Bath Chew Valley Caravan Park
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Turned up to Reception to book in and was shown to our pitch by a chap on a tractor so we weren’t able to just choose where we wanted to be and was told the pitches were “being upgraded” so our TV booster point wasn’t yet connected which we accepted, then later when our next door neighbours were shown their pitch, we overheard them being told their pitch had the booster!!. Not happy about that but we’d got all set up so didn’t bother to challenge it. The small tractor takes the caravans to their pitches which I suppose is a good thing as the cars are left in the car park by reception but the noise of the tractor all the time too-ing and fro-ing was a bit of a pain. Talking of noise, planes overhead too going to/from Bristol airport. Nice site, large pitches, individual shower rooms with shower, toilet and sink which I prefer as you can take your time – probably need cleaning a bit more often though.
The pub was definitely for local people, so even though we got a voucher for the £12 off a meal, we didn’t use it, just had a drink and fled, didn’t really feel welcome. Not a lot to do in the village, especially on a cold and wet weekend. One diamond we found was the local village store. As we weren’t using the pub we needed something to eat and looking from the outside didn’t hold out much hope of getting anything that would resemble a meal, but it was like a tardis and there was lots of choices of frozen meals, pizzas, anything you needed, amazing place!!. Initially got a £2 discount for being a member of the C&MC club but I was charged the full amount, which was rectified when we booked in. If you want to be able to use your hotspot wi-fi or 4G, give this place a miss as the 3G and 4G was virtually non-existent. Nice site, but best to visit in the summer if you want to go down to the Lake. Don’t think we’ll be back.
Great Site
We have just returned from a 7 night stay over Christmas. This is one of our favourite sites, the staff are all very friendly and helpful and work extra hard this time of year making the site look so festive. All the pitches are of a good size and spread apart so it's nice to feel you have 'space', and if you like the peace and quiet I would certainly recommend this site. If you have a motorhome like us, they have a hire car at the site that you can hire for a very good price to see the wonderful country side. Yes, we hope to be back again very soon. Thanks to all the staff for making our stay very enjoyable.
Posada
Reviewed on 04/01/2018 13:58
Generally Good
This well maintained site is easily accessed from the road. Pitches are all hard standing - some serviced (extra charge). They are not overly large but will fit a caravan and awning - I'll come onto cars in a bit. Staff extremely friendly and helpful. Facilities clean and warm. Dog walk is acceptable but there is plenty of walking from the site so not an issue for us. As an 'adults only' site, by definition, it's not suitable for families. Well placed for visits to Bath, Wells, Glastonbury and Cheddar Gorge. On arrival, if you are in a caravan, you will need to unhitch and be 'sited' by the staff. This is apparently to keep the tranquil atmosphere of the site. Cars are then to be left in the car park but can be brought to the van for loading and unloading. At the time of our stay, caravans were outnumbered by motorhomes at a ratio of about 3 to 1 and this rule doesn't apply to them. Plenty of comings and goings at all hours of the day! On one morning, there were a number of caravans waiting to leave but obviously had to wait in turn to be towed off. It won't stop us visiting again but I just can't get my head round this ruling - the tractor is not exactly quiet!!
Nice site
We have just returned from a 3 night stay to visit the Christmas market at Bath.
This is our 3rd visit in 4 years at this time of year. The site is very well kept and the facilities are very clean and very warm !. Christmas lights are all around the site so looks nice and helps to get you in the Christmas spirit. The best way to describe the site would be to say it’s cosy, it’s quite compact but it has a very nice feel to it . The caravan is pulled on to the pitch for you and again pulled off when you leave, this is a nice touch as it means you don’t have cars constantly moving around the site as you park in the car park by reception (not far to walk though) although you can bring your car on to site for loading and unloading when necessary. The staff are very friendly and when I asked about being pulled off my pitch on the morning I was leaving I was told that if I wanted to stay after the departure time that was fine and I hadn’t even asked that question . Bath is 10 miles away but not a bad trip. I can’t comment on public transport to Bath as we didn’t use it. I should also add that it is a very quiet site.
The site is adults only hence my 1star mark on the family question.
Great site
My wife and I recently stayed at this site for five nights. We had a friendly warm welcome from the staff and shown to a spacious pitch with all services to hand. The pitch was very neatly kept and the quietness made for a relaxing time. The toilet facilities are stunning, so private and spotless.
We have no reservations about recommending this site and will definitely be returning, thank you Chew Valley for a lovely stay.
