Darwin Escapes Reviews 

Two nights at Stratford upon Avon retreat. There is NOTHING there. It was a while ago. Nice reception area. Small.field to walk. Lodges are nice and some have hot tubs. BUT make sure you stipulate you want a hot tub.
Staff seem friendly. I had an issue late at night with heating. The maintenance team (the manager) think his name was Craig was really helpful. Came out to the lodge and fixed the problem.
Would I visit again? No, there is nothing there. Requires a drive to the nearest shop. If you are going take some essential supplies. No shop onsite. A small supply ofnitems available during normal working hours I reception.

Currently in bude the wi fi is a complete joke, 15 minutes in 2 days totally unacceptable

Stayed at cheddar Woods site in a Mendip lodge. Only 2 of us in a three bedroom lodge. One bedroom was so tiny you had to go in sideways between the beds no room to walk normally. Seemed to be a lot of site rules. If you are taller than 5ft 5in this is not for husband is 6ft 1in continually touching radiator banging head etc. Clean but main concern and will never go again ANTS. Everywhere in kitchen yet we never ate in the lodge. God knows how people got on with children. Had to hoover every day and still they came. Even on white bedroom doors.

Stayed at Woodside Bay retreat on Isle of Wight. Accommodation was huge, clean and very modern. The site is very well maintained, comfortable queen size bed, ensuite in both rooms. Full high speed WiFi in the lodge too. Only complaint would be that the TV did not contain many Freeview channels, and the signal was poor. As a nice touch, the friendly staff provided free bottles of water and Haribo sweets for the journey home. Would recommend and stay again.

The double rooms with onsuite toilets…
The double rooms with onsuite toilets and showers had unbearable stench of sewage emitting from the drains and what can only be described as black debris coming out of the taps. There was also mould working its way up the walls in one of the bedrooms.
total ruined holiday

If you ever need to raise an issue with this company regarding their lodges or facilities then don't expect a positive response or outcome. The disdain with which they treat customers shows their true colours. They will deny, ignore or just flat out blame you for any and all the issues. Truly appalling company to do business with and ruined our holiday for my wifes 40th birthday, stay away.

After 20years on Talacre I visited the site for Easter and found the next caravan putting up two big storage cabinets right in front of my door I asked him have got room in front for those he said no and pointed to the flags the site had put there for them I have tried to speak to a manager they told me one would come up three times but no as shone up they had my phone no three times I no the rules on site there should be space to get to gas electric and water it’s a total disgrace to my privacy I am totally shocked I must be the only one on Talacre with two cabinets in front of me front door

Have stayed at Sandymouth & Piran Meadows over a dozen times between them both in the last few years, we keep returning as the sites are always immaculate, the vans are always in great condition, the service from staff is always great, and we always have a great stay.

What a stay! We booked very last minute for a week stay as we both have very busy working lives! Have stayed at other Darwin resorts previously however this was something else. We booked a Mill Pond Lodge with a hot tub and we absolutely couldn't fault a thing, very impressed. Gorgeous location, lodge was exceptionally clean, all facilities and amenities thought of! Hot tub brand new! Fab golf facilities, super helpful and friendly staff.
Would highly recommend booking and staying here!

Ref Woodside Bay Lodge Retreat

Lovely site, beautiful chalet and site. Very friendly and easy communication. Loved staying there, felt like a retreat.

Ref Hawkchurch Resort and Spa, Axminster

Such a disappointing stay. The accommodation was fine but the spa was a dreadful experience this morning (Sun 6 Feb @ 9am). Jets not working, sauna cold, pool water cool, changing rooms very wet with water pooling on floor. We couldn’t even shower as the water was cold. We mentioned all these points at reception and we were given the standard apology that they would pass on our complaints to the management. No offer to compensate for the poor standard, not even a complimentary coffee to warm up as we were all extremely cold. No amount of ‘sorries’ or assurances that things would be addressed later in the day made up for this. We have cancelled our table for 6 for Sunday lunch and we’re going home as the atmosphere has spoiled our mood. Very poor inadequate service and we won’t be recommending this resort.

Had to wait an extra hour and a half for our lodge to be available after check in time, lodge was dirty, cigarette paper behind bedroom door, inch thick dust in skirting boards, filthy pans and cups, comments card from previous guests, hot tub not fully functioning, phlegm or snot stuck to bedroom wall. Bar manager was rude as were several of his staff, deputy manager was unhappy about me complaining.
On the bright side it was a nice site with lots to do but doesn’t make up for the other stuff.

