Friday 27 September 2013

Warmwell Holiday Park - DT2 8JE

We decided we needed a break in Dorset to visit some more of the Dorset dog friendly attractions that we have been planning for a while so we booked in to stay at Warmwell Holiday Park near Weymouth on the way back from Nottingham for the GGG. Warmwell is ran by Parkdean  and is way more than just a holiday park.
The site has lots and lots right there on the door step. Warmwell has a pool with wave machine and flume, sauna, ski slope, roller rink, arcade, ten pin bowling, crazy golf, fishing lakes, nature trails, playgrounds, sports fields/courts, soft play, Costa coffee, take away, cafe, restaurant, shop and entertainment complex.

All the accommodation onsite are lodges (either terraced or detached) and sleep between 4 and 8 people each.

We stayed in the Wareham 2 bed lodge which was really nice and big too. It had 2 bedrooms (and a sofa bed!), a kitchen/dining room with oven and microwave (we used the microwave to warm my dinner up but didn't use the oven!), it was really warm too unlike alot places we stayed in the past - I didn't even have to wear my jimjams to bed at night!














The site is really nice too and quite spacious so lots places to walk and sniff. Ofcourse the park has some rules like everywhere (boring!) The site has a speed limit (for the cars not the hounds) but I dont remember what it was probably like 5mph and they dont allow dogs inside any the buildings (so we cant go swimming or watch a rock show but I dont know if we would be allowed to ski since that is outside BOL) There's little signs around saying they hope the dogs are enjoying their holiday but please clean up after them and keep on lead when on walkies (but that's fine coz all responsible hoomans clean up after us dont they?). Also they ask that dogs dont go on the furniture (they obviously dont know its called FURniture for a reason!) or in the bedrooms so take your own beds along. They do have some breeds that are banned from the site but these are just the breeds that are illegal in UK under the DDA (personal feelings about DDA aside)!
The lodge was really good and had everything we needed. We were a bit confused by the no dogs in bedrooms rule (though expected the not on furniture part!) as I'm much more likely to make a mess or cause trouble when left alone all night than when I know I'm being watched or could be caught! Parkdean are okay about dogs being left in the lodges whist you go out as long as its not for long periods of time which was good as most places say not to do that!
The sofa's are a bit old and saggy and not soopa comfy so perhaps they need some updating and the seal on our main door was falling off  (minor problem didn't cause an issue!).

We know how important it is to be able to enjoy your holiday or short break with your beloved four-pawed friend. That's why at Parkdean we offer dog-friendly accommodation at 21 of our award winning holiday parks, including Warmwell.
Our pet friendly accommodation comes with all the comforts and furnishings you'd expect from a Parkdean holiday home, allowing you to enjoy your holiday or short break in comfort and style with your pet.

So I'll tell you about some of the inside things that the hoomans checked out like the food and entertainment.

The site has an entertainment building which has the arcade, swimming pool, soft play, bar, restaurant and club inside and my hoomans spent the past few evenings and early mornings over there. (we went off site during the day coz like I said we had plans to check out the dog friendly attractions which I will tell you about later!)

The arcade

This has a good selection of games to play on and a range to suit all age groups from little children who want to play 2p slots or ride the mini horsey, the older children who play car racing, dance games and shooting games and the adults who like a more serious gamble on the grown up machines, there's also the usual grabby cuddly toy machines and games you can win tickets on and exchange for prizes at the end the week. Ofcourse hooman girl spent a great deal of time and money winning tickets on the various games and exchanged them for ... ummm....some children's jigsaws and a flashing puffer ball (yeah!). There's also mini bowling and pool tables here too! We give the arcade top points 5/5 as it has a good range of machines, was clean and the machines were regularly maintained and topped up with tickets/change (they did run out of tickets a couple times but were refilled quickly!) and the staff were nice too. If you get lots and lots points you can win an xbox arcade version which apparently they dont make any more so its like rare or something - the prize hooman was telling mine hoomans about it this morning!

The food

We used the take away and Hardy's restaurant during our stay. The take away was okay but everything just cook from frozen and put in a different box (Pizzas out of freezer in to cooker in well known company box, out and in to a generic box!!!) but it's not bad food and prices are OK, portion sizes aren't bad either! So it's useful if you just want grab something quick after a day out or dont feel like eating in the restaurant or cooking your own dinner! 4/5 for the take away as it could be better but was fine for what we wanted it for and there are other options for food on site!