Disappointing
Poor welcome on arrival, it was too much trouble to advise on walking routes etc. Very poor customer skills. Site clean and tidy. Plots are very small and it feels cramped. Toilets/showers whilst clean were very old fashioned and small - some of the worst we have recently visited. Site a long way from anywhere if you are in a motorhome. Would not recommend and will not return.
Disappointing
We stayed here on the strength of the reviews and awards the site has had and, on the basis of them, we were expecting something exceptional. However, we were very disappointed. The site is quite good but not exceptional.
First impressions on arrival was that the site was quite cramped. The pitches are nowhere near the size you come to expect on Club sites. The first one we were offered was not wide enough to accommodate our motorhome and awning. We were then offered another pitch which was just about wide enough but it was tight. If you have a caravan and an awning you have to leave your car in a car park at the site entrance and your caravan is towed to the pitch by a tractor. In the Club directory it says that this arrangement is "to maintain the peaceful atmosphere". As far as I could see, it was purely because you cannot accommodate a car, caravan and awning on the pitches because they are too small. Furthermore, the tractor which tows the caravans to their pitches is quite noisy and creates more noise than if cars were allowed to park on the pitches even if there was room for them. The unhitching of caravans at the entrance and towing them to their pitches also causes delays on arrival; when we arrived there were two caravans in front of us and the unhitching and towing of them to their pitches delayed us getting in.
The toilet facilities are certainly very impressive. There are about 10 cubicles, each with a shower, toilet and washbasin and kept very clean. However, the pressure of water out of the shower was very poor and the ventilation was insufficient to prevent the mirrors steaming up after using the shower.
The "on site dog walking area" was a grass corridor about 3 metres wide and about 200 metres long around the edge of a small woodland area which it is fenced off from. There are signs saying that dogs have to be on their lead in the dog walk which seems totally unnecessary and I just ignored it after a while. Dogs are also not allowed in the adjacent woodland area which again seems unnecessary; nobody else seems to use it even though there are paths through it.
If you want to walk from the site you must first walk along a narrow lane which has quite a number of cars on it, some of them travelling quite fast. However, there are some good off-road walks a bit further afield.
Overall, I thought it was a satisfactory site but really nothing special and I would not recommend it.
Peaceful Break
Being a lone traveller can sometimes be very difficult and can make you feel isolated. This site was extremely friendly, guests and staff alike. The site is small in comparison to some but this made it intimate and peaceful, with a beautiful setting and glorious surroundings. I could not fault the cleanliness of the facilities and the helpfulness of everyone who works there. It was great to talk about the landscaped surroundings with Paul, and whilst the dog walking facility on site is fairly small Paul was able to direct me to local areas where my dog could take a longer walk. Would definitely return here.
A very nice place, adults only but not all it's cracked up to be.
Stayed for four nights, very nice area and adults only made a nice change. However, your van will be pitched for you so make sure you watch carefully as it is sited as mine was pushed through a tree resulting in some surface scratches to the van. The guy on site came to have a look and offered to polish them out which they did but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. I was told that most guests who raise this issue had done it themselves in the narrow Cornish lanes even though we were in Somerset......The toilets are individual self contained units but unfortunately are adjacent to the reception and main car park which gives the impression that you are 'under surveillance' whilst using the facilities. Another annoyance was people continually trying the doors whilst I was in there, most off putting! Doesn't help that there's not a great deal to let you know the facilities are occupied other than a red mark on the lock which is on the top when locked and underneath when unlocked, very hard to see in the dark.. I watched a guest mindlessly trying door after door until a vacant unit was found.
The TV signal was very good with a TV point on the service bollard and as we had a serviced pitch there was a tap and grey waste. The sun shone a great deal and the site is lovely, very peaceful and quiet and a warm welcome was received. Can't comment on the dog walk as we left ours at home nor can I comment on the answer phone message if you want to contact the warden after hours. It was really encouraging to see that there was an AED on the wall outside reception as the park is quite a distance from Bristol or Bath. It was about twenty minutes ride to Bath and we used the park and ride. Sorry to say Bath was quite disappointing- it was dirty and had more than its fair share of homeless people!
Not sure that I would go back to be honest.
Big disapointment
Stopped for 4 nights and could not wait to leave, very overrated site, dog exercise area terrible, only big enough for tortoise and how can dogs exercise when not allowed off lead, site was quiet and clean, cars not allowed to park on pitch, have to go on car park, and site staff have to put your van on pitch you are not allowed to place it yourself, site receptionist very poor it was like listening to a recorded message, no greetings etc. Will certainly never go back.