Proportion of Serviced v Standard Pitches

all spending in life has the pass the 'value' test.....the test can vary depending on how much desire (heart) or need (head) is brought into it...

spending a large amount on a nice MH, caravan or tow car will still be subject to this 'scrutiny' as will (independently) that of something smaller like a SP.

to me, our van has been wonderful value.....of the 30 weeks or so we are away from home each year, around 25 are spent in the van...the others are 'away holidays' or cruises...

also, to me, the price of £3.90 for a service pitch hold no attraction at all...

as CY mentioned, if I filled the van at the MHSP and then parked on a SP I'd be paying for a service I didn't need....if I wanted to fill the van it would take the identical effort to put the hose Into the hole and wait until full, irrespective of whether I did this at the MHSP or on the pitch.

however, doing it at the MHSP costs nothing but for a 10 day stay (a single full tank will cover this) I'd be charged nearly £40 for not using the tap.

none of this has anything to do with whether I can afford to be on an SP or not, it's just not necessary nor, for us, any sort of benefit....

I’m currently sitting outside our caravan on a very nice, spacious, serviced pitch at Swiss Farm, Henley.  Great facilities, if that’s your thing, spotless ablutions block, hardly any passing traffic because of the lack of one way system, hedges between rows of units, so you can’t even see the ones behind.  We’ve stayed at the CAMC site up the road before, and very nice it was, but chose to stay here this time, and we’re very happy with it.  Wouldn’t hesitate to come here again, but you pays your money & makes your choice, as the saying goes.

are you there for the Regatta, BG?

.....we will be moving from Oxford to Henley later this morning after coffee....have a great time there, weather really picking up now....

like you, we chose SF over HFO as, for us it offered more....(we've used both sites previously)...and our pals wanted to try it, too.....

Perhaps some enterprising youngster will offer a "fill your aqua roll and empty your wastemaster, guv. Special price £1.50" 

As we had a caravan at the time we booked several service pitches for this year. When we switched to a MH I did think of trying to change them, but left things as they were. Even with a MH having a service pitch made things easier and quicker. Straight to the pitch and fill up when we wanted, no queuing or having to move the van later on. Similarly with emptying, just coupled it to the drain and left it to empty while packing up. Again no waiting and wrestling with heavy manholes. Now as to wether this is worth £3.90 extra per night, that's for the individual to decide. However, I certainly think we will still use some service pitches in the future. Particularly where it guarantees a hardstanding pitch.

At the moment, since last year, our focus is on UK site costs as we are only touring in UK due to taking on looking after our little grandson 2-3 days per week, childcare is amazingly expensive it seems!

In the past we have usually had 2-3 months abroad plus maybe 6 weeks away here, this year we hope to have 3 UK trips of 3-5 weeks, so about 12 weeks in all.   But, as SIL is a teacher, so is only home to look after his son in school  holidays, we are now faced with peak prices here.

Hence our increased use  of CCC sites, where peaks are shorter, and we get the reduced rate, and CLs, to keep our average below £20 per night, which is the amount that we are comfortable with.  More than that we do not consider to be value for money anywhere.

We are avoiding peak as far as possible, but it is impossible to avoid peak periods altogether.

We do have a "holiday budget" but this is a maximum,  not a target, and we look to make savings wherever possible, especially when we are also having less time away in the van.  

If I remember correctly, we have discussed that club site prices have been rising a good bit faster than inflation in the last few years,  for whatever reason, so with my pension not rising at the same rate, the  choice is to either have less time away or reduce nightly costs.  

At the moment we are doing a mix of the 2 options and saving any savings to help with rising prices and miserable bank interest rates.

It might be a good idea for a charity, rather like the pack your bags for a donation in supermarkets.😀

To get back to David's OP. I think that 22% service pitches, as at Chatsworth, is about the limit. If you look at awning pitches, the number of available days for July are broadly similar for standard and service. Although for non awning there are many more standard. Particularly in the cooler months, service pitches are often still available when standard are booked, although will eventually sell. Therefore any increase above 22% at less popular sites, where the service pitches won't sell at the last minute, is likely to be counterproductive.

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

I saw one on site today. A bargain at a mere £2 😂