John Fowler Holidays Reviews

John Fowler site in Looe Trelawne manor accommodation not clean whatsoever a great deal of attitude when asked to sort , advised my 75 year old mother she could go to another site without explaining it would not be far for her to travel after a four hour journey, lost cost of accommodation payed as it was through a Sun holiday promotion , absolutely furious to treat a member of family like this standard of customer service was not what you expect in the holiday industry , looking to post with the pictures taken by my brother of the state of van , what also is frustrating I asked policy on covid i fact you could still travel to site which really strikes me as an irresponsible policy for the site , thank goodness I am responsible and stayed away but my poor mother may not have to have endured the experience if I had had been there to deal with it .

South Bay Holiday Park St Mary's Rd, Brixham TQ5 9QW
We trust you had a great holiday with us and have taken many fond memories away with you. We really value your feedback and would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete our survey regarding your holiday.

No, it was not.
We had a mouldy mattress with brown stains on both sides and it was disgusting.
I complained JF office staff on site 18-6-2022 they were apologetic and said the cleaners should have picked this up, JF staff then swapped the mattress for a new one.
There was not even a mattress protector on the mouldy mattress only a flat sheet and this was a supposedly a GOLD chalet.
We slept on the disgusting mess for one night 17-6-2022 - 18-6-2022 and i noticed this in the morning when i got out of bed.
this is the 3rd holiday in a row we have had with JF, where there have been problems with cleanliness.
We have been holidaying with you now for many years....we WILL NOT be holidaying with JF again.
My 2nd holiday with you at sandy glade holiday park last year 2021 which also was GOLD was also disgusting as well the place was filthy, and when i went through your complaints team i was completely "IGNORED" infact i was treated like SCUM and FOBBED OFF.
Regards
Dear
Thank you for taking the time to get in touch and let us know about your recent experience. I have logged this complaint with the park and they have 7 days to respond. Once I have heard from them, I will be back in touch
Best wishes,
Stacey.
Good morning Mr G
Thank you for your patience while I awaited a response from the park.
I can only apologise for the experience you have had and I can really appreciate and understand how disappointing this must have been for you. Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. We have ensured this has been addressed with the park for the comfort of our future guests and we value the feedback from our loyal customers. I am however glad to hear that the park were able to rectify this issue for you by replacing the mattress but I am sorry for the initial disappointment this will have caused. Thank you for sending in your photos. I can see that there are indeed some signs that your accommodation didn’t meet our usual high cleanliness standards, especially for our gold grade of units. For that I must apologise. I can assure you we have taken remedial steps to rectify the issues for the comfort of our future guests.
The park manager would like to pass on his personal apologies for this and was disappointed to hear this has happened. I understand you have stated you do not wish to stay with us again, and for this I can only apologise. The park manager at South Bay has expressed that if you did wish to stay again, he would be more than happy to personally check the unit prior to your arrival, and also attend the unit with you upon check in to ensure your satisfaction with this.
I am so sorry to hear that your experience with our company has not met your expectations. Customer satisfaction is our top priority, and I am truly sorry that wasn't demonstrated to you. I would however like to thank you for taking the time to get in touch. We do appreciate all feedback and ensure any points raised are taken on board to further improve our service for future guests.
Kind regards
Stacey.

Over the last fifty years I have spent many weeks at what is now the John Fowler St Ives Holliday park/village. It has had brilliant times and it has had really horrendous times. I moved base from there a while back because of disabilities. However I went back there today after an invitation by the park manager. It has changed a great deal in the last year or so. The team that is currently there are working together to make the place so much better. I plan to visit again, maybe later this year to see further improvements well done team.

John fowler South Bay- Brixham

We come here regularly with our 2 children & have never had any issues .. while we privately rent the caravan we stay in so can not comment on accommodation, the holiday park is very clean and thr children love it, they have swimming pools onsite that you can book slots to swim, also a free mini golf course - you just collect clubs and balls from the onsite shop, evening entertainment is as always very good! The kids love the characters and the dancing and we equally loved the bingo and cabaret that was on during our stay, drinks are a little pricey but it's to be expected when staying in a holiday place :) there is a small beach not far from the holiday park which is gorgeous and we all have fun although the walk down can be long, spoke to a very lovely guy in reception who instantly helped with our passes to be able to go swimming and use the onsite facilities, the only downside to the holiday was the arcade machines in the onsite arcade room, none of the machines were working when we tried them but wasn't a massive hindrance and all the staff were lovely ... we will be back again soon this year.

