Sure to become a favourite of ours
Spotless toilet and shower facilities, lovely wardens, very peaceful and relaxing. And a super friendly local pub just a short walk away. We shall return for sure.
Dornafield Club Campsite
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Still a good site ...
This was my first visit back to Dornafield this year having had quite a few visits over the last few years. There have been changes. The site is still lovely. Toilet and shower blocks clean as expected. Especially love the space in the showers (but not the push button for water) as there is room to change and keep everything dry. The grass around the pitches was longer than has been previously. There is now long grass in the smaller dog walk which is not ideal as long grass equals seeds equals vet bills. This was always kept immaculate.
The larger dog walk was open and is a delight to see all the insects and butterflies thriving. This is an unmown area with a path through. The view at the top is great.
WiFi is expensive and 4G non existent. The childrens play areas werent open but that doesn't affect me.
The site was peaceful and not busy at all. Most of the wardens friendly and welcoming. I think there is less staff there now so an extra pair of hands is probaly needed.
The shop wasn't very well stocked but again I wasn't bothered as I popped into local shops when out.
The garden centre and butchers at the top of the road is a must to visit. Easy to get to Totnes, Torquay, Salcombe, Paignton and out onto Dartmoor.
I have more visits booked over the next few weeks so I'm hoping the weather is going to improve as it was very wet and windy.
There is a pizza van on site Friday and Sunday. Tasty £12.50. Fish and chips is going to be on Wednesday as the old on site hut has gone.
I'm used to allocated pitches and pre-booking my pitch there. This has changed and isn't going to be easy in peak period as some pitches are quite small.
Overall a lovely site but CMC please don't try and fix what ain't broke.
Fabulous campsite
This is the 2nd time i have stayed here, I was on the grass pitch No 2. By reception. Fabulous place and beautifully maintained. The toilet block and shower block are spotless, they also smell lovely and are always clean. The staff here work very hard especially the cleaners. I used the launderette which was very helpful saved me a journey to town, although one machine was broken and they are dated but they still work, same price as town but they did the job no stress. I would definitely recommend this site for beauty, cleanliness, friendly staff, and generally a really nice 2 weeks. They also do pizza i think once a week on a Sunday although sadly not had one but they were busy.
Great site - spacious and friendly
We have been visiting Dornafield for many years and have always enjoyed the family atmosphere and the clean and spacious pitches. A little reticent with the site being taken over this year , have noticed a few changes but have still enjoyed quite a few breaks already.
We have survived No Mow May but feel strongly that there is far too much grass on this site to forego an entire month of no grass cutting. The appearance was not a good look and the wet grass pretty tedious being trudged in and out of the caravan. As predicted - the mowing work to return the grass to its neatness seemed to take 3 times as long! Hopefully, this tradition will be excused at Dornafield next May.
Still love the pitches but disappointed with the hedges this year, again, they were always maintained so regularly and so well , hopefully it is just a blip while much needed further staff are engaged.
Please note that these points are in no way directed at the wonderful wardens and staff who the Caravan & Motor Home Club have been lucky to inherit, but without doubt, they are being asked to carry one heavy load. Extra tip….bring your own toilet roll - That has definitely changed!
lizbec
Reviewed on 20/06/2023 20:19
Lovely site
This was the first time we had been to Dornafield and hopefully not the last. The staff were very friendly and helpful especially when we had no electricity once we had pitched up but the problem was sorted out quickly. Never been to a site where the facilities were separated into a shower block and also a toilet/wash up block. Plus the number and size of the cubicles together with the spaciousness was brilliant definitely the best facilities we have used on any Caravan Club site.
The site is laid out as though in different boroughs of a town and each one is then separated with hedges some with only two caravans in a section. All are service pitches with the addition of your own concealed dustbin with a disc to advise the wardens when it needs emptying. On using the lane to/from the site you need to be very careful and alert for other traffic.
Would have liked to have stayed longer but will definitely be booking again in the future.
Very helpful staff
Whilst staying on site in early May we had a major emergency whereby my wife was admitted to Torbay hospital. The staff onsite were brilliant and the problem was compounded by the fact we had our car as well as the Motorhome. I drove my wife home in the car and the Motorhome was rescued by the AA. Special thanks to Paul for his reassurance and advice.
