Park Resorts White Cross Bay Holiday Park Review

White Cross Bay Holiday Park
Cumbria

www.park-resorts.com

Reviewed by Catherine Dolan

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to stay at Park Resorts White Cross Bay Holiday Park with my daughter and 3 granddaughters from Friday 26 June – Monday 29 June 2015.

Check in time for the Silver Lodge was 1.30pm but due to work commitments we never arrived until 3.30pm. On arrival at the reception we were kept waiting for 10 minutes before a receptionist finally acknowledged us only to inform us that the lodge was still not ready. They did, however, offer us free tea/coffee and pastries until such time as it was ready. We finally got the keys for Bowness 60 at 4.30pm; thankfully with 3 young children (one a baby of 4 months) we only had to wait the hour. Had we had to wait the full 3 hours, I’m not sure the tea/coffee would have been enough.

Bowness 60 was situated quite near the lake and it was nice to be able to wander down to the water’s edge and admire the view and the many boats that were moored there. However, the lodge itself was not as clean as I feel it should have been, just a bit more attention to detail was required. Crumbs in the breadbin, a few cobwebs, the oven was ‘well used’ shall we say. I had to wipe the sofas as they were covered in marks, a feather duster needs to be used, not to mention the need to clean the outside of the windows and remove all the cobwebs.

The park itself was lovely and very well kept and the area was beautiful. All staff were nice and there is a pool, two play areas and tennis court/football pitch close to Windermere. The lodges have good water pressure and fair sized rooms. There is a parking bay for one car next to the lodge with parking for other cars nearby. There is also a shop on site, however, this was unmanned and therefore expect a bit of a wait to be served. We didn’t eat onsite as we cooked or went out so can’t comment on this. The bar was quiet during day when we went a few times. It does represent good value for money here.

Dogs are kept on leads at all times and bins provided for their waste. As my dog loves being free from his leash, I used a website called Miles without Stiles and found some perfect walks for us. The park was ideally located for Windermere, Bowness and Ambleside.

There are playgrounds for the children but due to the ages of my granddaughters we didn’t really use them, but I did notice that the one was badly worn which should really be updated to today’s standards, particularly with White Cross Bay being a 4* holiday park.

The gym facilities were small but adequate, a few machines were out of order but overall it accommodated what was wanted. The swimming pool/sauna/Jacuzzi and steam room were all first class; however the changing facilities lacked some health and safety issues. There were no slip mats in the changing rooms and at the different times we went, morning, afternoon and early evening, the floors were flooded with water making it very easy to slip on. Better drainage or staff to remove water would be beneficial especially where children, people with mobility restrictions and parents carrying babies into the pool. The baby changing facilities were also poor with soaking wet floor and the changing station ‘grubby’.

I think due to the fact that we couldn’t check in as expected with a Silver Lodge we would have been given a later check out but this wasn’t the case, the checkout time is 10am, in my opinion this is very early.

I know some of the points I have made are pretty negative but we did have a very pleasant stay. On the whole our stay was relaxed and enjoyable but I would not deem White Cross Bay as a 4* holiday park.

Silver Lodge features:

Rating: 3.5/5

Short breaks start from £329. For more information or to make a booking call 0843 561 1374 or visit www.park-resorts.com/holiday-parks/lake-district/white-cross-bay

Whitecross Bay Holiday Park, Ambleside Road, Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 1LF | 0843 290 2860