Rated 4 of 5

Rated 1 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 2 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 2 of 5

Good for families

So Very Disappointing

We booked to stay here on 17/05/21 for three nights. We arrived about 15 hours, and noticed vans pitched in overnight arrival spot which thought was unusual. On checking in, we learned the site was struggling with pitches being waterlogged due to heavy rain. There were no standard hardstanding pitches available. The Warden at Reception, although apologetic was not very helpful or interested in assisting us to find somewhere suitable to pitch our 3.5 t motorhome. In fact, she marked on map the few pitches left and just highlighted the wettest ones, not the level of service we have come to expect from visits to many previous Club sites. It transpired the few pitches we had to choose from were all totally inappropriate for our unit and as more rain was forecast, we were not prepared to pitch on them to subsequently get stuck. We returned to Reception to explain our dilemma, and received no help, no alternative (ie upgrade pitch), the lack of care and customer service was incredibly poor. Hence we had a refund and left. We ended up at the next door campsite - Swiss Cottage which quite frankly put this site to shame and was more of the calibre we normally experience at Club sites. We were only on this Club site for probably half an hour, but we came away with our poorest experience ever, and we have visited quite a few all over the country. It felt cramped, with some pitches having neighbours on three sides. We did notice the road noise just in the short time there and it was unpleasant and loud. There are plenty of trees and green but it lacked the usual ambience of peace, tranquility, space of pitches even when compared to sites we have been to in urban areas. The most disappointing fact was lack of care and interest from the staff. It was very disappointing while we were there, more or less just a shrug of shoulders, and take it or leave it attitude. They clearly knew they had a problem due to the inclement weather which is totally beyond their control, so why did they not contact the day's arrivals in the the morning to update them of the situation. They had email and phone number, then we could have made an informed decision, and maybe not come away with an unpleasant experience.
Motorhomer

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33 reviews

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Tinwheeler replied on 30/05/2021 10:57

Posted on 30/05/2021 10:57

I don't know what else the wardens were supposed to have done. They pointed out the best and worst pitches and the weather was outside their control. They couldn't contour up more pitches.

You got a refund without argument and that's something you'd likely not have got on a commercial site.

Graydjames replied on 15/06/2021 16:02

Posted on 15/06/2021 16:02

I just read this because I am thinking of visiting Henley; I've been before, but it was many years ago. As TW states, probably the wardens were hamstrung and had few options and sometimes these things are unavoidable and customers must understand that (there are always some who never will). HOWEVER, the reviewer is correct that a lot of heartache would have been avoided had arrivals been contacted as soon as possible in the morning to be advised of the situation. For me there's no excuse not doing that. It was extremely fortunate that there is the site next door; if such a thing had happened elsewhere options might have been to put up with it or drive all the way home. I would not have been impressed.

Having said that, I do think the reviewers other complaints are very much coloured by their experience with the pitch problem. I do not recall Henley being even remotely cramped compared to many sites; the road noise was not to my recollection an issue and anyway would they not have had just the same noise on the adjacent site; and almost every site has the odd pitch with neighbours on three sides. Commercial sites are usually much less forgiving when it comes to space and neighbour proximity.