John and Jane Walker
jwalker73044
Reviewed on 23/05/2023 16:40
Very quiet
Just returned from a week at Dornafield. The two wardens on site were very friendly and welcoming. Toilets and showers were the cleanest I have ever been to on a Club site, spotless. Washing up facilities are excellent, even have a bowl and drainer! Pitches varied in size, we have a twin axle caravan, some of the pitches were a bit short. Children's play area was not open, needed some tlc, so hopefully this will improve, tennis court again not open and needs attention. The indoor games room was ok to spend a little bit of time in. We did not use the shop, didn't look like there was much on the shelves.
One dog walking area was open the other larger one which apparently has a lovely view from was closed due to tree felling.
It is a perfectly placed site to visit Dartmouth, Dartmoor, Torquay, Salcombe, Blackpool sands etc. The nearby garden centre is fabulous, lovely cafe, onsite butcher etc.
The pub at the top of the road, is a walkable distance, generous plates of home cooked food.
Revisiting places when I was a child - 40+ years ago!
We stayed here recently for 9 nights with my parents. They had a Motorhome and we had a caravan. We booked Blackrock Copse and were sited next to each other as requested. Booking in was simple, pleasant. and courteous.
The facilities were excellent -modern, clean and tidy with piped music! They got the big thumbs up from our teenage daughter!
The information room was spot on with lots of good information and plenty of it.
The games room had plenty of things for the children to do. Also, there were two play areas for the children.
On site, they have fish and chips two nights and pizza two nights - all served at the Quarry kitchen on site. Additionally, they have a little independent place serving freshly ground coffees and homemade cakes/ biscuits on three days during the week between 9am and 2pm. My mum said the coffee was lovely and service was really nice.
Yes, the site is situated down some narrow lanes and it is tight on the exit from the campsite, but if you take it nice and slow you will not encounter any big problems and you can pass other traffic safely.
The site was ideally located for us to revisit all the places I went to as a child with my parents and grandparents in the 1970s and 1980s!! A lot has changed since then.
We would definitely come back to this site.
Lovely site with excellent facilities
We’ve just returned from a seven night stay at Dornafield. As previously mentioned, the site is down a very narrow lane, but no worse than many sites we’ve visited. We had a fully serviced pitch, number 40, in Blackrock Copse. This was a hardstanding with our own fresh water, waste water, toilet disposal, EHU and dustbin adjacent on the offside. Some pitches have facilities on the nearside, but there doesn’t seem to be any rules about pitching in any direction that suits you (some vans pitched nose in, others across the pitch). Our pitch had a view across to the dog walk and field beyond (you don’t appreciate the hilly nature when looking at the site plan). We had a walk around the large lower area (Buttermeadow) and the grassy Orchard, and realised we were in the best part to suit us.
One of the play areas was directly behind us but, being just outside the school holidays, we didn’t even notice it was there. There is an information centre on site, as well as a room with table tennis, snooker and other games available. You can order newspapers, bread and other items from the local bakery in the site shop, and the farm shop and butcher at the nearby garden centre are good. There are fish and chips on site Monday and Friday evenings. We only tried the chips to accompany our own food, and they were nicely cooked.
The shower and toilet facilities are spotless and modern, and apart from the showers being push button, were excellent. The washing up area and laundry looked clean and well maintained, however we didn’t use them.
We enjoyed our week at Dornafield and would recommend it, particularly for caravans (which were by far the majority of visitors), but Blackrock Copse is the nicer, less crowded area in our opinion.
Great Site But....
This is a lovely site. Clean and well maintained.
The staff are really friendly and the site & facilities kept clean.
The showers are however, quite dated, and reminded me of my school days (rinsing shampoo from my hair and trying to find the button on the wall to restart the water, without getting soap in my eyes.)
The site is in a good location for visiting the South Devon area, however the road in and out is very narrow, and not the best access for larger caravans (we live in Cornwall so I don't make this comment lightly. We're used to narrow roads and tight corners.)
For us though, the biggest disappointment was the lack of thought for children.
There are signs everywhere stating No Rollerblades. No Scateboards. No scooters etc...
And while there is a very large dog exercise area, there is no area for the children to safely play ball games.
There is a very small (and old looking) play "Park" in a wooded area. Made for little ones. Not for children older than about 7.
We visited with our 12 year old, and there was nowhere to play badminton or Boules, or football etc. She couldn't use her very quiet electric scooter. And we resorted to doing crossword puzzles with her, in our "down time."
All in all a lovely site with lovely staff. But we won't return because of the lack of a suitable area for slightly older children to play and run off some energy.
This site really would benefit from a large, open area for ball games at the very least.
