Exeter Racecourse Club Campsite

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 2 of 5

Good for families

Relaxing

We have just returned from our 4th trip here this year We love it! We don’t live too far away - half hour at most but we love to just pack up on a Friday night and go for the weekend, and it’s so quiet and relaxing. The Wardens are very friendly and I like that they are now enforcing the 1pm rule! We find the facilities perfectly fine, we use the showers and the washing up area. We take our dog and have walked around the racecourse, there are also shorter walks if you prefer. Huge car boot sale in a nearby field on a Sunday!

0 replies

Hatch4Palm

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 29/06/2023 21:37

1 review

0 Helpful notes

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 2 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Curate's egg

Positives: Excellent location for overnight stays enroute to the West Country, and for those with a car who are prepared for day trips using the A38 and A30 dual carriageways into Devon and Cornwall, and the M5 northbound. It's also handy for day trips to the Dorset coast, and by bus into Exeter. The facilities are tired but spotless, and the wardens this year (2023) are friendly and very welcoming. There is plenty of opportunity for exercising dogs and/or walking in the nearby Haldon Forest accessible on foot from the campsite. Negatives: This is probably not a good site for light sleepers, the adjacent A38 carrying overnight HGVs that strain to surmount Haldon Hill. The site is owned by the Jockey Club, who are responsible for site maintenance. It appears to be a side hustle for them. When the washroom boiler broke down earlier this year (2023) it took several days for replacement parts to be sourced. We had a seasonal pitch. In March we started with heavy rains that turned grass pitches into quagmire. However as the weather became drier the site became very dusty, and our van soon looked dirty, even though it had been fully washed in March. As seasonal pitchers we were not always in the van, and were never completely convinced by site security. A Jockey Club gate at the entrance to the racecourse is locked every night, but there is no raising barrier similar to those found at many C&MC sites that can be controlled by wardens. There is a popular weekly carboot in a neighbouring field, and some travellers decided to arrive unbooked and uninvited on the campsite. While they were successfully removed, the handling of that process is the responsibility of the Jockey Club who doubtless have their procedures to follow. On balance we contemplated whether our insurance company might claim the site was unsecured in the event of our van disappearing while we were at home, and thus argue about paying an insurance claim. We therefore decided to cancel the season pitch, but many other seasonal pitchers are clearly not so worried. On the whole we feel this site is an opportunity missed, but that is not the fault of the Caravan and Motorhome Club, or of the wardens.

0 replies

Gasser

Reviewed on 13/06/2023 19:09

5 reviews

0 Helpful notes

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Great location

4th time staying ideal location and good value previous stays have been work stay overs whilst attending shows but just had a night stop with the kids, traffic free cycle around and halden forest is just down the road

0 replies

ScreenName48E4B9A617

Campervanner

Reviewed on 24/05/2023 16:13

1 review

0 Helpful notes

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Nice Location but

We visit often as love the location but increasingly find the office is not open for anyone who travels from work. The attitude of the staff was officious last time. We had to book a non-electric pitch as all grass pitches closed less availability, but turned out pitch was actually grass we were given which made no sense. On arrival we were not told that so we got to pitch and then had to query it as in wet weather the grass pitch was not suitable.. We were then told Map and booking system had been wrong for several years!

0 replies

MagicRoundabout

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 05/11/2022 12:52

1 review

1 Helpful note

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

A great stop over

I stopped on route to Devon for just 1 night. I found the wardens very polite & helpful. The unusual location was a lovely surprise. It was great to be able to walk my dog around the circuit of the racecourse & imagine the thundering hooves. With the heathland in the middle & the forest around the edge it is a great place to spot wildlife. And to be able to walk for 2 miles without having to cross any roads or travel. I would happily stop there again.

0 replies

Lin Sheppard

Reviewed on 08/09/2022 16:42

20 reviews

1 Helpful note

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Great site

To address previous review, cleaning times were given on arrival with other info on a printed sheet and signs were up! Most club sites are 10.30 cleaning, this is the norm, members know this but some sites now do afternoons. Staff were very friendly and helpful, I booked an economy pitch in error, soon changed and sorted. Excellent stopover, we caught the bus into Exeter, ok it was late but otherwise easy good service. We cycled around the 2 mile race course on the service road, very peaceful. Would use again. Thank you.