Worked at the Dundonald links site for 4 months ,taken on as night warden-security, changed to night porter then used as a night cleaner. 2 of the restaurant management team were rude and treated the workforce like dung. Gave them the required 4 weeks notice and had it finished a week early meaning they broke the contract, which in turn knackered my tax codes.( just got it sorted)

Stayed at Cheddar Woods Spa and very poor customer service left some valuable clothing items behind and although contacted immediately on the same day very poor help from customer services who were not interested in helping recover or even to take my details. Contacted again day later and items never recoverd even after giving full details of what and were they were left in the property. Response was never passed in from housing keeping or anyone prepared to go and check accomodation

Stayed at Lodge number 19 at Canterbury Reach Lodge Retreat from 16th September to 23rd September. When we got there it all seemed fine until we discovered that the parking bay outside the lodge was on an incline and my dad couldn't park his car there. He is registered disabled and couldn't handle walking up and down the slope without assistance. We did inform Darwin Escapes twice about my dad's mobility issues via their website but it seems they ignored those messages and allocated us a lodge with unsuitable access anyway. He decided to park his car on the roadway outside our lodge but we were pestered constantly to move the car even though we explained that my dad has mobility issues, they didn't care, they just wanted the car moved because apparently the chairman was due to be staying in the lodge opposite ours and wouldn't be very happy. Anyway, on the first morning my mother wanted to use the shower in the en suite bathroom and when she turned the tap she was hit immediately with a blast of scalding hot water, she tried to turn the cold water tap and it wouldn't move, she also scalded her feet and couldn't get out of the shower quick enough. We reported it to reception and was assured it would be dealt with. A young guy came round with a spanner in hand and disappeared into the en suite bathroom and then told us that he had fixed it and it should be fine. The next morning the same thing happened again when my mother went to use the en suite shower, she was hit with a blast of scalding water and the cold water tap wouldn't turn, the shower hadn't been fixed at all. The kitchen knives were also a joke, they were so blunt they couldn't have circumcised a gnat and one of the knives had the tip of the blade missing so God knows what had gone on with previous occupants for a knife to lose its tip. Apart from that the site is clean and the lady who works on reception is very helpful and was sympathetic when I explained about the en suite shower situation. I don't think we would go there again though, it's in the middle of nowhere with no shops around it, although we did have a lovely meal in the Chequers pub down the road.

Wow what a fantastic holiday we have just had Piran Meadows Resort is amazing the staff each and every one of them are a credit to Darwin Escapes, never have we stayed anywhere and found every member of staff prepared to go that extra mile to ensure guest satisfaction.

We stayed in two Wadebridge 2 caravans (one for our son and 2 kids and one for my wife and I) which felt and look far more like lodges than static caravans the attention to detail was first class they even had two bathrooms which we did not expect, We spent weeks back in march researching holidays and would like to personally thank Amy Francis from your reception team not just for answering the many questions we had before and after booking but also for looking after us so well during our stay she even made our wedding anniversary meal super special when we dined that night with the family in the on site bistro.

Our grand children loved the sites facility’s especially the swimming pool and outdoor splash area have to say we did also . in short for a luxury chilled stay in a spotlessly clean accommodation with amazing staff look no further than Piran Meadows Resort you will not be disappointed.

I would like to say a very big thank you to Amy and all of the staff for making our short holiday one to remember can’t wait to return only suggestion I would like to make to Darwin Escapes would be to start a loyally scheme for repeat guests as many other companies do via Hoseasons I am sure this would increases repeat guests no end.

John & Yvonne

Just come back from a Darwin escapes 4 day break in ilfacrome ( Devon) have been at this site 4 years ago wow what a change it was so sad booked an accommodation with jacuzzi (£615) four nights ( £515 No Jacuzzi) as we did not have any issues 4 years ago just pressed on with payment and confirmation payments are now made to hoseasions not direct to DWE When we arrived we where allocated cabin 26 on inspection there was NO jacuzzi the site manager said Hoseasions are always doing this getting YOU to pay a higher price then knowing you don’t check give you something else. We where told this is what you have booked ( it was not but I should have checked the confirmation ) I was on the phone for an hour the operator / lac of customer relations ( sorry) said there was nothing he could do as I had booked a none jacuzzi cabin

I asked if there was a jacuzzi cabin available NO sorry

We stayed 4 nights cabin 1 / 2 had a jacuzzi and no one stayed in the cabins whilst we where there. We can only presume Hoseasions are misleading customers of Darwin escapes.

The manager and his assistant both who sat in the sun from the time they started until they went home can not help indeed they confirmed things had gone down hill since hoseasions took over bookings.

The manager and assistant although nice where as use as ice in winter.

I have spent £100 more just to be mislead no one from hoseasions or Darwin escapes can help.

We will definetly not be using Darwin homes or hoseasions going forward.

