Whitecliff Bay has had some bad reviews online. In fact, whilst I was there I heard people moaning about how cold their apartments were and how if they wanted things done they would have to pay £70/£80 to upgrade. I think it is important to think about what you want and expect from a £9.50 Sun Holiday.
The cost of a £9.50 Sun Holiday to Whitecliff Bay
The cost for the holiday was £82 for the 6 of us (2 adults, 1 teen and 3 children). Then there was the cost of the Ferry on top. The Sun holidays provided us with a code for the ferry but I am not sure if it made our journey any cheaper as we did not fit the normal criteria. That is we went Monday-Monday (2 separate holidays, Whitecliff Bay just covered Monday to Friday), and our vehicle was higher than the norm. Whitecliff Bay is part of the Away Resorts group who sent us a brochure of their sites before we left. They also sent an essential info pamphlet which had useful information such as that they had free wi-fi. During our stay at the Isle of Wight we travelled all over the island using our Giffgaff sim cards (which run on O2), we found there was very little signal and heard that this was the case with most networks. EE is apparently the best choice but I do not recommend them. Therefore this little gem of there being internet was actually a really important point. We were also given a flyer that let us extended our stay for just £25 a night, and that they would rearrange the ferry for us. If we were not already off to another holiday destination this would have been very tempting as the children did not want to leave.
Checking in at Whitecliff Bay
We arrived early by approximately a couple of hours. Staff were friendly and the chalet was ready straight away. I was given a map and explained where I was going and how to get to the entertainment facilities. I was given a pack which also included some vouchers (none of which I used). Reception staff were very accommodating and even found me the telephone numbers of places outside of the camp so we could find out more. There were plenty of leaflets about the Island’s attractions too. We were told to park outside the front of the chalet but it was a complete mud bath and we were at risk of getting stuck, so parked to the side. Afterwards someone came and taped off the area, and to be fair it was April!
Accommodation at Whitecliff Bay
Let’s start with the positives in that it really was spacious. There were 3 bedrooms, a reasonable sized living area and a kitchen, with plenty of hanging room for clothes. There was a corner sofa so we could sit around together and watch the television provided. It looked like the kitchen area had been newly refurbished. The chalet was reasonably well stocked with a welcome cleaning pack, a swing bin, washing up bowl, microwave, toaster, kettle, roasting tin, colander, saucepans, frying pan, glass bowl, plates, bowls, glasses, cups, cutlery, bread bin, plastic jug, and a dust pan and brush. There was no broom or vacuum though. The oven only had one shelf, there were no oven trays nor oven gloves provided. The only thing usable was the roasting tin and not up to our hygiene standards. We picked up some trays fairly cheaply at the Tescos in Ryde though. Our oldest son usually ends up sleeping on a sofa/sofabed on these breaks so it was nice that he actually got a bed for a change. Problem is there were two double beds and also a double duvet which meant that we had to get two of our son’s to sleep together. Not really ideal with the age gaps and the fact that the younger ones are bed wetters. The chalet could have done with a lot more upgrading. There were hardly any plug sockets (luckily we had brought with us an extension lead), the carpet was filthy (not surprising given all the mud outside) and on the whole the chalet suffered from a lot of wear and tear. But it did the job and we did not feel the need to complain.
Entertainment at Whitecliff Bay
My youngest two sons especially liked it at Whitecliff Bay. I felt that the Entertainment was heavily geared towards the children with the Play team keeping them busy with craft, activities and the charisma of Bear (who reminded me of someone who lived in a Big Blue House if I’m honest).The Culver Club was very family focused and my boys liked the fact that they were entertained until at least 9pm when we returned to the chalet. I particularly liked how there seemed to be a divide between the area where the children were and the bar (the children’s area was all red and white stripped and the bar wasn’t for example). Again complaining could have been done such as when there were sound issues with the Balloon man – but you know what these things happen. And did my 6 year old care about that or will he remember being called on stage and making a fantastic Lion King mask for him? I also liked how the Balloon man threw lots of red balloons into the audience so that all the children had a good chance of getting one. When we returned back to our chalet in the evening passing staff would wish us a good night.
My active for the older children was brilliant. Some of it was free and some we had to pay extra for (£4 or £5 per person). They took part in junior crossbow, target crossbow, and pool kayaking. There were also board games available in the Nab Bar as well as a small outdoor play area and small softplay. The camp was small and so were the facilities to reflect it. This did however mean it was not too busy and the children did not have to wait long for things.
Whitecliff Bay is a great base to go off and explore the beauty of the Isle of Wight starting with the beach just at the bottom of a (steep) slope connected to the camp. I am sure my younger boys would love to return back to the camp as the staff provided them with such great entertainment. I think it was great value through the Sun £9.50 holidays and would gladly visit again.
This is not a sponsored post.