By William Coleman
It has been a great month for a lot of parks and sites across the UK. Award season has highlighted the very best this great land has to offer to tourists from all over the world. I have written about this site before but now there is ever more praise for the site as the site manager received two top student awards and another AA accolade.
Glastonbury’s Old Oaks Touring Park named as England’s top spot for campers, glampers, caravaners and motorhome owners. The second major AA awards for this site this year. Have a read of my previous article where the AA awarded them the rare top holiday award click here
This family run business bested several hundred other sites that were eligible to take the overall Campsite of the Year title in the AA’s 2017/18 Caravan and Camping Awards. This has really made this a stand out must visit site for anyone who is searching for a perfect site to pitch up at, especially if you are visiting the mammoth Glastonbury Festival.
The end of the season had a lot more in store for this top tier site. Tara White who manages the site, along with her husband James, manage the award winning Old Oaks was awarded two top award following her successful graduation this autumn from Bournemouth University with a degree in Tourism Parks Management.
Tara received Best Student Awards from both Bournemouth University and Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester, the two institutes involved in running the degree. It’s easy to see why this site is doing so well with such industry dedication by its management team.
Running the site at such a high standard is a full time job in itself, even if you have a great staff on hand, yet Tara was able to juggle the running of the site and the three year course. Tara was over the moon with delight with the awards.
The AA only give out its highest awards to a small elite group of sites across the UK. The sites go through an intensive set of testing which sets these sites aside the rest the country has to offer.
Guest facilities, services and levels of hospitality are all under the microscope to make sure they reach the high levels expected by the AA. The Old Oaks met all levels with gold standards.
Even still there is more to come for the site. The park has had an amazing 2017 award season winning a five star gold grade from the national tourist board VisitEngland.
The Old Oaks has been in the same family for over 30 years and is a strictly adults only site. The site has more much more than touring pitches. The Old Oaks have now introduced new ways for visitors to make the most of their stay. There are now glamping options for those who want to relax in the tranquil surrounding the site has to offer.
The glamping options include high end luxury shepherds huts with a wide range of comforts. You can get shower rooms, kitchen facilities, sun loungers and a full sized double bed. And if you fancy an extra spot of relaxation ones comes with its very own wood fired hot tub. That will be the one I would be heading for, for journalistic purposes only of course.
This year has been a huge success for the Old Oaks. On top of the wave of awards they have received it has also been the busiest year in the sites history to date which saw visitors from across the UK and abroad.
“Although these awards look at the quality of our park’s facilities, they also put a big emphasis on the standards of hospitality we supply,” said Tara.
“Our aim has always been to create a warm and friendly atmosphere for guests, so it’s great to receive these independent endorsements for our efforts.
“A highlight for me was graduating from my university course which, as it was part-time, required me to put in many hours of study and tutorials whilst co-managing the park.
“But it was a fantastic learning experience from which the business is already benefiting – and the best student awards really came as the icing on the cake!” added Tara.
So this site not only has a fantastic location with fantastic grounds and woodland but it’s also a multi award winning site run by a group who are investing their lives into providing the best levels of staycations possible.
The park is a member of the Best of British group of top-rated independent parks with the highest quality standards, and is described on its website at www.theoldoaks.co.uk
