Johnfowlerholidays レビュー 309

Visited Southbay holiday park in Brixham and booked the premium plus caravan . Trust me this is no where premium plus !! It’s a bog standard caravan and extremely Small. Two bedrooms were tiny all rooms were tiny. I think John fowler is under the impression that if they give you a gift box with bits in and a tea towel with a dishwasher tablet ( no dishwasher though) that this makes it premium plus. It does not. I have had two previous premium plus caravans at waterside holiday parks and they were beautiful. This caravan was for 4 people but only 3 balcony chairs provided and no table. Lady on reception couldn’t care less and just said someone must have taken them and nothing she could do about it. Caravan had small side balcony no French doors. They really need to down grade to standard caravan. Overall a pleasant stay, bus to Brixham from site was handy but walked down most of the time as bus only every hour. Taxi back was easy and cost on average £7 so you are free to have a beer in the harbour. Would stay on site again due to close proximity to harbour but would book a cheaper caravan as premium plus a waste of money

Stayed at John Fowler Holidays - Ruda Holiday Park, Croyde Devon, with family. Stayed in a caravan which cost over £200 per night. The issues with the accommodation ranged from all round dirty, to broken stools, drawers. Tried addressing the issues at the park and following our visit, unfortunately the response was very disappointing. They blame Parkdean holidays, as they bought the site from them 6 months prior. However, inspections should be done by John Fowler to ensure the accommodation is fit for purpose and paying guests! The confirmed to me they had done inspections so by that they are aware of the condition of these caravans. A summary of the issues are as follows: -
Outside
• On arrival the key to the caravan did not work. There was wet tissues on the deck, outdoor chair with bird mess and bird mess down the window of the patio doors (inside & out). The door handle and door were in poor condition.
Kitchen
• Yellow stains to the ceiling
• Broken drawer
• Dirty utensil drawer, cooker, floor
• Fridge – dirt, hair in the fridge
• Broken footstool/stool
Lounge
• Curtains that don’t hang properly – the Accommodation Manager and ourselves tried fixing them but they would just come undone. They would not close properly
• Dirty mirror
• Settee in very bad condition and was very uncomfortable to sit on. There was hard board directly under a single cushion.
Shower Room
• We did not get an en-suite (as advertised)
• The shower room was mouldy, broken surround to shower controls and generally dirty
Bedroom/hallway & throughout
• Mould on skirting and walls
It was a very uncomfortable stay and spoilt our week away. I would never go on a holiday with John Fowler Holidays again! Total waste of money. Got loads of photos to share but unfortunately no facility on here to share them.

I was really disappointed this year we stayed with john fowler perran View. A couple of years ago. With our grandson. He rally liked cornwall. Perranporth in particular. Then this year decided to go back again as a family. Only from Monday to fri. But on the Tues we had some really suspicious Asian looking blokes 2 infact. In the chalet next to us always outside on there phone curtains kept closed. But on the Fri morn at 4.30am. There was alot of running up and down stairs, banging doors,ect next door and lots of different voices. when I looked out of the window there was a mini van with at least 12 males that I could see. All with a carrier bag of clothes. And your management tried to say they knew nothing about it when my husband commented on it. 12 men in a 2 bed chalet. And they apparently knwe nothing about it. That is the last time I will ever go to john fowler again and I will definitely not recommend especially for families 😢

Haven't even gone on the holiday yet but already experiencing poor customer service / just found out through Jen investigation the pool is closed all weekend - that being the reason we book ruda - not contacted by John fowler at all and not responding to e mails - avoid

