Blue Chip Holidays Reviews 

Low grade customer services unfortunately. I tried to re-book a really nice place I'd stayed before but it was only free for 5 weekday nights (both weekends either side were already booked out). Blue Chip wanted to charge me about £600 for 4 nights (arrive Sun, leave Thurs am), ie not using one night when that was free or a whopping £930 for 5 nights (arrive Sun, leave Fri am) - definitely not the pro-rata they mention in response to another complaint below. When I queried this they said they had spoken to the owner who insisted this was the price and would not move. However, I still had the owner's contact details from last year so I checked with him direct and he said I could have those 5 nights at a pro-rata of 4. Basically Blue Chip either (a) wilfully misunderstood a simple question which I put very clearly to them twice or (b) they lied. Wonder which it was? Avoid these people.

PRIXFORD BARTON

The property itself is stunning, beautiful views and good accomodation. However the place was filthy. Vacuumed up hundreds of dead flies on arrival. Pool area was filthy with hair around the pool, the toilet filthy and broken, the shower not only filthy but not working. Got the cleaner in who cleaned the pool area and promised to get someone in the next day to clean the rest if the house, but no one came. Chopping board on the sink taken away as was thick with black mould. Bbq could not be used as table was covered in bird droppings and the utensils were covered in old food. The cleaner said it was not their responsibility to clean the pool area or the bbq area. Blue chip were not prepared to discuss the problems when phoned. Such a shame as this marred a special week away for our mums 70th.

We have used Blue Chip holidays for many years now for stays in Torquay, we have tried a number of apartments on the Cliff Walk overlooking the beautiful marina and coastline. Each time we have experienced excellent customer service from start to finish, issues resolved promptly, (if any), helpful and accommodating, and to us fair priced and honest I their descriptions of the apartments and amenities. Our last stay Oct 2018 was at Vernon Court No 8, amazing views as always in this area, but made all the better by having so many windows overlooking them, the apartment was clean and more than adequate for the 3 of us, a few minor issues that could do with improvement, i.e. no instructions on how to use the cooker or storage heaters, (fortunately didn't need the heaters though), and double bed was a bit soft and mattress a bit thin. Management company that looked after the property were extremely helpful, fixing a broken toilet seat within an hour, and accommodating our request for early access as we had arrived early morning to avoid traffic, (thought this was not guaranteed). We cannot praise both Blue chip and their team enough, over 10 years they have provided us perfect places to holiday and each time gone without a hiccup. Highly recommended.

+ The house is spacious & in a beautiful and peaceful setting.
+ Plenty of parking space on the drive.
+ The garden is steep but vast and secure for the dog to roam at his leisure.
+ Friendly gardeners arrived on Friday to mow the lawns.
+ Comfortable beds and great shower in the upstairs bathroom.
+ Provisions for cream teas left for our arrival was a welcome touch.
+ On arrival, we were told that a bedroom blind had fallen down but had been reported to the handyman. He arrived within the hour and made the repairs. The landing blind fell down during our stay and was reported to the Manager on the Tuesday. No repair was actioned during our stay.

- The security spotlights to the rear of the house needed new bulbs (reported to the Manager on the Tues of our stay but no action taken.) Luckily we had taken a head torch to access the garden with dog after dark.
- The steps idown to the lawned area of the garden were hard to distinguish - they would benefit from white paint to mark the edge of each step.
- There were no mattress or pillow protectors on the beds.
- There were no bins in the upstairs bathroom or any of the bedrooms.
- Disappointing lack of storage in the master bedroom and twin bedroom - luckily the landing is spacious and we were able to keep suitcases with clothes in out there.
- The information folder in the house would benefit from added detail eg, where to find the recycling bins and wheelie bin and the collection dates for these. The wheelie bin was already full when we arrived and was not due for collection during the week of our stay.
- Rotary washing line had seen better days - it was positioned too near the the hedge to rotate and needed loose parts repositioning for each use.
- Plastic plant pots (containing dead plants) were weathered and snapped leaving sharp elements exposed.
-The garden furniture would benefit from the addition of a parasol for some shade. There is a motorised awning which provides shade to a small area of the patio but mainly shades the sun room of the house.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay. We feel that addressing these minor points would make all the difference to this house and would certainly make us re-book in the future.

