We stayed at this site over the weekend as we took our two young children (one aged two and one aged four) to see the Blackpool illuminations. We travelled up on a Friday night and allowed five hours for what should be a two hour journey. In spite of this we were delayed in traffic and were worried about arriving after the 8 PM cut-off. Upon ringing the site we were advised that we need to make alternative arrangements as staff left promptly and any arrivals after their departure could not, under any circumstances, gain entry to the site. I understand that rules are there to protect all parties but under such circumstances we were astounded at this response. I spent the majority of the journey suffering with extreme anxiety in the panic that we would not be able to gain access to the site. We were not familiar with the Blackpool area and so could not make alternative arrangements as suggested. I became increasingly worried for our children and their safety at the prospect of not being able to pitch that evening. Fortunately we arrived at the site at 8:23 PM. In attempting to ring the site at 7:50 PM to advise them that The satnav was telling us that we would be there at 8:20 I was met with a very rude man who advised me that there had been further accidents that I was an aware off and I was therefore likely to encounter further delays. Thankfully we gained entry to the site and I was close to tears due to relief! Staff were very uncaring and dismissive about our predicament. Ironically we were not the only ones to arrive past the deadline. I would not recommend this site to anyone with a family under any circumstances and myself and my family will not be staying here again! What a horrendous experience that could have easily been avoided with friendly customer service.

Comment from the Club

We are very sorry that you were delayed in traffic on your way to stay at Blackpool South. The site staff are only able to work a certain amount of hours in each working day as the Club has a duty of care to staff. As such we make it very clear to members the arrival times on site. We completely understand there will be incidences where there are delays and will always do our utmost to assist in these cases but can’t always guarantee this. We are glad that on this occasion you were able to access the site and we appreciate the staff working later to ensure this. Please note, access to the site would normally be no later than 8pm and the site staff made an exception on this occasion due to the delays members were experiencing because of heavy traffic on the M55 due to the Illuminations and World Firework Championships. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday and thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback, which has been also sent to the Regional Manager for his reference.