Southland Club Campsite

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 1 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

The noisiest club site we’ve ever stayed on! How many machines??

Stayed for a week August bank holiday. Site is level with areas divided up and sheltered by tall well kept hedges. Too well kept. Well groomed grass. Too well groomed. Lots of bins. Too many bins. This was the problem really; never a moments peace from 0900 to 1700, when the wardens are out and about riding their tractor and trailer to service the bins, then riding the mower to mow individual pitches when folk have left and then using strimmers , hedge trimmers, leaf blowers and other noisy petrol powered machines throughout the remainder of the working day manicuring the site. And if the noise from the wardens wasn’t enough, the local airfield were having helicopter pleasure flights over the bank holiday weekend. Isn’t it time to use something quieter to pull the little rubbish trailer about such as a golf cart? Or reduce the number of bins so folk carry their own rubbish to the main skips? Works on other sites. Didn’t use the facilities other than the laundry which was Covid secure. In this time of Covid, we can’t expect to use club site facilities: apart from the tent campers, we are mostly all self contained.

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Guysdad

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 11/09/2020 18:45

1 review

3 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 2 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Could do better!

Totally agree with other recent reviews regarding the lack of toilet / shower facilities. Even at full capacity there isn't enough compared to other club sites. We stayed at Rookesbury prior to staying here and they used a different system which worked perfectly. They issued every pitch with a pink and a blue (numbered with the pitch number)wristband, a limited number of hooks were placed outside the facilities and if they were full you could not enter. Because the bands were specific to your pitch people actually bothered to use them. Here they were only cleaned once a day which is clearly inadequate at the moment especially when so few showers / toilets were open in the first place on such a big site. We mainly used our own facilities but occasionally it would have been good to use the site ones. We also had a issue with another member as they were keeping a bull mastiff in a cage in the awning annex all day from early hours until late evening in the heat while they were off site. In fact we only actually saw it twice outside during the whole week. We raised our concerns about its welfare to the wardens who agreed it should not be left in there. They did speak to the owner but nothing was done and it remained in there for the rest of their stay. As a fellow dog owner we were disappointed with the outcome. We would probably not use this site again if we visit the Isle of Wight.

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Bobontour

Caravanner

Reviewed on 06/09/2020 11:51

1 review

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 2 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Lacking Usual Standards -

Although the site is located very well with easy access to the bike trail and Sandown beach, our experience of the site was disappointing by the usual standards of a club site. We visited in August with the site mostly full during our 2 weeks, with many families using the facilities. We have visited two other sites and have found the covid measures implemented with a band system to work well, but leaving only 3 toilets/showers at a full site of probably about 150 pitches and one washing up sink free made it very difficult. The system just did not work as people got so frustrated with waiting that they often just went into the toilet, ignoring how many people were in. At times we felt crowded in the facilities with people queuing in the bathroom block and even using the hand dryer as a hairdryer. The facilities are also only cleaned once a day so they were often dirty by the time next cleaning and at times no toilet roll as so few toilets used by so many people. We did offer feedback to the reception re-cleaning and general overcrowding but the answer was they were not paid to clean anymore and the club had advised people not to use the facilities, so best not to use them. We have certainly limited our use, but it was not at any time when booking made clear to us or on any of the other club sites we have visited that facilities were not to be used and for families with children it would be quite difficult not to. as suggested in other reviews the site was too full fo the very limited facilities in use and therefore led to overcrowding and unsafe, unclean facilities.

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graceandben

Reviewed on 03/09/2020 15:50

2 reviews

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 2 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Ridiculous Limits on Facilities

Large facilities block. Large queues! Once again, people queuing for toilets whilst others took leisurely showers. More cubicles blocked off than necessary. Although some would question why block off any at all. Doesn't make for a relaxing holiday. Drop the restrictions or cap the numbers you're allowing on site - you can't fill a site to capacity then close two thirds of the facilities! I've stayed at sites where you were left to use common sense and make your own judgement of risk - this 'pandemic' has brought out the very worst in authoritarians, wanting to make up petty rules and restrict others.

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Twinspark

Campervanner

Reviewed on 01/09/2020 22:18

2 reviews

0 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 3 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

A few selfish campers but lovely site.