Ruda Holiday Park 2025
We returned to this site for a static caravan holiday for many years when our daughters were growing up, the site was owned then by Parkdean. Our holidays were perfect in a great location. This year, 2025, thought we would return again but after making the booking the site was sold to John Fowler. From our experience, if you don’t want to be disappointed the avoid.
I paid to have “Fixed Door” which guarantees the exact favourite caravan and plot, in this case 192. On arrival I was given the enveloped arrival pack and told caravan number 232. On challenging this I was informed that they (John Fowler) were not given all the booking details from Parkdean. However I produced and email from John fowler valeting all my booking details, so lie number 1, and trying to blame Parkdean.
We were assured the van was in the same area and it was the same type of van per our booking (Pickwell Plus). When we entered the van, it was clear we had been fobbed off with another lie. The van was a much lower grade, falling apart, a substituted fridge freezer where there should be a build it integrated fridge freezer.
Back to reception they say the site is fully booked and cannot relocate us, and no understanding that the van is totally different from what we booked and paid for. The only compensation offered was to refund the “fixed Door” fee. This would not be the holiday we booked and looking forward to for best part of this year. Did not want to stay in this low graded accommodation and accepted to have a full refund with intention of returning home.
Be warned, it appeared most if not all the guests checking in were having the same problem.
Of course were not happy with just a full refund as this does not substitute the holiday we were looking forward to and the days out we had planned let alone wasted cost of fuel going and returning with no holiday.

I highly recommend this place. The service is terrible. The manager was very unfriendly. I reported my problem with a dirty hot tub, and she said the water had been changed and that she would show me the paperwork. The water had been changed, but the hot tub was very dirty (I'll add photos at the end). I should also mention that we arrived with a small child, one year old, and another child, nine. There were visible signs of a party where balloons had been popped, and the sofa smelled like something had died in there. The rooms looked like a prison cell. Worst of all, the manager said I could have wiped it down myself with a cloth. I replied that it wasn't my job, that I'd paid for a clean hot tub. I was upset, and the manager said that if I had a problem with it, we could leave. This shocked me, as I was treated this way simply for pointing out something the staff hadn't done. Then the lady offered me an 80 pound refund, but I was right, saying the staff didn't clean the pool, they just replaced the water. I agreed because I didn't want to ruin my family's vacation. The lady said it would take a few days for the money to be transferred to my account. After a month, I haven't received any transfer. I didn't lose much, but I hope people read this as a warning not to rent a caravan there. There are many other resorts nearby with better prices for the quality of the stay.

We booked a gold star bungalow. The shower didn't work, the tv also didn't work, these things were not fixed during our week's stay. The bungalow was stained and shabby. The kids' mattresses had to be changed. Customer service was very poor. Improvement needs to be made in all these areas.

JOHN FOWLER ST IVES HOLIDAY VILLAGE.

Visited last year. Arrived to cabin furniture sofas soaked and the oven not working. They tried drying them with leaf blowers and offered £50 refund and £50 food voucher for oven not working. We didn’t receive them.

Gave them another chance again this year arrived after 7 hours travelling to cabin not ready again and a very large group of 3-4 family’s who came together and booked to be side by side right in-front of the facilities. Straight away the large group teenagers and children took ownership of the facilities and refused my son and other children access and told them they had to pay. My son who has autism was confused and didn’t understand them and went on the swing. He was violently pushed off. badly bruising his knees.

The second day a fight broke out where the same large group attacked another family resorting to the police being called. We was kept awake all night by fighting

My son again was refused access to the park and was called discriminating words and kicked in the legs and groin.

We reported to staff and they told us to go back to our cabin and they will come and talk to us and reassure us. No one came. We had to walk past the large intimidating group again still running around wild and taking over the faculties. We couldn’t find the manager anywhere on site and eventually found the one young man security man on site.

This left us feeling very vulnerable and unsafe and isolated to our cabin and we made a decision to leave immediately.

We was supposed to stay for 7 nights we stayed for 2 and the 2 days there was hell. We are £2000 out of pocket.

They have refused a refund even though their terms and conditions are any large groups should be booked through one person so extra security is added. They are now saying it’s a minimum 10 family bookings. It doesn’t state that anywhere. It also states any bad behaviour coming from anyone will be removed immediately. After violently attacking my son twice and other children and fighting with adults where police was called I’m shocked that wasn’t enough warnings and was still allowed to sta. We believe it’s because there was a lot of them and they wanted the money coming in from them.
They also said I was reassured we wasn’t. Lie after lie and not protected.

Other people who experienced the same as my family since have made contact and agree they went through the same thing and will not be going back.

Please do not book here. The service is slow the staff are rude, your not protected from violence, your children are not safe here and after arriving after a long journey be prepared for your cabin not being ready. They have offered refunds for people with filthy cabins but not for family’s who was unsafe and being violently attacked form other residents.

