John Fowler Holidays – Platinum Caravan

We love staycations. Packing the car to the brim with all of our homely luxuries and setting off on the open road to explore another part of this amazing country. We recently visited Devon for the first time as a family when we went to stay at the John Fowler Holidays South Bay Holiday Park. Located just outside of Brixham South Bay Holiday Park is a great place to use as a base as you explore this beautiful part of the British Isles.

We spent four nights during the May School holidays in a John Fowler Holidays Platinum two bedroom static caravan. The caravan could sleep six people with the sofa turning into a sofa bed if you need it too. When we arrived we were greeted with a large open plan living space with a dining area and a fully equipped kitchen. The living room came with lots of seating space, a tv DVD player and even an mp3 sound system built in (although I couldn’t find any instructions so I never did manage to get it to work). The dining area had a table which was already laid and looked lovely but we ended up having to just put it all away so we could use the table for craft activities as the weather was less than ideal.

Having lots of space meant that even in the bad weather there was still plenty of room for us all without us feeling as though we were living on top of one another.

The kitchen was perfect for a self-catering holiday and it had a lot of storage space. This meant that we were able to put all of our food away in the cupboards ready for the days ahead. We also found that we had everything we needed to cook and the luxury of a dishwasher was definitely a bonus as I hate washing up at the best of times let alone when on holiday. There was a tall fridge freezer in a cupboard near the front door with plenty of space inside which would be great for a large family.

When we arrived we received a John Fowler Holidays welcome pack which included all sorts of things that are needed on a self-catering holiday including the things I always forget to pack such as dishwasher tablets and a tea towel. This little box was a lovely addition and really helped us to feel welcome.

One of the other things that made our stay in the John Fowler Holidays Platinum caravan nicer was the fact that bedding is included and not only that but the beds are already made up for you on arrival. I am definitely not a lover of making beds at the best of time so this was a real bonus for me. The Platinum caravan we stayed in had a double bedroom with ensuite toilet and a twin bedroom as well as a family shower room with toilet. The caravan was well heated and ventilated which was a real bonus as I have experienced lots of caravan holidays where there has been an issue with condensation. This is usually a problem when taking a caravan holiday during the winter months although it is easily fixed with a dehumidifier for caravans.

South Bay Holiday Park was a brilliant base that we used to visit the local area, including crabbing at Brixham harbour. My girls didn’t join the kids club but did enjoy spending time in the swimming pool which was warm but lacked decent changing facilities. They also loved the small park area which included a mini zip wire and playing mini golf. The cafe on site was cheap enough and the food was all cooked to order but we struggled to work out the opening times which were not clearly displayed. There was also a shop which seemed well stocked and evening entertainment which included bingo each evening. I have to be honest and say that I wasn’t impressed with the evening entertainment which was very low budget but I can not fault the fact that the 5 members of the entertainment team seemed to always be on duty from kids club during the day until the entertainment finished in the evenings. These 5 members of staff had to be hosts, DJs, singers, dancers and entertainers and they worked hard but sadly not all of them had the talent that we see at other holiday parks.

Overall, we really enjoyed our holiday and would certainly be happy to visit other John Fowler Holiday parks in the future to see what they have in store for us.

We received a complimentary four-night stay at the John Fowler Holidays South Bay Holiday Park in return for this review but all opinions are my own. Find out more about the parks and accommodation options at https://www.johnfowlerholidays.com