UK & IRELAND PERRAN SANDS DESTINATIONS High
Holiday parks have come a long way, finds Lee Hayhurst and his family at Haven’s Perran Sands in Cornwall
I
’ve got great memories of childhood holidays, staying
in a static caravan park in Snowdonia, but it’s not the accommodation that I recall most readily. Yes, there was the novelty of
staying in a miniature version of a house, until the weather would trap us indoors with only a tiny black-and-white telly and terrible reception to keep us distracted. But it was the great outdoors – crab-fishing off a pebble beach on Anglesey, and being away from home with friends – that I remember most fondly. Fast-forward more years than
I’m prepared to admit and, now with three kids of my own, I found myself reminiscing about those caravan holidays as we set off for a stay at Haven’s Perran Sands in north Cornwall.
w CLEAN LIVING We were invited to try the Beach House, a new concept in caravan park accommodation that Haven has pioneered with just two units on this large site. What we found was the sort of holiday accommodation you dream about before you turn the key, full of anticipation about what’s inside. We could have been the
five
stars of a certain global OTA’s ad campaign: Booking Yeah, to pinch a phrase. This was no souped-up caravan disguised with mock pine- cladding or wooden decking. We found ourselves in a bright, airy and extremely well-equipped space, with comfortable, modern facilities, easily big enough to accommodate our group of five with a single bed to spare. If we had brought along our two cats, we could just about swing both of them, at the same time. Design-wise, it was as if someone had taken a kids’ Ikea showroom, scaled it up
to accommodate the whole family, and plonked it on the north Cornish coast. The trendy, colourful decor was complemented by an array of gadgets and modern conveniences that the average caravanner could only dream of. There was a large flatscreen TV in the living area and TVs in the bedrooms including, to the delight of our two boys, one within each of the bunk beds. Plus there was free Wi-Fi, an espresso coffee machine, dishwasher and retro fridge-freezer in baby blue to match the kettle. Once we’d taken all this in,
14 April 2016
travelweekly.co.uk 51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76