A Weekend Break at Welcome Family Holiday Park, Dawlish **REVIEW**

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There is nothing like a last minute trip to the seaside to instantly improve your mood and put a smile on your face. So when the lovely people over at Welcome Family Holiday Park invited us to come and stay over the May bank holiday, we couldn't pack our suitcases quick enough! 

Welcome Family Holiday Park is an independently owned and family-run 4 star holiday park that’s been at the heart of Dawlish Warren for nearly 70 years. Offering a range of accommodation from caravans to bungalows and apartments, Welcome Family has everything you need for the perfect family holiday right here in UK. 

Whether its a relaxing break next to the beach or a holiday packed with activities and fun, Welcome Family has something for everyone. 

It is situated just a short (around 10 minutes) walk away from the beautiful Dawlish Warren beach with its golden sand, waves that are perfect for splashing in and lots of beautiful shells to collect. Next. There is also a park with lots of rides, an amusements and several shops as well as plenty of spots to grab an ice cream or freshly made hot doughnuts too. 

After having a quick read about the park online I was so excited to arrive, as the kids still had school and my husband still had work we actually arrived on sit quite late (around 9pm) but this wasn't a problem for the park. The reception closes at around 7pm but as I had let them know we were going to be late, we were just directed to collect our keys from the small reception/security desk within the entertainment building. The whole process was really quick and easy, within 5 minutes of arriving on site we had our keys, map and welcome pack and were making our way to our caravan home for the weekend. 

All of the accommodation on site is clearly marked with its number and so finding our caravan was really quick and simple. You are unable to park by the side of, or outside of your caravan at Welcome Family however there is loads of parking all around the park and we found a space in a parking bay a few metres from our caravan.

Every level of accommodation we saw looked really well kept, clean and tidy which is exactly how the whole park is! We couldn't fault the cleanliness of either our accommodation or the park and not once did we spot any litter or mess anywhere, considering how busy the park was I was really impressed!

We stayed in a CasaRio caravan which is described as a "Premier" caravan and it definitely was. These extra large, two bedroom luxury lodge style caravans benefit from a patio with furniture and have a generous 12ft wide double bedroom with separate WC en-suite. There is also a twin bedroom, family shower room, double glazing plus a convertible sofa bed for two people in the lounge.

The décor and fixtures/fittings felt modern and up to date with a LCD tv in the living area as well as a beautiful fire place which made the caravan feel really cosy on an evening and warmed up the room super quickly. 

Upon arrival we were evened greeted with a "welcome tray" which was definitely very welcomed as we had been traveling for several hours and it was now pretty late. It contained your typical tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits etc but also had some lovely extra touches such as a small bottle of rose wine and even a activity pack for the kids (which included an inflatable beach ball, crayons, stickers etc). 

There was also a large booklet telling us all about the park, what was on site with opening and closing times plus a schedule for the day and evening entertainment.

Our beds were super comfy and unlike a lot of places we have stayed in the mattress was really cosy and both myself, my husband and both James and Evelyn all slept really well the whole weekend. 

As we arrived quite late on the Friday we couldn't wait to get up the following morning to really be able to explore the park and we found plenty to keep the kids happy! There is a lovely park which has lots of exciting play equipment for both younger toddlers and slightly older kids too. James and Evelyn are 9 and 4 and both had fun playing it in. The park is fully enclosed with a high fence all around and just two gates to exit the park (one at either side of the park) making it really safe for the kids too. 

James couldn't contain his excitement when he discover there was a caged football/basketball pitch on site too! Anyone who knows James will know he is a football mad, just give him a football and he could entertain himself all day. This area was to the rear of the park and was a lovely spot to let James burn off some energy (of course Evelyn wanted to play too).

If all that playing isn't quite enough there is also a fantastic and FREE, crazy golf course on site. Evelyn was a little young to really understand how it worked but James and his dad had a great time and said it was a lovely course that was lots of fun and very well looked after and clean.

Another big highlight for all of us during our stay was the Tropicana swimming pool complex which consists of four swimming pools!

Sports Pool - This rectangular shaped pool is ideal for adults and kids who are looking for a leisurely swim or a bit of exercise, depth 1 m to 1.5 m.

Toddler Pool - For young children there is the Toddler’s Pool. The pool depth is 50cms, providing a safe splash around for you and the kids!