We booked a holiday at Clarendon House in Shanklin, seeking a relaxing family break, after assurances this was a quiet property. On the website the property appears to be detached but actually there is a separate basement flat below the main house which Blue Chip did not mention. The owner of the property "forgot" to advise that noisy building work was planned in the flat during our stay.
The property manager was unavailable when we tried to contact and Blue Chip themselves were unable to stop the noise, simply advising us to go out while work was underway. Neither has the owner apologised for our spoilt holiday, simply attempting to quibble with us about the degree of disturbance.
We will be avoiding this company in future.

***UPDATE*** Rather than reflecting on their exceptionally poor customer service my review below was reported because I used the first name of the member of staff that I was talking to. Disgraceful

I have been looking for a last minute get away and found a great last minute deal for £380 on Holiday Lettings (A Tripadvisor Company). I proceeded with the enquiry at 1.15pm and did not receive any response until 5.30pm - I then received a response from Blue Chip Holidays who are the agents for the property. Holiday Lettings is an affiliate partner.

When Blue Chip came back to me they quoted me a higher price of £447. I immeadiately queried this and called them. I was told they only advertise with Holiday Lettings and don't control the prices they advertise, this is nonesense (To be explained).

Anyway I explained to the reservations agent that as this was last minute and nobody else was clearly going to go in on a Tuesday I'd appreciate it if she could contact the owners explaining the issue with Holiday Lettings and see if they could reduce it to meet in the middle.

The agent told me she would call the agent. I had no call back.

I then called at 1pm today to chase up and had nothing back so I asked to speak to a Manager. A Senior Agent (Not a Manager), came on and loved nothing more than to keep talking over me.

She confirmed the property was available to let but she wasn't going to lower the price. I explained to her that it would have been the right thing to do and fair for them to reduce their own commission on this booking in light of the misrepresented price on Holiday Lettings - she VERY abruptly said No and confirmed it was my choice whether to stay or now. - Amazing customer service - NOT!!!!

I felt I was being fair by not demanding the price to be matched by the issue they have with Holiday Lettings is NOT my fault and should they keep experiencing difficulties then they should remove the affiliation.

Blue Chip are responsible ultimately for the pricing on Holiday Lettings because they of course are in charge of who they affiliate themselves with.

This was my first AND last time enquiring with Blue Chip - never ever again and all because they are too tight to reduce their own commission by £30 when it could have brought them a lot more future business. Totally and utterly the worst customer service, especially the lady I was speaking to.

Disappointed with accommodation due to stained ceiling dated kitchen and noise and a hot cold shower that was like Russian roulette. Response back from blue chip was pathetic, we will improve it for the next customers ! No benefit to us. Used a few times before but seem to have lost the plot

I booked a 7 day holiday with them, they were quick to take the money for the holiday. The price went up a few times on the phone but anyhow ..... I’ve been waiting 6 weeks for my deposit and every time I call “ someone will call you back “ or “leave it with me I’ll call you by the end of the day”. They don’t care. I’m so disappointed at their lack of customer care and loyalty. I would never book with them again just on the basis of their lies and after care. . Still waiting on my deposit.

If you don't like smoking and someone smokes they do bugger all about it...

Having spent the last six years holidaying in the same place, booking through Blue Chip Holidays we were disgusted at the treatment we received on this last holiday.

We booked into a sea-front (nothing but the sea in front of the building) apartment block, where smoking is prohibited anywhere on the premises - communal grounds, balconies, apartments, parking area and had the utter delight (not) of having hacking smokers in the apartment below who seemed to spend every minute of the day smoking and coughing - we contacted the property manager who assured us it would be dealt with - it wasn't, we found out who owned the apartment below and contacted that person who tried (and failed to get them to answer a call / email) and we had to endure a week of cigarette smoke in a non-smoking complex.

We complained to Blue Chip Holidays who did nothing, said it was not one of their apartments were the smoker was so there was nothing they could do.

Well there is, you have Property Managers / Apartment Cleaners / You have a secure car-park where the Apartment Numbers are clearly shown and you couldn't send anyone to their apartment to knock on the door, put something under their door, put something on the windscreen of their car to advise that smoking was not allowed and telling them to stop..... Really ...!!! You are however happy for people to pay a premium to stay there, happy to advertise it as non-smoking when in your own admission if someone does, nothing will be done about it.

Not acceptable, not at all.

Utterly disgusted....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Premium price and a dirty smelly damp terraced house . Not a 4 star luxury accommodation That was advertised on the website. When I complained and sent in photos of the house they said they are sorry but it is up to individual owners to keep them updated. They did negotiate a 26% refund from the owner but that doesn't compensate for sending people to dirty accommodation for their annual holiday with your children

We have used Blue Chip Holidays on four occasions - in Newquay, Hassocks, Slapton Sands and Westward Ho!

