www.thedotdots.com

 

Haven, Church Farm Holiday Village, Pagham, Sussex

Pictures by "dots" @ escape

July 2005 and looking to spend a few days at Haven: Church Farm Holiday Village, Pagham, so checked availability online and was surprised at the fantastic last minute discounts that were made... Great package... All included full passes to entertainments and only an hour and a half drive away from home. There was a slight complication with the online booking process as their computer had a problem sending me the confirmation email. You need to allow at least two or three hours to receive this confirmation which, without, you do not have your formal arrival certificate... Anyway, after a few phone calls, it was eventually resolved and I was advised that as there had been a problem, I would receive also confirmation by mail... very efficient... by the time all done, I received EIGHT confirmation letters in the post over 3 mail days and THREE confirmation emails... Computers' thrown a wobbly apparently! Still, the Haven staff were very polite and helpful in sorting things out.

Off taking my parents who both with challenging health conditions, we were pleased to arrive at Pagham and in awe over the shear size of the site... It was split up into micro estates of caravans and chalets totalling around 1,000 units mixed of owned and rental. Booking in was swift and once weaved down to the road we were delighted to stop at the caravan allocated for us... It looked almost new and larger than average (38x12).

Onsite are many security arrangements... There are cameras at points around the complex, right down throughout the site which; gave instant secure feeling to your personal property and safety, this, also supported by onsite security staff that manned some areas as also site vehicle patrols.

I will never ever forget the panic my mother got into... She was convinced that we were in the wrong unit as over the dozens of years that they had run their own holiday unit in the past, the quality and decoration and beds made up, looked as if someone was living there... It took a lot of convincing her, even now... it was the right one... the key fit anyway!!

The park was situated on a peninsular so there was sea on three sides and most of the site is on flat land. There  was only a hill on the last stretch just before arriving back up to the reception area where; adjacent was the "Funworks" entertainments centre. There is a laundry and shop accessible from outside doors, but you had to ensure that you showed your pass (given upon arrival) to gain access to the generous indoor and outdoor pools, restaurant/breakfast bar, amusement arcades, and showbar. In the showbar, they held full daytime activities for all ages and right through the evening until late. The environment was definitely catered for families with children and the staff seemed to have no end of energy to entertain all.

Within the grounds, there was a golf course, picnic areas special toddler areas, bowling green, multi-courts and a lagoon, not forgetting of course, the adjoining nature reserve... There are specific arrangements for anyone with pets and the site is kept very clean with dog walking areas.

For the consumption, there were reasonable bar prices and special deals on spirits and beer vessels. Special breakfast menus, daytime and evening bar menus, special additional theme buffet menu nights and to add to that in the showbar is a hotdog tent that opened from 9pm to late.

Overall, quite a lively place to be and I am sure that if you were to book late in the season, then you would get more entertainment space to yourself. Even though it was generally busy, we found that the caravan surrounding was still extremely quiet and peaceful. Some, like the one we had, you could park the car on slab standings alongside unit to make your stay self contained and special.

Taking linen to reception on booking out, it was also a pleasant reminder to receive the £10 linen deposit paid on booking... A tenner to go home with!

Lastly, if this is not enough for you and you want much more, there is a dedicated onsite sales department for you to buy a unit outright and have it for yourself or make some money using their internal renting processes.

Yes, it would be worth us going back again... at a quieter time when there are not so many whipper-snappers running around, although, maybe that's your story?

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