Berrow and Brean Sands are lovely beaches about an hour’s drive from Bristol or two hours on public transport. There’s miles of golden sands. You can catch the tide in and at two points there are lifeguards on duty during the day.
Having spent some time camping in the area, we decided to pop back for a couple more days before school term started. Looking for an easier option than pitching a tent again, we decided on a two night stay at Pontins Brean Sands. This was £150 for one adult and two children. The self-catering accommodation included two beds, a sofa bed, no linen and no electricity.
Check-in was difficult. When we arrived, there was nobody at the reception. Four people were in a queue waiting to speak to someone. Each one of those people were waiting to complain about their accommodation. Just as a member of staff came back to the desk, an angry lady stormed up to complain about accommodation she had been upgraded to because her first accommodation was apparently a disgrace. It didn’t bode well. In fact, when looking at the terms and conditions of booking a Pontins break, you can actually get a full refund if you turn up, look at the place and decide you don’t want to stay.
You can find a video and photographs of our stay. It’s bad, but if you check out other guest experiences online, it gets much, much worse.
The place is a disaster area. It’s filthy, it’s dilapidated. It’s a complete rip-off. It’s mis-sold. The cheery website states lots of activities that you can take part in at Pontins, of course with a disclaimer that they may not be available at all times, on all resorts or there may be a fee.
But upon checking in, a small booklet and map actually recommends taking part in activities that don’t even exist.
The Brean Sands resort is quite small. I was surprised I hadn’t seen the high ropes, abseiling and zip wire. I found a bored looking person in the activity zone who couldn’t understand what I was talking about when asking about the high ropes. He asked another member of staff who told us that these things had been removed four years ago. Four years ago, yet the brochure and map was advertising their existence in the 2017 current booklet.
Perhaps if you book Pontins Brean Sands on one of the Sun Holiday deals, all of this might not be so bad. But when you are paying full peak season prices, it’s disgraceful.
Pontins Brean Sands is a cesspit. It’s a totally mis-sold holiday that won’t even be a funny story in a year’s time. What a sad situation for a lovely part of Somerset.
Dirty, stained mattress
Mouldy curtains
Cigarette burns on the curtains
Some kind of arson attempt by a previous guest?
Is there a collective noun for a small group of sad hangers?
Bring your own linen. Scrap that. Bring your own bedding full stop!
Dirty, worn out sofa bed that needed to be propped up against the wall because the mechanism was broken.
Want your child to keep their fingers? Stay away from the sofa
Ingrained dirt everywhere.
Clean me please
Tooth brushing splashes from previous guests
Previous guest’s electric tooth brush ring? Looked like it had been there a while.
Bits of wall missing.
Filthy kitchen around white goods.
Securing the window was strongly recommended in the Pontins literature. Except we can’t because the mechanism is broken.
Check in ghost town. People lining up to complain.
Still waiting to check in… Nobody wants to face the people
Is it going to drop off?
Mystery holes.
Skid marks in the toilet from previous guest.
Maria von Trapp wants her dresses back.
Fringed bed
Filthy under the sofa/bed. Would take seconds to sweep out. Fag butts, dirty tissue, sweet wrappers and dirt.
Sweet wrappers left behind.
Cell Block H
Nope. No crazy golf in the morning. Perhaps we got out of bed too early? It’s gone 10am. We weren’t given any kind of list of events or activities at check in.
Grotty Kart area not opened at gone 10am
Not sure what this is supposed to be but not opened at 10am.
Ghost town at 10am.
Has this water been checked for germs?
This is just class. Battered bench and fag ends.
Trampolines closed in the morning but you have to pay to use them.
Feels like Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Lovely concrete surface to fall on.
The Swimming pool
The swimming pool was closed all day. Research shows that this is a really common problem on Pontins resorts. Chemical issues apparently. It’s disgraceful that the one activity that is free and fairly basic at a resort is not available all day.
Obviously the door to the pool has been smashed and not repaired
What fruit would you like amongst all this fast food? Oranges, bananas and onions please.
Pontins or Dismaland?
An indoor play area for young children. Closed. No obvious sign for when it’s to open.
When you go on holiday leaving the estate behind to spend quality family time at a rough estate. This beauty is a skate park. Locked. Oh you also have to pay to use it according to the sign.
Yes it’s as bad as it looks
Still waiting to hear about our Guest Solution.
A list of activities that are not on, not included or do not exist.
We came back from Brean Leisure Park at 9pm. Cars were driving around the resort because apparently you could park anywhere. The problem with this is that there is no lighting to keep pedestrians safe. You actually couldn’t see where you were walking. It’s really dangerous. Especially for anyone with mobility problems.