We stayed at keswick reach lodges Xmas 2021 for 7 days, 3 adults, 2 children. We have been visiting for the past 4 year.
We had booked a Turner lodge-which we had never stayed in before-our 1st reaction was that it was tired, shabby and not the cleanest. As we were amidst the Covid pandemic we would have expected alot more. However as mentioned it Xmas Eve and we just qanted to settle the children, the heating wasn't working, so that was our main focus. We rang the handyman and he came out and fixed it. Because the lodges were not upto previous years standard we decided then and there we would enjoy our stay but wouldn't be revisiting, unless refurbishments were advertised.
At the end of our stay we tidied to the best of our ability. For the length of stay we were suprises that there wasn't a vacuum, not even a dust pan and brush. However we cleaned and strupped all beds and took all rubbish to the bins.
As we were travelling home i recieved a phonecall stating we were going to be charged nearly £300 for the lodge to be cleaned and for the damage we caused. I was so taken aback as any damage to the lodge i.e chunk of wood drom the worktop, holes in sofas, were there on our arrival. As we had also stayed at Thanet Well Lodges and they were of similar standard i just assumed they were worn, i didnt mention it to anyone and certainly didnt take photos, which they have since said we should have done.
Basically we are now being threatened with court action, and have been laughed at on the phone. Letters and emails arriving daily/weekly. We don't owe any money, i would have mentioned the damage if we had done it but we did not. As for the deep clean, we had been there a week at Xmas, there were sparkles which they have complained about. Nothing that a vacuum could not easily get rid of, they have accused us of having cat litter on the balcony, it was a small amount of reindeer food (porridge oats) which my children sprinkled. They should leave a hoover, dust pan and brush, i would have gladly used them. Im absolutely astounded with the threats they have made, why should we pay when we were they ones who settled for staying at an unclean, shabby, damaged lodge! And on top of this it was when covid rates were high, surely they should be deep cleaning as standard. Customer service is deplorable.

Keswick reach lodges Darwin escapes

The flies in this place were horrendous, I spent most of the time saving my 5 year old from flies that were after him and Closing the windows and vents didn’t help, the flies just kept coming and coming. I must have killed at least 30 flies with the fly spray and a further 20 on the fly sticky tapes, and a further 20 at least by flicking towels at them ( they can’t avoid towels flying at them) the whole place was littered with dead fly corpses and yet they kept coming and coming, this place at lodge 107 has an infestation and a deniability problem amongst the management, if they only acknowledged there was an issue and took concrete steps to sort the issue out, other than just give the “it’s lambing season” excuse, they would fare better.
We spoke to other people in other lodges who said they were having the same issue.
It ruined our experience as we couldn’t open the windows to let fresh air in
It was hot and stuffy and we couldn’t sleep in peace as all we could hear was buzzing flies in our faces. Eventually we just gave up and opened the windows and doors to let the fresh air in, the population of flies actually decreased when all the doors were opened, suggesting the issue was from the inside of the cabin and not from outside, as was being suggested by the staff.

AVOID AVOID AVOID! Utterly pointless weekend stay, don't waste your money!
We originally booked with nearly 2 years ago and due to Covid it was cancelled and rearranged. We were excited to finally be enjoying our spa weekend away only to be told less than 24 hours before check in that a number of activities were not available. Luckily we had 6 treatments booked at the spa so this was less of a problem. I don’t believe it is fair or reasonable to email this less than 24 hours before our arrival, had we been wanting to undertake these activities it would be too late for us to cancel, in addition the bowling alley was also “out of order”.
We were then informed 24 hours before our appointments by Eden spa that only 1 of 3 treatments booked for Friday afternoon could be fulfilled, the others would be rescheduled to Saturday morning. This was less than ideal as we also had 3 further treatments booked for the afternoon and made plans around the original timings we wanted; 3 treatments each on Friday and 3 each on Saturday.
My mother turned up for her treatment on the Friday afternoon (the only 1 offered) and within an hour of her returning we received an email to say the remaining 5 of the 6 treatments were cancelled due to Covid sickness and one member of staff having an allergic reaction to the products (also alarming) and therefore was advised by her GP not to perform our treatments. As you can imagine we were completed devastated this was the entire point of the trip and stay at Cheddar Woods Resort and Spa.
We were offered a full refund, obviously! This is simply not good enough, I understand the restrictions with Covid but why would there be no contingency for such situations? The whole purpose of the weekend was to relax and enjoy the 6 pre-booked treatments, a birthday present to our Mother long overdue. Had we known we would have cancelled the visit entirely but instead we had travelled down, checked in and unpacked. In addition to myself and my sister taking annual leave from work owe are now also over £600 out of pocket, with accommodation, travel, food etc on a spa weekend away which we now need to rebook.