We stayed here just as the sites reopened in early July when site was about half full. Got a lovely pitch and found that the covid measures implemented in the toilets and showers were very good. If you get there and no armbands are in the disinfectant pot, you wait on the 2m apart markers until someone comes out and drops their armband in which you then pick up and in you go. A simple but effective system to limit the numbers in an enclosed space. This worked very well when we stayed in July with just about everyone complying with the system. Fast forward to last week when we stayed there again and a very different story. This time the site was full and although the same system was supposed to be in operation, if you stood and waited for an armband you would be very much in the minority. I found it amazing how many of my fellow campers thought that the rules just did not apply to them and just wandered in and out regardless. This obviously shows up the problem that no matter how good a system you put in place, unless it is policed there will always be the selfish people who carry on doing as they please. It’s not that they don’t know as it’s all explained to you whenever you arrive and book in so there is no pleading ignorance. Such a shame that there are so many people who seem to think that the covid safe measures implemented in order to be able to reopen the sites can be ignored when they don’t suit them. My wife is an NHS emergency nurse practitioner and has spent months dealing with covid patients and seeing just how dangerous this virus is so for her it is a bit of a kick in the teeth seeing people flouting the measures put in place to protect them. This aside, our stay at Southlands was very enjoyable but we will not return other than during quieter times.

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Vanophant

Reviewed on 28/08/2020 16:38

2 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

ANOTHER WONDERFUL HOLIDAY AT SOUTHLANDS

We returned to Southlands this year and had a great time, We knew because of COVID 19 it was going to be very different from last year but the wardens did a great job keeping us all safe. We went to all the usual places and found that all the pubs, restaurants and cafes were very COVID aware, and doing all the track and trace system. We never once felt threatened while on the Isle of Wight or on the Site. We will be back next year

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Caroledg

Caravanner

Reviewed on 20/08/2020 22:13

9 reviews

0 Helpful notes

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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

Perfect August

FOLLOW CMC Directions into the site. Other members have covered the Covid procedures set up by the CMC, however a minority of members fail to adhere to these procedures which annoying.....would have liked to have seen sanitising stations at each of the waste water/chemical locations. Site is very clean and the friendly wardens work with the members to make it a stay to remember. We visited with our two Granddaughters and although the play area is closed at the moment it did not spoil their stay....Site is very well situated to explore the whole island if you have your own transport!! restricted if you have to rely on public transport. The Fighting Cock Pub is a must for great tasty quality food.. If Bringing children, ours loved Black Gang Chine although the £80 family ticket seemed expensive at the time we were pleasantly pleased it was a seven day roaming ticket, and because everything is so close to hand we returned three times (great Value and quiet kids) Shanklin beach was sandy, flat, shallow and very safe. Like most we will return.

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Davo1953

Motorhomer from Kent

Reviewed on 17/08/2020 16:29

8 reviews

0 Helpful notes

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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

August on the beautiful Isle of Wight

Not our first visit to the island, but our first with the caravan. Spent a week at Southland, with days out interspersed with lazy days chilling at the ‘van. The site is pristine, lovely wardens, and this shows in the demeanour of fellow caravanners, campers, and motorhomers; lots of smiley, friendly people. Site is a real credit to the wardens, and the CMC should be rightly proud of it. One point to note is to check your sat nav. In our case, one of the roads on our route was closed, and the diversion our sat nav took was down a single track road. Not for the faint hearted.

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marknsandra

Caravanner

Reviewed on 13/08/2020 14:39

11 reviews

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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 lovely week on the IoW

We decided to travel to the Isle of Wight as we had never visited before. The site was delightful and well placed to access the Red Squirrel Trail for cycling. There are also many walks which are very accessible. We caught a bus into Newport on one occasion and found it very easy and fairly close to the site. We were very close to the village of Newchurch which has an excellent dining pub. The site wardens were helpful and very friendly and although there are strict COVID procedures in place, it was managed in a gentle and supportive way. Thank you for a lovely week.

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Rees1

Reviewed on 05/08/2020 19:03

9 reviews

1 Helpful note

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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

Safe as houses

Just a quick note to say thank you to our wardens on this site for the first class Covid 19 safety procedures put in place before our arrival. In fact at all times during our journey (including the ferry), on our visits to attractions and during our stay on site, we felt safe and observed high levels of compliance from members and the general public. The site the toilet block was regularly deep cleaned with a wrist band procedure in place to ensure limited use and therefore adequate social distancing (patience is required when queuing). The check in procedure was well managed as was the information point and communal washing up facilities. Hand sanitiser is placed at key points on site. This was our first outing since the rules were relaxed and the experience at Southlands has reassured us that our club have the right measures in place to keep us safe.

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Mikesharp

Motorhomer from Suffolk

Reviewed on 04/08/2020 09:30

1 review

0 Helpful notes

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