Hi I am also going there also with Charles Alexander so would appreciate any feedback abount the site or the holiday comapny

Hi Katherine131
How did you find the company . . . helpful etc?
chrispy

Hi
I found the company when doing a search. I had seen the site in camping life so researched the campsite and found the Charles Alexander website. Am staying in a super titania mobile home which from the pictures looks very nice.
I also posted a query about this camp site on the camping and caravanning forum and have had one reply saying they had a brilliant time there and would go back! So hopefully fingers crossed.

Thanks . . . We are staying in the same accommodation . . . they do look nice and researching the Acapulco on line through other operators gave me confidence that the site was good.
I would still like to hear from someone who's been there tho!!
I've not heard of Charles Alexander before but they seem OK.
Let me know if you hear any more
chrispy

Have just found out that a friend of my sister-in-law wen to the same place last year and said it was excellent!!! They had a brilliant time and said the park was really nice . . . one of their best holidays!!!

Encouraging don't you think???!!!

They didn't go through Charles Alexanda Holidays though so don't know any more about them.

chrispy

I worked just beside acapulco on a site called le clarys plage in summer '04 and thought the area was great. Acapulco is nice and all the couriers on my site were jealous of the water slides in their pool! As for charles alexander I didn't work for them but worked alongside them, they seem an easy company to deal with but there never seemed to be any reps on site if any problems arose. If you've never been to the vendee area before i'd definitely recommend visiting ile de normoutier.

Hi Courier,
Do you mind if I ask what you thought of Le Clarys plage? Ive booked there for last week in June/first week in July?Is it usually busy at that time or more relaxed?
thanks,
Sins

We have been to Camping Acapulco for the last three years and with Charles Alexander for the last two. I can thoroughly recommend both. The resort is very friendly, especially the couple that run the bar area. Children are not only tolerated, but encouraged to be there. There is usually some form of entertainment in the bar, ranging from live musicians, childrens discos, quiz nights etc. Charles Alexander is a really friendly company to go with. In fact it is like staying with friends. Andrew and Julie (the owners) are lovely people who will do their utmost to make sure your holiday is as you would want it to be, and make you feel at home. Their reps, also, couldn't be more helpful or friendly.

We did have one slight problem last year when a couple of french youths were vandalising the gas barbeque of the empty mobile home next to us. We called our reps. (Even though they were off duty - it was well past midnight) and literally within five minutes they were with us and sorted the situation out. The following morning they had the youths thrown off the campsite.

I cannot recomend Charles Alexander highly enough.

What a brilliant review. I cant wait to go now.
One question, is there a minimum age to go on the water slides?
Before booking I reviewed various brochures and no ages were stipulated, since booking I have now noticed that the Siblu brochure states the minimum age to be 8.
As I have a 6 year old who swims like a fish he would be very disapponted if he was not allowed on

Hi Katherine131

If he can swim then there will be no problem with your son, there is no stipulated age limit on the slides. The only thing is that there is no supervision so it's best if you keep an eye them yourself if you have any worries. My two sons had a super time using the slides (the youngest went down them in the second year when he was 5). Neither could swim, but sat in inflatable rings down the slides, as did most of the younger children. The slides are separated from the main swimming area so there is no danger from hitting any swimmers when they enter the water. There are three different types of slides, one quite fast curled tunnel, one slower open curled slide and three parallel straight slides which are quite fast but shorter. There is also a shallow toddlers pool for the very young.

Hope someone who's been can help....

We are also considering booking this site with some friends. I've read the reviews on most websites, but how near is the campsite to any of the resorts/towns/villages?
I see it's within walking distance of the beach, but what else?
Between us we will have a 4yr old, a toddler and a baby, so we'd like to not have to rely on cars all the time.

Thanks

Rhona

Hi Rhona

Yes the beach is within walking distance (about ¾ mile), within that distance there is a supermarket, a few small restaurant/bars and a mini-golf. The nearest towns are St. Jean (2 miles north) St. Giles (5 miles south), both worth a visit. There is also the small village of St. Hilliare before you get to St. Giles. Apart from that, if you are going off site, you would probably need the car. But having said that, the roads are generally very good and not too busy (certainly when we went - early June). The nearest major resort is Les Sables, which is well worth a visit, if only for the superb beach, but this is about 15 miles south. It also has a very pleasant, but quite small zoo. There are also some interesting places on the way (Model Village, Childrens Play Park etc. - you will be able to pick up brochures on the camp site). Going north, beyond St.Jean there is the Ile de Noirmoutier, which is also worth a visit, it takes about ½ an hour to reach the island, which you can reach either by the spectacular road bridge or (depending on the tide) the 'Le Passage du Gois' causeway. If you enter via the bridge there is a dual carraige way that takes you to the main town on the island, Noirmoutier-en-I'lle. Although this seems to take quite a while, if you are prepared to explore a little, from there, there are quite a few beautiful small coves with lovely beaches.

