What makes a good site

I have been thinking about club sites, what is good and bad about them, things that I would like to see offered to entice me.

During busy periods space is limited, this often means school or bank holidays, predictably this means noise, the best sites have green areas for playing that are away but in sight of most pitches, often incorporating the climbing apparatus. A lot of sites put this feature to one end of the site so a quiet side is available to those that want it, preferring to put the toilet block in the middle. That’s fine it makes sense but for young children who want to play they don’t want to stray far from their parents and the parents don’t want them out of their sight, so they have to pitch nearer the amenities or the kids can’t play with the others.

On-site shops. Ok I accept many sites are small and only get busy for short periods  but I would like bigger shops, selling items that can get lost or broken on or travelling to the site, perhaps unusual toys that the kids could play with, let’s face facts, if any site has a shop you would go and look round, if it is just a small section in the main office you might not bother.

Why could a site not arrange with a local bakery to have them turn up in a vehicle at given times to offer fresh products rather than trying to sell them themselves, it is not so easy for Motorhomers to get out if there are no local shops. Many larger sites already do this with evening meals, fish ‘n’ chips and pizza deliveries, but these are often restricted to the busy days, Friday and Saturday, but they are always busy.

What about the adults. Many will walk dogs around the site maybe stopping for a chat or going to the main office area to see if there is something they might have missed on the notice board. It would be nice if sites had a community area, a central place perhaps with a garden and seating, good lighting, and even better if this was next to a decent play area rather than just bench seats inside it as these are for parents aren’t they!!

I once stayed on a site in Ilfacombe, it was huge, had its own shop, a restaurant, a camping supplies outlet and a fish & chip shop, plus good size pitches....what more could one want??

What would you like to see on club sites that would be affordable and practical, thinking particularly about the smaller short stay sites that already offer toilet facilities.