Up until now, we have rated Blue Chip as excellent, as the first three accommodations and locations were almost perfect.

However, although our most recent accommodation, Sand Dunes, in Westward Ho! couldn't really be faulted, there were one or two issues about which we were dissatisfied.

The apartment was spacious, clean and well furnished with good views from the upper floor across to the sea (though slightly spoilt by the presence of the plastic roof covering the floor below, which wasn't that noticeable in the photo). In the the sitting room, the larger of the two patio doors was extremely difficult to open. The smaller patio door was inside partly obstructed by the dining table and outside by a metal strut coming down from the roof and less safe and convenient to use. The problem was reported but the parts (rollers) required to repair the large patio door had to be ordered and presumably had not arrived before we left, although we received no update. We were surprised that these sorts of issues were not checked as a matter of routine before guests arrived.

The seating area, dining room and kitchen on the upper floor were very well appointed, with a good range of equipment and kitchen items. The bedrooms on the lower floor were similarly well furnished and equipped..

We liked Westward Ho! but felt that the description of the beach and the name of the apartment "Sand Dunes" was rather misleading in that there are no sand dunes or soft, dry sand on the beach near the apartment. Also, it is necessary to walk a little way down the "promenade" and down some steps and then negotiate an area of round pebbles and rough rocks in order to access the flat, wet sand.

Although we had booked the accommodation partly because it was dog-friendly, in the event we did not take our dog. Had we done so, the nearest beach area did not allow dogs (even though a feature of our accommodation and adjacent holiday chalets was that it/they were "dog friendly").

Northam Burrows, where there is a surfing school, is a nice area with a good Visitor Centre and informative staff. Dogs are allowed in this area but it is some distance from the accommodation to the entrance to Northam Burrows and onward to the beach/surfing area. Car parking is £4 for the day.

Having stayed at Sand Dunes, we feel that the apartment was not particularly suitable for younger children since they only had access to the balcony. We did not realise it would be an issue because we thought that the beach could be directly and easily accessed from the apartment block.

We came to the conclusion that the apartment would be more suitable for a group of 6 adults who could use it as a base for surfing, walking the coastal path or cycling/driving to surrounding areas of interest. It may also not be suitable for elderly people because of the lack of easy access to the beach and because of the restriction re dogs within the area in which the apartment is situated.

Despite the fact that the accommodation could be occupied by six adults, there is only one allocated car parking space. Additionally, a couple of weeks before we were due to go on holiday, we received an e-mail from Blue Chip warning us that the parking arrangments had changed and holidaymakers would have to display a parking permit in the apartment block's ground floor car park. On arrival at the accommodation, we found an A4 size laminated sheet containing instructions and a parking permit. For the first three days of our stay, we complied with these instructions but on the fourth day we and our young grandchildren got soaked in a sudden downpour. We rushed back to the apartment and forgot to place the laminated sheet back on the dashboard. On going to the car the next day, we found a Parking Penalty Notice. On our return from holiday I wrote to the car parking company (with a copy to Blue Chip) explaining the circumstances and pointing out that: a code was needed to enter the car park, and our car had been parked in the allocated space for the previous three days so I was surprised that the parking company had no record of our registration number as bona fide occupants of the block. The company refused to waive the charge of £60 (or £100 if unsuccessfully taken to mediation), despite the fact that we had the right to park in the allocated space (and free parking was a condition of our holiday contract) ,and had merely forgotten on one occasion to display the parking permit. Had I known when I initially booked the holiday that different, more rigid, parking restrictions would be introduced, I probably wouldn't have booked this particular accommodation.

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We discussed our requirements at length with Bluechip in May 2018 for a very special family holiday in July that year. All seemed fine and they recommended what seemed to be the perfect Lodge in Devon.

When we arrived it was overlooked on all sides - in fact, according to the team on site, it was the most overlooked lodge in the whole development! Worse still the best lodge had been available to book during the week we had chosen even up to when we had arrived.

After complaining to Bluechip they did virtually nothing, and after the holiday was finished, they also did nothing despite my complaint.

My advice is to avoid this company completely - their local knowledge is poor, their recommendation in my case was worthless, and there is no genuine follow-up to complaints.

All marketing hype and very little substance!

Not a very positive experience of 1 Curlew at The Cove, Brixham from the outset. The website promised luxury accommodation. We were quite dismayed and disheartened when we arrived to see the size of the place - they made the best of fish eye lenses and photo shop in the advertising. The whole place was small but the ‘master’ bedroom was tiny! There was about 8” to squeeze past the end of the 3/4 bed and you couldn’t have 2 adults in the room at the same time due to lack of space. We ended up taking turns sleeping on the sofa bed every night because the bed was sooo small. So a restful break it was not!