Sandaway Bay ,
Food is a huge issue , first night ordered £77 of meals and bar snacks , waiting/ordering staff rude- food came out a meal at a time , at least 10 minutes between meals.
Breakfast same again , one finished before second breakfast came out , questioned , told tough !
Next evening ordered Pizzas , pepperoni x2 , margarita. The vegetarian ended up with a pepperoni as they place cheese over the Pepperoni. Again told tough ! We waited 2 hours for food and two items never arrived , we could wait a further hour for them !

They can only mange one meal at a time , food takes an absolute age to arrive , staff are rude , waiting time from ordering can take anything from 1-3 hours .

If you don’t drive or have had a couple of drinks , you’ve had it .
We spent £422 over three days on food for a dreadful service.

Firstly, even if the pool is empty, you can only book 1 h a day. As a family trip, that was one of the main reasons we have selected this venue.

There is a sauna at the pools too, but that’s apparently been out of order for 4 months with no ETA of fix.

Then, washing machine works with token, supposed to open at 9, at 9.30 they still don’t have anyone as no one turned up. They finally open the doors but can’t buy tokens as lady on reception does not know how to operate the til.

Spent a fortune for a family outing for a week, only to find a dirty chalet and unorganised stuff in return.

Keep away if you want good for your family.

Recently returned from a beautiful holiday with John fowler holiday St Ives holiday village.
What amazing week we had, staff were all very polite and always helpful, three staff members stood out, Holly, Gill & Joseph, the shop on site was affordable, I was quite surprised with how well priced items were considering we were on holiday. Fantastic.
The woodland park was a lovely place to walk around with the children, the bungalows we rented were very clean, the village itself is such a peaceful place with so much wildlife, the club house staff were all fantastic and brilliant with the children, the bus transport that comes onto the village takes you everywhere, from St ives to lands end and to penzance and many more destinations, the family pases for the week were a great price considering the cost of petrol and parking in the area, can't wait to return next year. Thank you for a great experience. The Smith's.

I have just returned from my very first holiday at a John Fowler site,Sandaway Combe Martin.
I took my daughter and grandson,and we stayed in one of the chalets. Fantastic view of the sea from the lounge. The chalet was perfect for us,very clean and well equipped. Beds were very comfortable and we all slept well.
We walked down to Mermaids Cove and spent a long time exploring the rock pools and the secret hideaway. A steep climb ,but well worth the effort.
We enjoyed time with our grandson at Foxys club. He is Autistic and finds it hard to interact with strangers, but not here! He was relaxed and joined in the activities, which he loved. Coral the Entertainment Manager was amazing with Stanley. She understood how he was feeling and went the extra mile to make him feel relaxed. We went every night because he asked if we were going to see Coral. She is a superstar in our eyes.
Well done everyone at Sandaway you were all so welcoming and all deserve a special mention,even though l did not remember all your names.
So glad that l have booked another holiday with this company in September, cannot wait!
Valerie Fawkes Claire and Stanley

Just had a brilliant fortnight at John Fowler Holiday

Wouldn’t trust this company as far as I could throw them, whilst on holiday at widemouth bay, slipped on a path full of mud that they hadn’t cleared broke my wrist and dislocated my shoulder soon enough they where out cleaning it after the accident, now refusing to provide their insurers details even tho they have apparently passed on the information to the insurers

St Ives resort.

My friends treated me for my birthday 3 night stay in one of the beautiful 2 bedroom cabins they had with a hot tub. It was beautiful, it was clean and there was so much space. It was really cosy! The staff were lovely and the location of the cabin was private. We didn't go to the entertainment or the arcades, and we spent a lot of time in the cabin, as it was really homely. Really lovely experience.
Although, There were no added extras like a basic oven glove or washing up sponges, so be prepared you will have to purchase this at your own cost. Although they do have hairdryers in the drawer, it would be nice to not have to spend money on a tea towel or an oven glove and washing up sponges (felt like moving into a new home) especially when these are cheap for the resort to buy considering the money you pay to stay here, it would be a nice touch.
Apart from that, I would definitely stay here again and recommend this place. It's also a really close drive to St Ives beach.