Hardy's restaurant was nice and has an outside seating area too. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner and have a good selection of food available including vegetarian options and children's menu (though they do a meat sausage and mash and a children's vegetarian sausage and mash but dont have the vegetarian sausage option on the adult main menu which was a little odd!). The hoomans had dinner on Wednesday night and then breakfast on Thursday and Friday mornings and said that the food was very nice. You can pay for half board or full board options when you book so you get your meals included in the price but we didn't do that as we like to go to other dog friendly places and review those too but the prices are fine either way.
The staff in Hardy's were friendly and helpful too and it was nice and clean with plenty of space for everyone and you didn't have to wait too long for food either which was good! 5/5 for Hardy's (only thing I would liked is if there was a covered grassy area that dogs could go and sit too outside Hardy's - there is an outside area and a grass bit which I believe dogs were allowed on just not covered so not really warm/dry enough to be an option).

The bar/club

The alpine bar is nice and has some tv's if you want to have a quiet drink whilst the children watch the giant characters dance and sing or dont feel like sitting in the noisy club area. The staff were a little slow serving at times but it did get busy and there was sometimes only 1 or 2 staff behind the bar. On Thursday night they kept running out of things and having to run off to get more from the store room or offer alternatives but the staff again were nice and friendly and it wasn't a huge problem (unless you are really inpatient!).

The club/family entertainment room or whatever they are calling it was nice too, a good size, clean and they cleared the tables regularly so you weren't sitting around with lots empty glasses on tables.
There was a security person there to make sure everyone behaved and followed the rules (like not going on the stage or not sitting on the dance floor when they were using it for entertainment/shows)
The "troupers" (the entertainment team!) were really nice to everyone and talked to and interacted with everyone who wanted to join in but didn't force themselves on people who just wanted to watch (sometimes they do that at some parks force people to interact and join in and dance - yuk!). They did "parkdean live" at 9 O'clock (after bingo) which is some kind of live entertainment either from the troupers or somebody who comes especially to  entertain you live. The hoomans saw "Rock Tower" which the troupers did where they had to "rock out" or be locked in Rock Tower forever and they watched the trouper Vici do some singing followed by the other trouper Chris doing some Rock and Pop singing (hooman boy said he preferred his version of James Arthur's Impossible to the original, hooman girl liked watching his funky dancing to the backstreet boys larger than life!)

They also have kids entertainment from 6pm - 8pm which we didn't see but heard good things about and bingo/quiz. There's entertainment every night and throughout the season so there is always something to watch even in non peak season.

Shop

There is a nisa onsite which has all the necessary things like food, drinks, cakes, sweets, souvenirs, toys and essential items (shampoo, soap, tea, coffee, bread, ice cream). The shop has everything you would need really and is close by to all the accommodation so you can easily pop over if you run out of something or have a craving for sugar! The prices are reasonable too for on a holiday park as often prices can be high.

Other 

We didn't use any of the other facilities as were only there for 4 nights and had things planned offsite for most the time. The swimming pool looked good and wasn't over crowded, it's lifeguard attended too so no need to worry about drowning. They also sale swimming costumes, goggles, floatation aids and toys in the reception so if you forgot something its fine you are good to go - apparently the changing rooms are unisex though which some people dont like!

The ski slope looked fun although wasn't busy the few times we went past (maybe as it isn't peak season any more I am sure the park was busy during school  holidays!) there were a few people using it (I think it was the entertainment team though!) and the instructor guy sounded nice and patient with them when they were falling over so that's good - don't like bossy people!

Kids soft play looks good on the photo's we seen.

The site has a cashpoint/ATM by the shop/takeaway although there is a small charge for this.

Launderette on site.

There's a family of deer that visit the park and on our 1st day they came really close to the lodge whilst I was napping on the terrace #scary - they seemed sort of friendly but did stamp their feet at me later but she had a young deer with her so was most likely protecting him for me (he was smaller than I am!)


All in all we love Warmwell, you ideally need more than 5 days on the park if you want to actually take part in everything they have to offer and see the local area so if we visit again (which we hopefully will *paws crossed*) we will atleast do a week maybe 10 - 14 days so that we can check out more of the site and area. The staff are all very friendly and helpful but dont force their presence on you so if you want to just relax and not take part in activities you can do but if you want to engage and do things they are ready and waiting to help you. The site is dog friendly as long as we dont go inside any the buildings (other than our own lodge) and we stay on leads but it's ok if we sit outside or walk around we're not forced offsite like on some sites. The foods nice, good prices, the whole site is clean (on the day we checked out they were in cleaning by 9am, getting clean bedding put outside all the lodges ready for the next guests and blowing leaves off the terraces). It's an ideal site for families as there are activities for everyone and plenty of space and enough staff to make sure everyone has a greyt time. There is a little room with leaflets in the main bar and it also has information like maps, where the local petrol stations are and even a sheet especially for dog owners with info on local vets, dog wardens, etc incase anything goes wrong during your stay!

Thank You Warmwell and Parkdean - it's been GREYT!!!


1 comment:

  1. We are going to check that out, we want somewhere to take Mollie next year :) xx00xx

    Mollie and Alfie

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