0 replies

LBJEB

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 06/09/2022 08:39

27 reviews

0 Helpful notes

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Discourteous Staff

Loved this peaceful campsite. One of many campsites we’ve stayed at on the way to Devon. Very beautiful/quiet and safe enough to let our 17 month toddler roam. Completely let down by the staff on our last day. My husband and I like to run (taking it in turns to watch the baby). I and the baby took a shared shower after at 10:20. We were in the shower for 5 minutes when a male staff member came in and told me it was cleaning time to which I replied I’d be put in 5 minutes tops. The same member of staff jarred open the door and the window directly opposite our shower. I told the guy we were freezing and he just muttered that it was his time to clean. Nice. Baby caught a cold from a naked change. Another member of staff (female this time) then rudely told me the facilities are closed. I told her that I was sorry and I hadn’t known to which she muttered that cleaning is always 10:30. I completely understand his and her frustration but surely a sign on the door stating times of closure would help? Why is cleaning time also 10:30 when surely it’s logical to have the only facilities here closed at 11am for when the campers leave? Not to mention it’s just disgusting to rush us out by freezing us. Completely rude and unnecessary. Tainted our once lovely stay.

0 replies

Axle2Grind

Caravanner

Reviewed on 04/09/2022 19:35

1 review

1 Helpful note

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Love the wardens

As a frequent visitor to this site, I am astounded by some of the reviews. Yes, you have to arrive after 13:00 as most sites have the same ruling and most people have enough common sense to plan their routes to take this into account. The toilets are spotless and although the toilets may not have underfloor heating they are more than adequate to use. The current wardens have made some excellent improvements ie the waste and water area. I have always found the wardens at this site treat all visitors with dignity and respect but maybe some visitors expect to be treated as Queens or Kings on their grand tour. The idea for a code to the toilets is an excellent idea as this prevents people not booked onto the site abusing the facilities.

0 replies

Stephen Martin

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 04/09/2022 15:28

3 reviews

0 Helpful notes

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 2 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 3 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 3 of 5

Location

Rated 1 of 5

Good for families

Another disappointing stay.

We echo the review written by “ disappointed “. We arrived at 10.30am having vacated our previous site at 9.30. We where approached by a hostile member off staff telling us we could not park our caravan on the huge empty car park for health and safety reasons !!!. We drove around and returned at the time instructed. This camp site is very convenient for us travelling to Cornwall on a regular basis, unfortunately we have experienced this behaviour before, in terms of the staffs attitude. The idea of having a code for the bathrooms is very inconvenient when travelling with small children. As a recommendation could the staff maybe access training on customer relations.

2 replies

ScreenNameA0A16111FE

Caravanner

Reviewed on 01/09/2022 19:51

1 review

1 Helpful note

Report this reviewer

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 3 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Disappointed

We have been a member of the caravan & motor home club for 26 years & have never experienced anything like this site before. We arrived early as we had been travelling over night, 11 instead of 1pm. The site was less than half full. We were advised to vacate the site & premises to return at 1pm. We did so, returning as close to time as expected after driving round for a few hours. On arrival another caravan had arrived, the couple told us they had arrived 30 mins too early but were allowed to wait on the premises (on the huge clear drive way). My husband got out the car & was told this couple will be booked in first because they arrived at the right time. Fair enough we thought. Our son was asking for the toilet & with the toilet not being set up he asked could he please have the code for the toilet as he was desperate, he was told no you can't have it until you have checked in. Absolutely disgraceful!. And why on earth they couldn't say park up and come and book in later when reception open. I spent 20 minutes of our stay picking up used cigarette stumps fr thw pitch.The manger of this site made our experience & start of our holiday very unpleasant. Regularly walking around observing what you were doing. Luckily we had only booked on here for the 1 night, we couldn't have tolerated much longer to be honest. The cleaning of the site toilets was 10.30 till 11.30, our friend who was on holiday actually took short, he has a bad bowel medical condition & was told no they will be open in an hr, he said you can use the disabled toilet, so friend asked don't you need a key, he replied yes as he smirked. Saying that the toilets were clean but very dated. If we hadn't have been tied into the policies & procedures of cancellations we would have gone elsewhere. This experience was one of our friends first caravanning experiences & we had reassure them that all sites aren't like this.

1 reply

Shaun10569

Reviewed on 15/08/2022 12:16

1 review

0 Helpful notes

Report this reviewer