Anyone booked direct with French campsites

MorganIRL

As the title suggests have found that this yr eurocamp seem to have upped there prices for the places we would like to go. My query is there much of a diff outside of the 'cleaning' fee for when ur leaving between direct and company bookings ie is there a bbq included, one place is offering a gas bbq but wondering is a trad one incl. Booking direct, if we go ahead is saving €200 and with the irish ferries discount code we can add another €100 to the holiday spending fund. We're looking at le pin parasol and la garangeoire in the vendee region. I know there popular resorts but we're going in the 2nd wk of June. Any thoughts or other suggestions would be appreciated. We've a 5 hr travel limit as we have 4+2 yr old and we've no great need to be beside the sea. Thanks

zagmund

Honestly, I'm not sure what the question in the body of the post is and I've read over it twice.

To answer the question in the title - yes, I've booked direct with campsites. Once I've found a site that I like, I spend an evening armed with Google (and tripadvisor.com) and search for anyone offering pitches in the site. The offerings range from the likes of Eurocamp (50 or 100 units in a site) to mom & pops (3 or 4 units) from Ireland/UK/NL, to the campsite themselves. And then I go for the best value. By and large the units are the same - the big companies might have newer ones, but a mobile home is a mobile home is a mobile home.

z

MorganIRL

Zagmund thks for reply and Sry for confusion. What I really want to know is if u book direct v eurocamp etc. Is there anything that u don't get when booking direct.

Staplor

MorganIRL wrote: »

Zagmund thks for reply and Sry for confusion. What I really want to know is if u book direct v eurocamp etc. Is there anything that u don't get when booking direct.

Just booked with a crowd called kellair. Irish company have a few extras like a BBQ can't remember what else. Price was better than direct with campsite. I think finding the owner of a mobile is the cheapest way

veetwin

Also most French campsites only accept Saturday to Saturday bookings in the peak season which is a pain with ferries etc. Other than that no reason no to book direct with the site.

MorganIRL

@veetwin booking with 'le pin parasol' in vendee and i can book for 10 days no issues.
@staplor im gonna have a look at them now thks

zagmund

veetwin wrote: »

Also most French campsites only accept Saturday to Saturday bookings in the peak season which is a pain with ferries etc. Other than that no reason no to book direct with the site.

We found the opposite - the tour operators would only do Saturday to Saturday, but the capmsite we booked with were happy to take a 10 day booking, and they had no problem changing it to an 11 day one when we modified our dates.

z

Lagore

MorganIRL wrote: »

@veetwin booking with 'le pin parasol' in vendee and i can book for 10 days no issues.
@staplor im gonna have a look at them now thks

Did you go to Le Pin Parasol? Would be interested to hear what you thought of it. Currently trying to decide whether to go back to La Garangeoire or try Le Pin Parasol as pool area looks better for our kids who will then be 9 & 10....

Carawaystick

MorganIRL wrote: »

Zagmund thks for reply and Sry for confusion. What I really want to know is if u book direct v eurocamp etc. Is there anything that u don't get when booking direct.

Kids Club.

redmissb

We've booked direct with site a few times with no issues. For Pin Parasol though check out vacansoleil, they're prices are very competitive. New luxury accommodation available there now too.

Lagore

redmissb wrote: »

We've booked direct with site a few times with no issues. For Pin Parasol though check out vacansoleil, they're prices are very competitive. New luxury accommodation available there now too.

Have you been to Pin Parasol yourself? We have our own caravan so only booking a pitch but can't decide whether to go back to La Garangeoire or try Le Pin Parasol as pool area looks good for our kids.

redmissb

Lagore wrote: »

Have you been to Pin Parasol yourself? We have our own caravan so only booking a pitch but can't decide whether to go back to La Garangeoire or try Le Pin Parasol as pool area looks good for our kids.

No I haven't but it was a strong contender this year! Ended up going to Les Brunelles in Longeville sur Mer, hands down the best pool we've seen so far. Lots of caravans there but can imagine it gets very busy in high season. Half tempted to go back but like to try new places so might give Pin Parasol a go next year. Heard great things about La Garangeoire, is it good for older kids?

Lagore

redmissb wrote: »

No I haven't but it was a strong contender this year! Ended up going to Les Brunelles in Longeville sur Mer, hands down the best pool we've seen so far. Lots of caravans there but can imagine it gets very busy in high season. Half tempted to go back but like to try new places so might give Pin Parasol a go next year. Heard great things about La Garangeoire, is it good for older kids?

It is a great site but the pool area only has 2/3 slides and can get very busy even even at start of July. It depends how old your kids are. Mine will be 9 & 10 next year and even though they want to return to La Garangeoire I know that they may be happier on a site with a bigger pool complex. Somebody on UK Campsite forum recommended Les Brunelles to me but reviews suggest the pitches for touring caravans are quite compact.

Like the look of Pin Parasol but nervous of trying somewhere unknown as this will be the first time we have taken our own caravan to France so want it all to be as stress free as possible!