Haven Holidays review: Touring site at Haggerston Castle

I am writing to complain about the appalling state of the facilities in the touring area at Haggerston Castle, as well as the site itself.

We stayed from the 3rd to the 6th of May in our small camper van and throughout the whole weekend found the toilet and shower facilities in an unusable state. To put it plainly they were stinking, often with blocked and un-flushed toilets. The floors were very dirty and this made the showers also unusable. There is insufficient ventilation and drainage of toilets does not work. In addition the very old floor tiles mean that the grouting is always dirty so as soon as the floor gets wet dirt rises. This type of flooring is unhygienic and should have been replaced many years ago. Additional effective extractors are required to deal with the smell and toilets should be replaced with efficient flushing toilets and improved drainage.

In addition, the key code locked door frequently jammed and so there was no access to the toilets. This had a great impact on the elderly women that I spoke to whilst stuck outside the toilet. Both made clear that they were unable to walk as far as the other block and were greatly distressed.

After some rain, not a great deal, many of the pitches became flooded as there is little or no drainage on the site. The van 2 along from us had an awning and in the middle of the night two young children in the awning were floating on their airbeds. Access to the door of the ladies toilet was impossible without wading through several inches of water. Adequate drainage is a must on a site for touring. It was difficult to get in and out of our van without stepping in deep mud. All this without excessive rain.

We visit many caravan sites a year, mainly in Scotland, and have never had a problem of this kind. Toilet and shower facilities on other sites are usually maintained to a very high standard. If you would like, I can suggest some sites that you could visit.