By William Coleman
When picking the ideal caravan park for the holidays you can sometimes find yourself having to juggle cost, location and a family friendly location. I have found that it can sometimes be a bit more challenging than it should be to find the right one. To help make life easier this new site have made a big investment to keep the kids and family happy.
On site features are so important when taking the little ones away. I have been on site before and see some children bored to tears, which obviously has a knock on effect on mum and dad. So be sure to find a site that has enough to keep the kids entertained, a bit like the Evans family owned Islawrffordd Caravan Park at Talybont, near Barmouth.
A new £275,000 seafront play area, which opened at Easter on a five-star caravan park on the Cambrian Coast in Mid Wales, is going down a storm with customers.
Opting to invest in new playground facilities after asking customers what improvements they would most like to see on the seaside park the site should now be a family favourite.
The new playground will be a smash hit with the kids with its swashbuckling Spanish galleon pirate ship, Santa Maria, as its centrepiece, the play area boasts a scooter track and a range of play equipment to suit all ages.
The site as also made sure that the design is totally inclusive and will have a special roundabout for children using wheelchairs.
Ray Parry Playground Services from Shrewsbury designed, supplied and managed the installation of the equipment. All other subsidiary work, such as turf laying, tarmacadam, erecting fencing and stone walling, was undertaken by local contractors and the park’s ground staff. Entrance to the facility is via an electronically controlled gate.
Upon receiving the final design from Ray Parry, architects Pritchard Bond put forward a planning application to Snowdonia National Park who granted consent in time for work to proceed last September.
The official opening took place on Easter Sunday with children hunting for 200 Easter eggs hidden within the play area. Everyone that took part also had their name placed in a draw for a large, fluffy rabbit named Harvey which was won by Ellie Ryan.
“I am delighted to say that the new play area has been a roaring success and the general feedback from customers is that they love it,” said Dylan Evans, a director of Islawrffordd Caravan Park.
“We already had facilities that provided adults with a five-star experience and now we have a five-star play area for children to maintain that high standard. The aim is to give children the ultimate play experience in a safe environment where they can enjoy themselves.
“Whilst we are very proud of the park, it’s important that we improve our facilities continuously to ensure that all our customers have a great experience when they stay with us.”
Ray Parry said his business had been working with Islawrffordd Caravan Park for 20 years. His son, Thomas, put together a design proposal for a “stand out” play area on the seafront that would keep children entertained and happy.
“The play area is up there with some of the best we have designed and installed and I was delighted with the finished product,” he added. “The owners and staff at Islawrffordd were fantastic to work with.”
The park’s other facilities include a swimming pool complex with a jacuzzi, sauna and luxury toilet block, 40-cover restaurant and bar area and an entertainment complex.
The 25-acre park has 201 pitches for caravan holiday homes and 75 fully serviced hard standing pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes.
Islawrffordd has invested more than £4 million over the past 15 years to maintain the park’s rating as one of the finest in Wales. The park won the AA Best Camping Park in the Principality for 2012.
Among the caravan holiday home owners on the park is British motor racing legend Nigel Mansell who has holidayed there with his family since he was four years old.
