Worried for the club (price rises}

Agree re prices.

Brighton has always felt 'pricey' but some will cite its city location as 'justification' like Baltic Wharf.

a quick search nr Brighton threw up two or three CLs which might do the job. Good luck.

we got a CAMC voucher for a present and we thought we'd have a couple of days in a nearby city this week as the weather is very iffy with Bristol being the obvious choice.

just did a 'dummy booking' for today, Sunday and Monday nights.....£92.20!!...for, essentially a chippings car park...as you say, beyond ridiculous. We won't be going.

im sure our daughter thought she'd be giving us 'a week away' with a £100 voucher....not.

For comparison, Bath Marina is £64 for a std pitch for two nights. Even that is 'jarring' for mid September.

Fortunately, we will be getting properly 'away' shortly at more 'reasonable' prices👍

Both Brighton and Bristol are quite expensive, however the OP asks if the club has got it pricing wrong and from our experience of both sites this year they haven’t.  Brighton in May, away from peaks was very busy as was Baltic Wharf in March. Given that older motorhomes would now have to pay the LEZ charge if they wanted to visit BW, I was somewhat surprised at this, as on all recent visits motorhomes have been in the majority and still were in March. Brighton is somewhere we had never visited before and although we enjoyed it are unlikely to repeat. Baltic Wharf on the other hand will get our custom periodically as long as it stays open. Indeed we are booked in when we return from over here in October. At £128.80 for three nights we still regard it as VFM as it’s where we want / need to be. This also seems to be the case for many others.

I think we might have to accept that campsite prices have taken quite a hike this year. Even looking at new CL's coming on stream I see prices of £25 and even £30 advertised. Before our September plans fell apart we were considering going back to Lady's Mile at Dawlish but the price was over £40 a night compared to £32 for the same pitch last July. Cofton was better value but unfortunately we were unable to get there. Someone posted about the cost of a commercial site which was cheaper than the Club site they were considering. Looking at both sites on the internet the Club site looked so much nicer. I suppose if you are willing to overlook the fact a Club site has a nicer ambience you could find less expensive sites. However these apparently cheaper sites, I am sure, will be watching the market and I suspect we will see hikes in their prices in the future. As I have mentioned before I would like the Club to be transparent about its prices all through the year and get rid of the dynamic element which seems to work against those that can't commit to booking a year ahead.

David

"At £128.80 for three nights we still regard it as VFM as it’s where we want / need to be."

Steve you might think that (at £43 a night in October) but at £92.20 for two nights in mid September, I certainly don't. 

OH asked me this morning how much I thought BW would be...I guessed at £40+ and she nearly choked on her breakfast. When I actually found out it was £46.10 she nearly fell off her chair.

we did fancy a trip to Bristol but I'm not going to pay those prices, even with a voucher to cover the costs. IMHO the Club is taking the Michael.

Others might continue to pay at this level but this is well beyond value for what is, essentially, a car park with a shower block.

we can always drive up for the day if we need to.

"I think we might have to accept that campsite prices have taken quite a hike this year."

David, this might well be true but it doesn't mean that we have to pay them.

since Covid the whole world has been trying to recoup losses incurred in double quick time with huge rises and the glut of new touring vans seems to suggest to campsite owners that there's a captive market...the bubble will surely burst soon.

Others might continue to pay at this level but this is well beyond value for what is, essentially, a car park with a shower block.

we can always drive up for the day if we need to.

Of course not everyone can just visit for the day, for us it’s an 340 mile 7 hour round trip. Whilst cheaper alternatives are available further out. Parking for the day at Mardyke Wharf, almost directly opposite BW will cost you £18 for the day in a normal sized car parking space. The CC have got the themselves a little gem in BW and they are sensibly going to exploit it while they can.

You're right Steve....'exploit' is a very accurate choice of words😉

I've never paid anything approaching £50 for a pitch and we've stayed on some fabulous, full fat, top class sites, some really close to towns and cities.

I've used 'find my parking space' (or similar) recently in Bath where we had an overnight hotel stay. It cost me £9 for 24 hrs, just opposite the hotel.

different folk live near different 'attractions' and some can drive to, say, Chatsworth for the day, we can't and would likely be using the club site.

we even have complementary reciprocal access to the gardens but its very unlikely we would pay the (identical to BW) £46.10 to stay there on 22nd.

As long as customers keep paying, the prices will continue to rise. The club doesn't seem to add any more 'value' to its offering, it just lets the 'price increase formula' do its thing and spit out the next round of rises.

we've already passed the £60 mark for at least one site....

I have my eye on a lovely tiny little cottage in December. It’s compact, but cosy, ensuite bathroom, garden, all heating, wifi, hot water included, it’s on the Vallum of Hadrian’s Wall, with a very nice pub 100 metres down road, The Sill Visitor Centre and Vindolanda half a mile away. Parking for at least two cars, fabulous views, Hexham, Corbridge and Carlisle not far away to visit. It’s currently £34.14 per night for both of us and our dog (welcome pack for dog, fresh baked loaf, cake, milk and eggs included. Five star rating on Trip Advisor. I don’t think we will be humming and hawing about using our MH on a site at that price. We could even use it instead of taking Jeep, but we are hoping for some snow as a further bonus!