WARNING! DO NOT BOOK HERE. YOUR WASTING YOUR NONEY AND WILL END OF WITH A VERY HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE AND OUT OF POCKET

Absolute joke of a company. We booked a lodge through Hoseasons, only for this company to cancel it 2 days before we were due to go.

The reason given was due to an 'unsafe decking'.

The lady that called was pleasant enough, but didn't offer an alternative and basically highlighted it wasn't their problem and that I needed to contact Hoseasons to resolve.

Hoseasons have refunded it, and I haven't got an issue with them.

Not a lot we can do 2 days before we were due to go, and have to hope we can find an alternative.

I'd certainly recommend you avoid this bunch of jokers!

John fowler is very friendly at sandy glade any problems they sort out been going there for over 10 years going at least twice a year

Currently staying at hayle and its shocking, very shocking. No entertainment at all and with it still being holiday season. They charge a high price still. Over priced watered down beer. First night on it and gave me the runs. Food is absolutely disgusting always burnt and tasteless. Also over priced crap. Site is run down, still the same decor from 9 years ago. Staff are useless and would rather stand around chatting with each other.

I think the management need to look at the site and spend to redevelop or close it down.

We had rain running on the inside of the building first night, was told it won't happen again as its not meant to rain for a couple of nights.

Avoid this site at all times they aint got a clue. Customer service is gone. Incompetent staff and everything is over priced crap.

Wouldn't use john fowler again even if it was free. Money grabbing a holes and dont care about Customer service

Also paid for the WiFi, keeps asking for me to sign in to pay again

Stayed at Surfer's Paradise Croyde, run by John Fowler Holidays.
I was there for 4 days, and the toilets and showers were not cleaned once. They were very off-putting. There is also no friendly or informative welcome as there used to be, just a security guard.
Shame as it's a lovely setting with a short walk in one direction to the beach, and in the other to Croyde village. Despite being there in August, the numbers were significantly down on previous trips to the same place under previous ownership, so I'm guessing others have voted with their feet.

We have been coming to Ruda for many years, but 2 years ago decided it was getting very bad.
We missed Croyde and decided to give it a go under John Fowler and so pleased we did.
I could not fault the staff, everyone we dealt with were so friendly. Our boiler had low pressure and it was sorted within 20 minutes.
The fish and chip shop 2 years ago was not good. This time food was boiling hot and lovely. Did not try the restaurant but kids went to chicken shop and loved it.
We know nisa is over priced so we use the tesco in braunton and only go to nisa for emergencies.
We did go to North devon water park (been meaning to go for years), it was amazing well worth going, we went 2 days in a row.
Before John fowler we always had problems with cleanliness of the caravan, this time no problem at all. The bins were kept clean, did not see any rats!
Well done for making Ruda great again. We will be back.
Lovely holiday, very sad it went so quick.
Ruda staff 5* - special thanks to maintenance staff thank you all x x

Stayed at Sandy Glade Brean Sands in August. The chalet was awful and we left early. The smell was unbearable so bad in fact I have reported the conditions to environmental health. There were no mattress covers so hygiene is not a priority if you consider how many people have shared the mattress.The bathroom tap sink leaked, hot water was very limited so cold showers. The bathroom extractor fan did not work. My granddaughter dripped her yogurt shortly after arriving so I wiped the floor and my cloth was brown. I did report the issues but nothing could be done. The staff I encountered were friendly and there was a nice onsite cafe but that’s not a good enough reason to stay here.