Fun Pool - The largest swimming pool in the complex has an island and water features and is perfect for the kids. The tropical fun-pool has waterfalls, jets, fountains and bubbles to keep the little and big kids happy, depth 1.2 m.

Bubble Pool - With water jets for relaxation, the Bubble Pool is a great way to wind down after a day of activities. Soak away any tension in this family-sized whirlpool spa.

If you read my blog regularly you will know that we are a big swimming family with both James and Evelyn swimming for a swim club so it was no surprise that we would be heading to the pool every day of our break.

Whilst we did enjoy the swimming and had tons of fun, there were a few little things that I felt could have made it even better. The bubble pool was fantastic however the bubbles weren't always on, in fact during our two visits there were only actually on during one visit for about 20 minutes which was a little disappointment and we noticed others kept checking back to see if it had been switched on too but it never came on again. 

We also noticed the toddler pool was quite cold during our visit, this didn't really stop the kids having a splash around in it but we did find it quite cold and didn't stay in there too long which is a shame really as it was the perfect depth for younger non swimmers to splash around in. 

The fun pool itself is fab, not too deep (James is 9 and was able to walk around the whole pool no problem). There are several fun features in the pool such as the bubble jets which come on intermittently during swimming times and of course the islands in the middle of the pool which the kids loved swimming around pretending to be sharks. 

The sports pool was probably my favourite though, simply because it was amazingly warm and when I say warm I mean warm! Almost like a warm bath it was lovely and clean (as were all the pools) and made for a lovely place to do a few lengths or have some swimming races with the kids. As it was fairly quite during our visits the kids were allowed to take in their large inflatable rings too which they enjoyed lounging and floating around on in the sports pool. It is worth noting though that during busier times lifeguards may request that these rings and inflatables are not brought into the pool. 

There are shower facilities at the complex however as there are only four show cubicles available I imagine during busy times there would be a bit of a wait. The changing facilities themselves though are plentiful and clean so we opted to just get dressed and head back to our caravan for a shower and to get ready for the evening entertainment!

After a fun filled day we couldn't wait to head over to the entertainment complex on an evening for some fun, games and music and we weren't disappointed.

There is entertainment on in the Cruisers Club every evening (and even during the day time on certain days) with the kids evening entertainment starting around 6/6.30pm every evening. The Cruisers Club is large with a large stage area, plenty of seating (lots with tables too), a bar area and a separate small area with a TV showing Sky Sports and various other channels too.

We only really stayed for the children's entertainment on an evening as Evelyn is only 4 so still gets quite tired (especially as we had been cramming lots into our days too) but the kids absolutely loved all of the entertainment we saw and the team who run it were fantastic. They really got the kids involved, up and dancing and engaged with what they were doing which was lovely to see.

They played funny games, had dance offs and got to meet the Welcome Family Holiday Park mascots which of course were a bit hit. Parents of children with a larger age gap will understand just how difficult it can be to find entertainment to please everyone (I have a 5 year age gap between my two) but this team had it mastered and kept both a 4 and 9 year old hooked throughout, which is no easy task.

Whilst you cannot take in your own food or drink into the building you can order food from the bar to eat in which we found to be reasonably priced and tasty. I would have liked to have seen a few more options on the kids menu as the adults menu was so vast, however as the prices were so reasonable James just happily order off of the adults menu anyway.

With all the fun on site there really is plenty to do but if you are wanting to leave the park to explore the local area Dawlish Warren has lots of to see and do.

As I mentioned above Dawlish Warren beach (a blue flag beach) is just a short 10 minute walk from the park and there is plenty to do once you get there. From a theme park full of rides as really reasonable prices to amusements, shops and a stunning beach it would be easy to spend the whole day exploring here.

From checking in until the moment we checked out we felt totally welcome at relaxed at Welcome Family Holiday Park. All of the staff we encountered were helpful, kind and very attentive ensuring everyone on site had the best possible time. Dawlish Warren itself is absolutely beautiful too, a real seaside town with kind friendly people at a relaxing holiday vibe atmosphere everywhere you go. 

If you are looking to book a family getaway here in the UK with plenty to keep the family entertained both on and off site, then I would highly recommend Welcome Family Holiday Park. We had an amazing time and will definitely be booking to return. 

Have you ever been to Welcome Family Holiday Park or does it sound like somewhere you and your family would love to visit? 

xXx


**We were provided with a 3 night break for the purpose of this review. However all words, opinions and images are my own. I retain full control of this post.**