Not suitable for groups in tents / families / People who plan to actually talk quietly past 10pm
Add some German Shepherds and Jubilee Park becomes WW2 prison camp at night.
We visited Jubilee Park this week; the facilities are good and the toilet block is immaculate. Unfortunately, that's where the plaudits end.
For background: We were 3 families with 2 under 1's and 3 5-8-year-olds. So 12 of us in total staying in 3 tents. We're not a rowdy bunch (we can't be with two babies of course!), we're professional people and 2 of us are teachers - we're not a group of boozy teenage partiers, simply 3 families on a relaxing weekend.
As far as the warden was concerned, however, we were a group of boozy teenagers who posed a threat to the prison camp style regime.
The warden is INCREDIBLY strict with the quiet rule leading for us to be chastised (rudely) on a number occasions. Now I appreciate that as per the rules, "Noise levels to be kept to a minimum" but I class "a minimum" as being able to actually communicate with each other at a sensible volume. At 10 pm each night, we promptly turned our music off and quietly chatted: THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE ON THIS SITE.
Reading some of the reviews here, I already anticipate a copy / paste reply of the site rules so I'll save you the effort:
Our warden was enforcing our quite rule which states;
• Children TO BE BACK WITH THEIR PARENTS at 10 pm
• BBQ's to be extinguished by 10 pm
• Music to be turned off
• Noise levels to be kept to a minimum
And amended copy is below (This should be prominently displayed on your website)
Our warden was enforcing our quite rule which states;
• Children TO BE BACK WITH THEIR PARENTS at 10 pm
• BBQ's to be extinguished by 10 pm
• Music to be turned off
• Silence after 10 pm - bed time.
Now, your response is going to claim that we should have been aware of the rules and we shouldn't have made any noise. Well, we were and we didn't.
On the first night, another group of caravanners who were sitting outside were equally chastised. On chatting with them, it appears the warden informed them that we made a complaint about their noise. This was not the case: At no point did we complain.
This was a calculated ploy to usher everyone to bed at 10 pm but could have backfired: Telling guests other guests made a complaint is simply not on - it could have cause arguments / friction and was completely unnecessary.
On the second night, we could clearly hear live music from nearby (off the site) - so loud, in fact, a couple of the children woke up. At 10:30, the music continued and two of us were sat outside quietly chatting - the warden came over and asked us to stop talking - we replied we're going to bed in a minute anyway and strangely, he continued on his pre-prepared diatribe and said: "[My friend's partners name] booked this and clearly informed of our quiet time after 10 pm and our terms & conditions - clearly a precursor to kicking us off eventually - which seemed to be the wardens end goal)
Again, it says in the T&C's "Noise levels to be kept to a minimum" not silence! Secondly, with a live band close by CLEARLY more audible than two people quietly talking I was shocked at the wardens blunt / verging on rude "telling off".
Now, there are plenty of positives reviews to the site, and they are indeed well deserved BUT, it is not possible for the warden to hear caravanners talking at night - they have walls to drown that out - but campers have 1mm thick material and as such, it is IMPOSSIBLE for anyone passing by not to hear people talking in tents and because of that, Tenters are not compatible with this sites rules. (Which is probably why we were about the only tenters there.
The site is likely great for older people, in caravans who want a quiet early night. For younger people with families in Tents, it's an absolute no-go. It was the wardens eagerness and rudeness alone which will prevent me, or anyone we know (we live local to the site) ever returning to it.
I appreciate the 10 pm rules; we were fine with that, but surely, people quietly chatting after that is reasonable? Silence after midnight perhaps, fair enough.
In short, the wardens over-eagerness to instil silence at 10 pm on the dot is impractical for people staying in tents -- the rules MUST be updated and clearly communicated. (And by that, I mean the ACTUAL rules, silence is not "noise to a minimum."
Otherwise, I suggest you make it clear that tents are not welcome as they aren't compatible with your "Silence after 10 pm" rule (Which isn't actually a rule).
It's a shame, as we've stayed on plenty of sites with NEVER an issue. If some common sense and pragmatism were applied, Jubilee Park would be great for tenters.
Next time, we'll head to the Petwood immediately behind, We've stayed there previously without incident and in a large group.
I expect as the reviews from last year show, reviews such as this one from people camping in tents will occur often.
10 May 2016
Unprompted review
