Independent Campsite Reviews

I spent so many happy childhood hoildays at Cleavewood Country Club, as it was known in its glory days! In its independent incarnation it was our favourite place to stay and enjoyed the facilities such as the cinema, club, swimming pools, sauna and the snackshop (my sister and I were probably its best customers of 1994!). The staff were always friendly and the Georgian house itself was well cared for and maintained to such a standard that it never lost its period charm! We last visited the site back in spring '98, shortly after the Woolacombe Bay corporation's takeover and the signs were not good, the gym and snackshop were gone, and were being used as storage rooms for broken microwaves and fridges, the games room was ill-maintained and the club seemed deserted most nights, with most people opting to visit the rowdy, packed, claustrophobic atmosphere of the Golden Coast clubhouse instead.

I am not exaggerating when I say it saddens me greatly to hear that in the interim years the degeneration of Cleavewood has been allowed to escalate further still.

Cleavewood was a beautiful, stunning, Georgian manor house set in beautiful woodland and countryside ... in its past life.

It used to be family-owned and well looked-after - there was an indoor and outdoor pool, cinema, games room, restaurant, club, bar lounge bar, snack bar... Then, about 5 years ago, Woolacombe Bay bought it and let it slip. It now stands almost derelict, with all its machines and facilities ripped out, its club room and cinema used for storage, the only part still usable being the indoor pool.

You can stay in the Golden Coast site across the road, or hire a Cleavewood caravan from Golden Coast, but I would recommend a stay in a Cleavewood House apartment - just to experience this place.

Afterwards, write to Woolacombe Bay, and ask why they are letting Cleavewood House get into this state.

In response to the rather unfair reviews of Clevewood House.

Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks took over the Clevewood House in 1997 - it has since been fully restored. It is still family owned and not by a "Corporation". It is not derelict and has been restored to former glory, which was Woolacombe Bay’s intention when they first purchased the House. The tacky old entertainments areas have been restored, now you can stay there and use the facilities at the larger park (the Golden Coast) which is further up the hill without feeling as if you are on a holiday park.

The facilities are first class and the accommodation is now set up as self catering apartments which allows you to get a real feel for the place and get to know it intimately. It is a real shame that blinkered and inaccurate information can be posted on this site [steady on - everyone’s opinion counts equally here - webmaster]. As many of you will miss out on a delightful holiday property which has been invested in and have been a labour of love for the people involved in its upkeep.

We stayed at Cleavewood House in Feb 2006 and all I can say is, what a fantastic place to stay. We had apartments one and two and both were absolutely excellent. The indoor pool is a great bonus as well.

I would recommend this accommodation to anyone; it gives a great place to stay, with some privacy. But if you want it, the opportunity to get involved in the activities laid on by the site.

We arrived at the Golden Coast Resort on 26.07.08 firstly given a Estoril van as booked and paid in full for some months previously, we unpacked and found someone’s presents in one of the cupboards, deciding to take them to reception when we were ready, we discovered very quickly that nothing had been cleaned and outside floor was cleaner than the carpet and floors inside the van, we decided that we would unpack and find a local supermarket to find cleaning products and to have some lunch, we locked up and went, we came back a couple of hours later and found the van door unlocked and wide open knowing that we had locked it and discovered that the presents were gone we rang reception and complained, we then took a shower which leaked into the wardrobe and confronted reception after about 20 minutes we were told that we would be substantially upgraded to Blue Bell Woods, so we packed up and moved hoping that this would be somewhat better, but surprise surprise it was just as bad, due to it now getting late and us having a very long day we made our beds and retired for the night, the next morning it seemed worse, my husband hoovered all the dust and cob webs and the buckets of dirt from the carpets and I cleaned not being ones to complain we just got on with it, the palce stank of damp and the patio doors could not be opened to let some fresh air in, we decided to go out.

We checked out on 30.07.08 three days early as our son of 6 years now has a chest infection caused by the dampness of the accommodation and our only week off in the year was a total disaster, please could someone explain where the award winning gumph on the website and brochure comes from because it is beyond belief that it was for the Golden Coast, the indoor pools changing room near reception was disgusting and stank like the local urinal and every where we looked was filthy.

I have just returned from probably about my 20th stay at Cleavewood (which is now as we all know, apartments rather than a fab clubhouse a la 80s glory) and I stayed in an Estoril caravan. Ok, so it was damp - but it's a caravan! We asked a repairman about a leaky vent (it was hammering with rain all week) and he offered to fix it and also said all these 7 year-old caravans are soon to be replaced.

Anyway, I may be biased but what a great holiday - Cleavewood House is gorgeous and the grounds are gorgeous - the only thing is that the Golden Coast park (where all the entertainment happens) is totally full of chavs and is not how I remember it from when I was little! I would love for Cleavewood to be open again just like Alison E Price would, I'm sure!