable chairs in club room only wooden ones would I go again no not much choice in the shop cafe closed for the first couple of days when we left the park nobody in office to hand the key in had to push it in the letterbox

We arrived a couple of hours early but were given the keys to our caravan with no fuss.

Our holiday was booked through the sun promotion but we paid £50 extra for a 2012 caravan.

The caravan was an Atlantic one and was very clean and tidy, the beds were all clean and bedlinen was nice.

It was nice to have a caravan with clean sofas and carpets for a change and the bathroom was really nice with power shower.

The rooms all had hot air heating which was really welcome even though it was August it got chilly at night.

The site itself was basic to say the least the diner was quite good not too cheap but decent food but beware they only expect cash!

The Costcutter supermarket was very expensive so you might want to travel to the nearest Sainsburys in Bude.

The Arcades were very run down and a good proportion of the machines were out of order.

The club house is very small and didn't smell too fresh! The entertainment is rather limited but the cabaret starts at 10pm each night but when we went in to the club at 10.15pm it all seemed to be running late as their was a quiz going on and the club was still full of little kids running around, so we left! By the way a pint of lager will set you back £3.70!!!!

The camping area was nice with outside loos and showers, not sure what they were like but the camping field was very nice and of course you have the outside swimming pool which looked ok although it could do with a revamp and was only open between 10am and 5pm.

If you like walking this site is great there is a lovely walk into bude either by road or along the coast path it is a couple of miles but we walked it every day and enjoyed the local pubs especially the Preston gate Inn in Bude where landlord Paul made us feel really welcome the food was excellent.

To summarize if you like walking this site is for you, if you have little kids i'd leave this site alone there is nothing to do on site at all.

After negotiating the access road to this site, which can only be compared with a bomb site in Beirut, we reached the site entrance. First appearances were good and welcoming. However, once we had been directed to our touring pitch we found that ours, and a lot of other pitches in our immediate vicinity, were either very soggy or almost unnegotiable. Due mostly to the recent bad weather, but the owners should take on the task of installing land drainage to help alleviate this problem. A lot of investment is really needed to bring this up to the standards for which we are charged for. There were no recycling facilities at the service points, although these were maintained and debris removed each morning. Grass cutting was carried out with no collectors fitted to the cutting machinery, which meant that tents, caravans and awnings were a magnet for grass cuttings.

The site was in easy walking or cycling distance of Bude, provided that you traversed the access road as if it was a minefield.

We know of at least 2 caravanners that had tyres destroyed by this atrocious road surface.

Would we visit again? Maybe, but only if the access road and the pitch drainage is brought up to standard.

Despite the rain we had another good holiday.Asusual the park was immaculate,the caravan was spotless and the staff friendly,helpful and welcoming. We love this park and have just had our third visit. It was amazing to be welcomed back by the restaurant staff and the food as always was good and reasonably priced. Anyone who has a bad experience here is either not into peaceful holidays or lying.Jn

Stayed Halloween weekend -the club house was decorated amazingly for halloween -the staff put on a wonderful show - really good fun - staff all very efficient and friendly -felt really safe- caravan nice and warm - very clean - bed linnen even provided and was washed and clean. Good value- also were able to park next to the caravan -will go back in the summer.

just returned from £9.50 sun holiday at Bude Holiday Park . we read lots of reviews before we went and were not really looking forward to it because we only heard bad things. We arrived in pouring rain and the caravan we were allocated was surrounded in water and mud from the rain, i explained at reception that we couldnt park near or get to the caravan because of the conditions. They gave us another one without hesitation and on entering we were happily surprised at how clean and comfortable it was. We had a couple small maintenance issues during our stay , which were dealt with quickly by friendly staff. Overall our stay at this park was much better than we were expecting and it made for a great base to explore the surrounding area. Evening entertainment was ok and all staff spoke to you politely.

Absolutely brilliant. The pool was the cleanest warmest outdoor pool I have ever been in with a lovely sun deck and plenty of chairs. The caravan was clean comfortable and lovely. The staff were so helpful and friendly right through the park they all made us so welcome. We had great fun in the evenings and the entertainment was not too loud.

We will be back again with Cranstar this year and again next year. In fact we extended the inital booking two times to stay as long as we could until we had to hand over our caravan to the next booking!. The beaches around the area are stunning and the people of Bude made us so welcome in so many lovely little ways. The park itself was clean and well kept as were the beaches around the area. If you wanted to be with people you could but even in August if you like peace and quiet there were plenty of beautiful places you could find it. Our ages are 40+, 50+ 11, 9 and 4 and all of us had a cracking time Thankyou Cranstar