We have came here at Llanrhidian Holiday Park with the family 2nd visit this year came last year a few times too We have loved it as a family. we stayed here in May had a brilliant holiday lots to do. Arts and crafts for the kids followed by disco in the week. Debbie the entertainer has always been very entertaining my children are on the spectrum and she sees to their every needs so natural she puts lights on for them a bubble machine, she has balloons there which they love and even managed to get them dancing which was a first.
She Calls the bingo at a pace they can join in makes eye contact with them until the numbers are marked. Makes a fuss of the winners & she makes our holiday complete. Even off duty she comes over for a chat see how we doing. The children adore her and always asked can we go on holidays to see Debbie. There was also a party on park live on that weekend which was great entertainment and on the Friday kids could call bingo she would get them involved Debbie made us feel really welcome especially the children. We came down this week and to our disappointment there’s no Debbie, No entertainment when it was advertised no kids club there is nothing. We came down tonight for food her quiz bingo and disco there’s a no show only to find out by locals she no longer works there as she’s not well whilst others say different. But they want her back. We are so disappointed with what we heard tonight especially the children we waiting for 2 hours and nothing but our boy got upset as he did not understand why she was not there so we had to come back. The place felt weird.
Had to book in for swimming no walk ins book in for soft play was closed when we go here again booking online and there’s no reception on park. Food pricy and disgusting we left our pizzas £45 down the drain. No atmosphere a lot of tension there then whilst walking out this women was having a go at staff saying this place is a joke swearing her head off about the way the park is run. It’s gone to the dogs and what a joke it was whilst there were angry locals saying other stuff about the way she was treated there. We couldn’t wait to get out of there as it got heated. This time there was nothing to do. The park wasn’t busy which this time of year you would expect it to be. it was empty. Bank holiday week. Just no entertainment just nothing. No music. There supposed to be entertainment tomorrow but I think we gonna go home early. As there’s a singer on at 12. Nothing till 6 that’s a long day and a lot of people said they weren’t coming they have had as much as they can take. If you get to read this Debbie we hope you are ok and Charlie Brodie & Sam couldn’t understand that you weren’t there sending our love hope you are as well as can be. Without you there was nothing here. We missed you.
What can I say about the park we would have had more fun watching paint dry. A wasted holiday and owners only day tomorrow by judging on the gossip tonight that’s gonna be interesting too. And you need more lights on park it’s too dark. Walking home tonight u can’t see a thing really dangerous.

The holiday at tolroy manor but my only real complaint was the lack of cleanliness definitely the dirtiest place I have stayed… first of all it stank, they were stains on the walls, infested with fleas, mould in the bathroom and not enough bed linen to sleep 6 as advertised…. The pros were that the staff were friendly… the entertainment was hit and miss there was one good night of entertainment out of 7…. But expected a lot more for the price we paid… definitely disappointed and won’t be staying with John fowler again

Dirty caravan upon arrival, no parking near accommodation (not handy with 2 under 3yrs) stinging nettles and weeds all in the walkway and hanging over the steps and railings outside our caravan. Very unfriendly staff on site, shop hardly ever open and very expensive. Club house was tiny and couldn’t get a seat unless we got there before 6pm, Very run down inside. No food served at lunch time only breakfast and dinner,

Stayed at Widmouth Bay holiday park staying in a platinum 2 bedroom caravan.
Reception were excellent when we arrived & we could check in straight away even though we were early, lovely clean caravan with everything you needed. The caravan even had a welcome pack with tea, coffee & biscuits, it also had little extras, tea towel & washing up liquid.
The site itself was clean & tidy, my teenagers enjoyed the pool & mini golf.
In the evening the club house had a variety of entertainment which we enjoyed, the staff very friendly & made the nights fun. I would definitely recommend it & will be returning in the future.

I arrived at my caravan very late after 7hrs drive hoping to have a restful evening but got to my caravan and my ten year old first statement was this place stink! It smelt like a property left locked for many years unattended. The caravan was disgusting very dirty. Not wiped or even hoovered.It was the worse caravan I have even been in. I booked with hoseasons for luxury caravan but got worse than valued caravan. I complained to receptionist and she send cleaners who just hoovered for few minutes and asked me to speak to receptionist again. I will never stay in any John Fowler holiday park site ever. Will definitely visit Brixham again!

After reading a lot of bad reviews for Ruda and never booked with john fowler before I was very concerned what I had booked.On arrival greeted by lovely reception staff and our caravan was ready 2 hours before our time bonus.
Our caravan was lovely and clean with a lot of new equipment bed made up all ready to go .
We were a 3 generation family the 14 11 and 4 year old loved the pool all clean .
We used the take aways and travelled into a larger town for a big supermarket .
On site the boys enjoyed the play parks tennis courts and open spaces for football.
We were very lucky with the weather and spent most days on the beach and returning also on the evening.
The boys are already looking to book next year.