The cleanliness of the place left a lot to be desired. Cobwebs everywhere containing spiders dead and alive, a spider squished into the wall & just left there, old bread crusts stuffed down the side of the chairs, cobwebs with hairs stuck in them, the bath was dirty and full of hair as well as the bathroom walls being covered with hairs and spiders. The shower didn’t work properly and kept going from luke warm to cold, had a really poor water flow and never really got hot at all. The cooker hood was also dirty & greasy.

We cleaned up some of it so that we could use it, but decided to contact the agent. We got an offer to have the place re cleaned on day 3. By this time, we’d got all our stuff in and didn’t want any more disruption, plus it would have meant changing our plans for the day as were told that the cleaner would visit the following morning. The agent made poor excuses about the cleaner having missed a few bits. The issues had obviously built up over a long period of time.

The agent was not particularly apologetic, just insinuated that we were being unreasonable in not wanting the cleaner round. He promised to speak to the owner. We never heard anything since.

I’ve never experienced such poor service from a company, they were full of excuses and empty promises. The property is really small and quite shabby in comparison to what is advertised, in truth we had a pretty miserable and sleepless week. Would certainly not recommend to anyone in search of a relaxing holiday or value for money. Would also not recommend the company who were dismissive and unhelpful at best.

Although we had a lovely holiday at Strawberry Fields I consider the cost of the holiday was not reflected in the quality of our stay. Firstly having to chase Blue Chip to get confirmation of a change to our booking was unacceptable. Also although Mulberry Lodge is beautifully presented and well equipt there was a short list of faults some of which remained outstanding throughout our stay. Fridge door has fallen slightly causing loud squeaking noise everytime it was opened. Shower head was faulty. Large pile of garden cuttings left of the decking. Blind pulleys in the lounge came apart everytime the blinds were opened or closed. No clothes horse available. When you open the dishwasher the whole unit moves forward. Smoke alarm goes off everytime you cook anything even toast.

You suggest that this a quiet site but perhaps you therefore request that parents keep control of their children. On several occasions we nearly ran over children who were allowed to run around unsupervised and children screaming and shouting around the site very early in the morning and late at night does not provide for a relaxing holiday. Also activities at the Memorial Hall that go on all night and into early morning with shouting, swearing and fighting did not help - I am well aware that you could not be expected to control this.

Please also review your description of the lodges as thing have changed and you have not corrected them eg comfortable seating on the decking inc table with wine bucket has been replaced with uncomfortable metal bistro furniture.

I believe we were unlucky during our stay / booking process but it did make what should have been an outstanding holiday into an average one.

We submitted a valid complaint through procedures in our contractual agreement. Blue Chip introduced further processes which it was alleged we should have followed for an “emergency” situation posted at the venue, Faults identified 1) was due to a fault on the phone lines which Open Reach repaired 2 days later; 2) was due to a technical fault NOT the thermometer/heating control Blue Chip alleged. The lack of pressure on the heating system would not have been resolved by turning up the heating!
We are appalled at the way Blue Chip addressed valid complaints which were due to breakdowns in services and outside of our control.

Great stay in Devon and a beautiful house. But one evening the owner arrived at the house wondering what we were doing there and who we were. Apparently there was a bad communication between the owner and the contact person. Thankfully this was solved very well and quick.

Not ABTA Registered!

WARNING: Blue Chip Holidays are not ABTA registered.

Lovely holiday in Cornwall tainted by dishonest property owner and Blue Chip Holidays inability to mediate a dispute between customer and landlord.

Property to the usual high standard we have come to expect from the Blue Chip Portfolio, however the after care we received when faced with a charge in excess of £2000 for damage not caused by us was atrocious. Blue Chip with held our security deposit while they ‘mediated’. When mediation failed, Blue Chip Holidays passed on our security deposit to the landlord without our consent.

We appear to be unable to complain to ABTA as they are not a travel agent - they are a marketing company.

AVOID Crest*64 Property due to dishonest landlord.

house great was but owner came around 2 times to check camara and modem which was a bit annoying

We have been holidaying with Blue Chip for the past 10 years and we have never been let down by the apartments, the customer service has always been first class. This year we were in Brixham at The Beacon at Harbour Lights, the apartment was first class everything you could want for a holiday, wonderful views over Brixham marina and the weather was glorious. We are already looking for next year