This is the site that we were enjoying our ‘main’ holiday at (i.e. we were staying for 10 nights). As such when we arrived, tired from a long journey and in the rain, we were less than impressed to have to move several times in order to get the van level. Our initial impressions of the site were also somewhat muted.
So much so that we spent the evening talking about finding somewhere more suitable (although, we were told in no uncertain terms the next day, that we would have to pay for the full 10 days regardless… This also had to be paid upfront.)
However, on awaking the next day the outlook was brighter (quite literally); we were able to appreciate the views and we started to get to know the site.
The pool area was lovely, if a little busy. We couldn’t work out whether or not the waterslides were actually open. You had to remove any footwear (including flip-flops) before entering the pool area proper – which meant a slightly uncomfortable walk down as the ground was a little gritty. The area surrounding the pool was much more pleasant to walk on, except in the heat of the day. It was like short artificial grass and it got VERY hot. There were 3 pools of varying depths, all circular with no separate deep and shallow end and also no separate area for adults to avoid being jumped on..!
The site is very steep in places and therefore not suitable for those of limited mobility. Also the access is via a very steep road – which we regularly drove past!!
There are bikes for hire if you don’t have your own, and crazy golf, tennis and petanque available. There are also stables which we would like to have used but they weren’t open whilst we were there in June.
The main toilet facilities were excellent. Pretty much brand new and very clean. The old block (which was right behind us) was initially closed but once open was perfectly ok. There are also plentiful washing machines/driers dotted around the campsite.
The bar area was very nice with a daily happy hour. When we visited there were a few swifts nests sporting babies that fledged whilst we were there. The supermarket was well stocked and fairly reasonable in price. The takeaway looked ok, but we didn’t make use of it. We also didn’t use the boutique or the restaurant as they only took cash…. We found this out in the boutique whilst we had an armful of goods ready to buy.
We looked out over the back of the site and would regularly see wild boar snuffling around in the undergrowth as well as deer.
Although initially sceptical we ended up having a lovely time – however if we were to return to this area we wouldn’t return to this site as we believe that, for the price (it really wasn’t cheap) we could get a much better site and facilities.
Esterel Camping website – Esterel Caravaning
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