Thank you!

We have travelled and stayed with John Fowler many times before. My only real issue previously has always been that you pay ££££ and the accommodation doesn’t quite live up to the price point. That said, it’s in a good position and our daughter likes it. I’ve have previously recommended the site to friends and family. We arrived in the summer to black mould in the chalet and paid circa £2000 for the privilege.

However, this time I find their behaviour extremely poor. They say that safety of their guests is a priority but I respectfully suggest their actions speak differently. A member of our party tested positive for COVID. John Fowler’s terms and conditions provide as follows (this is not a direct quote by highlights the relevant sections):

John Fowler reserve the right to cancel the holiday, if Government guidance means that you should not visit or stay, even if the law still allows you to. If the holiday has not started then John Fowler will refund the booking in full, less any costs John Fowler has already incurred.

These are the general terms and conditions on the website as at 05 April 2022.

The “Living safely with respiratory infections” government guidance dated 01 April 2022 provides that, if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection, such as COVID-19, and you have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to go to work or carry out normal activities, you are advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people. There is further guidance, “People with symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19”, also dated 01 April 2022 which reiterates the same.

John Fowler refused to refund saying that the guidance was “just advice” (despite the drafting of their terms and conditions) and that we could have £100.60 refund of a £1,000 holiday, look to sell or gift the holiday to a family member or friend, or, alternatively, continue with our holiday, even though a member of our party is positive for COVID.

St Ives
Totally rubbish resort.
Book in time should have been 3pm didn't get keys till 4.15.
Cabin not too bad but the beds were smaller than a single bed, NO instructions on how to use the heating, dish washer in fact NO instructions for anything.
Heating boiler last tested 2019 this is 2022.
Mud all around the cabin.
Very small arcade with some fruit machines.
One pool table, one air hockey table and one table football game. that is the extent of indoor games.
Two table tennis tables OUTSIDE so impossible to play.
Evening Foxy entertainment for the kids 6pm till 6.30, just one stripey jacket person singing a few songs .
NO dressed up characters at all (foxy, trixie, cheffy) in fact NO characters AT ALL for the whole week.
The foxy shop was closed ALL WEEK and even though we asked to buy things for the kids they refused.
The Saturday we arrived they had a country and western night (we were not told of this before hand).
Bingo EVERY NIGHT, one night quiz, one night a singing staff member, one karaoke night (what a farce that was, come up and ask for a song and IF we got it you can sing it).
The lighting across the resort is rubbish, almost total darkness.
The restaurant was only open from 5pm till 9pm, Tuesday the chef walked out so only chips and burgers on offer.
Only given a one star because it is impossible to give zero rating.
My advice to anyone wanting a John Fowler holiday GO TO A DIFFERENT RESORT

We had previously booked for a caravan holiday for March 2021 but they contacted us a couple of weeks before the date to let us know that they would have to cancel the date due to COVID. At the time everything was up in the air due to the situation to do with COVID and so we didn't really know when we would next want to go there so on the phone she said that we can either get a full refund or change to another date. All the other dates we wanted meant having to pay extra on top so we said "look lets just book it for the same time next year and see how things go and if the date needs to switch then we can do it closer to the time". Bearing in mind this was done a year out from the arrival date so from that point obviously life happens but we didn't receive any further notification of the booking until 9 days before the date at which time I contacted them as soon as I received the email explaining the situation and how that date wouldn't be convenient for us. The woman said basically you can't move the date and you either turn up or you will lose your money. So its ok for them to cancel my date on me last minute but when the tables are turned it's then different. Funny how I didn't receive any reminder until the point when you can't amend or cancel the booking. Wish I had taken the refund at the time but thought "nah that's ok we want to stay with them so no need to fully cancel". Out for profit and going by the reviews below I 'am we didn't have to endure a weekend there as the customer service and quality of standards within the site sounds about the same as what I received over the phone. Won't be booking with them again. Their loss.

Stayed at the Sandy Meadows Lodge Park near Brean (somerset) Excellent stay :) lodge cleaned to high standard and fantastic layout inside and great amount of space and very well equipped, Good parking spaces and a lovely well kept park.