Found your website and noticed some people going to Vendee in the summer and wondered if anyone had been. We have been to Alcapulco a few times and also the Clarys Plage. The first time we went we went with a larger England based company. We were in a tent and whilst on site the reps with Charles Alexander showed us round a luxury caravan. Their prices were up in Euro's so we took their details and thought would bear them in mind for next time. I rang in Janury 2005 and spoke to the owner, they are in France, but are English. I got a fantastic deal, and we decided to try the Clarys Plage for a change. The site was right next door the Alcapulco and just as nice. The vans are excellent, we had a fantastic pitch and two bedrooms and a double in the lounge. The facilaties were excellent and the reps could not help you enough. The Alcapalco we thought, had a more livlier bar in the evenings. The Alcapulco we found had more French on the site. Not a problem, they had their French quiz first, then the English. The French/English kids all mixed together and they are just wonderful holidays. The Clarys was a bit quieter in the bar, although there was always entertainment. However, last year allot of parents had begun to worry about taking children out of school in term time. The reps said the resort was quieter because of worried parents not wanting to upset the schools. So as far as Charles Alexander goes, they are fantastic value and the Clarys Plage is in Thompson's brochure, with 4 stars, so that says it all really. We went with people who paid £2,000 for the same break, in the same accomodation. Can definately recomment the company, the campsites and the holidays. I have three children, they love France and have a ball. And yes we are going back to the Clarys Plage in June and yes, we are using Charles Alexander again.

Have been keeping an eye on this post since I first 'joined in' way back now . . . Brilliant reviews, tips and advice.

Thank you all!!

Have great holidays!!

I will post my own review when I get back in August.

Regards
Chrispy!

Just some tips for when you are making the journey to the Vendee. I assume by car. We stopped at large modern garages most of the way. My husband pulled into a French stopping point to let the kids have a run around. At this particular stop I wandered into the loo's and was horrified to find no toilet you just stand and go. This was a ladies loo. Also there were lots of French people at this stop. You may know the French love dogs and take them everywhere, this stop had poop everywhere. They have not discovered pooper scooping yet. So when travelling use the large services, they look like our Esso stations (modern). They have huge shops and immaculate toilets + you can always get a machine strong coffee (good for the driver). When we left the awful stopping point, I nearly turned home, I was convinced our camping toilets at Alcapulco would be not proper loos. When we got to site, I ran straight to the loos. They were proper English loos and they were immaculate. The showers were disinfected all the time. So just make sure when you travel you stick to the nice big stopping areas, not the nasty ones which the French seem to use.

I've been on holiday with Charles Alexander for the past two years and have just booked with them again for August this year. I've been on two sites (which are next to each other), Acapulco and Le Clarys Plage and found them both to be perfect for the family with plenty of activities for the kids. In fact it was the kids who persuaded me to book again this year despite me offering a more exotic holiday destination!

The beach is a few minutes walk away but we spent most of the time by the pool or playing table tennis. There are plenty of local attractions, St Giles is a short drive away, this is a lovely fishing village with a thriving market for local produce and presents. Noirmoutier is slightly further away, this is an island with a courseway accessable only at low tide (there is a bridge for other times!) When the courseway is uncovered the French park up and go hunting for shellfish in their thousands.

There are adventure parks nearby, scuba diving if you're that way inclined (our courier advised where to go) and all sorts of other amusements if you can drag yourself away from sitting peacefully in the
sun......

All in all thouroughly recommended for a family holiday

Does anyone know whether the site requires men to wear swimming trunks or are swim shorts acceptable?

Hi Katharine131

Shorts are fine, certainly on Acapulco and I am sure the same applies to Clarys Plage.

The first time we booked to go to France, the brochures stated men "must wear proper trunks" (eg speedo's). I forced my not so skinny husband to buy a pair, because the brochure said he must. Went we got to the Vendee, everyman there was wearing shorts in the water. Perhaps the brochure just puts this information to cover themselves. Whenever we have gone (out of school holiday season, so no lifeguards), there has been no men in speedo's. There were quite allot of larger men, so the though of those in trunks is quite revolting. So by all means take your men's swim shorts with you.