Just returned from a week at Sun Parks De Hann...I went with my fiance, our 4 children (aged 12, 11, 8 and 6) plus my fiance's father, so 7 of us altogether. We had booked one of the Select Lakeside Villas which sleeps up to 8 people. I had never stayed there before, but my fiance and his family had a few years ago, and had no complaints, so we were really looking forward to what should have been a weeks' relaxing holiday, right? Wrong.....

Upon reaching our villa (if you could call it a villa, I think a box would be a more accurate description), we were absolutely horrified to discover that the front door was broken and boarded up, with shards of broken glass behind the cardboard which had been taped over. The outside of the villa looked dingy, and the front door was a depressing grey steel. Inside wasn't quite so bad, it was clean enough (in most places, except under the beds which looked like no one had ever cleaned there, the layers of dust were so thick..not good for an asthmatic like myself). Once inside we quickly discovered a number of things that weren't right:

1). We had paid (12 euros) for what was supposed to be a 'comfort service' (bedding and towels delivered and beds made up for when you arrive. It wasn't done...we complained and they delivered the bedding and towels but refused to make up the beds for us, which we had to do ourselves after a long 12 hour journey by car and ferry...not a good start.

2). The sliding door to the balcony wouldn't open...we compained and someone came around to fix it that night, but half an hour later it wouldn't even close...in the process of trying to get it shut, the handle came off and I fell backwards and got hurt as a result...not a good start either. We complained again the next day and someone came out again, got it to close but then it wouldn't lock and they didn't replace the handle...grrrr! Not good as we had young kids who could then get out onto the lakeside balcony at any time.

3). One of the showers was broken, no cold tap or thermostatic control. We complained and someone did come and fix that, fortunately.

4). No double bed...when we complained about this, we were informed that not a single villa in the entire village had a double bed. Not exaclty couple-friendly...my fiance and I tried pushing the two single beds in our room together but they were on castors and I ended up falling through the middle during the night, so in the end we had to resort to tying the legs of the bed together so we could get a decent night's sleep.

5). No oven, which was unbelievable! The cooking facilities were so limited, just a microwave and a hob, makes it extremely difficult when you've got 4 kids to feed...so much for self catering!

6). No DVD player, yet my fiance's brother who stayed in one of the cheaper villas had one in his....why??? That wasn't what we paid for....

7). Biggest gripe of all...no laundry facilities on site!! I had to navigate my way to the nearest village and try to find a public launderette to deal with 2 loads of washing, and then get it back to the villa when the staff wouldn't allow me to take my car around and unload it....had to put it in the main car park (a good 5 minutes walk away) and lug it all the way back on my own. Never, ever again, total nightmare.

In addition there were broken controls on the radiators in some of the rooms, broken curtain rails, cracks in the walls and ceilings. It rained heavily on our first day and the sliding door (which still wouldn't close properly) leaked and we had to put towels down to stop the flood of water across the floor. Half the time the heating wouldn't come on when you wanted it to, I think it worked mostly during the night (which is when I would normally have it off at home). The terrace was ugly, with a horrible steel barrier around it and a steel bars over the top that provided no shelter whatsoever if it happened to be raining...the lake looked more like a canal than a lake, the pillows on the beds were lumpy and horrible, the kettle and toaster were temperamental and half the time wouldn't switch off by themselves...cheap and nasty. The showers had only a half-screen across them which meant the floors ended up flooded after using them. The onsite shop was very expensive with a limited range of goods....everything closed early (the shop was open until only 7 most nights, while the bars were shut by half 10)...and everything was very pricey indeed, considering the pool and the kids play area were the only things included in the cost...everything else was extra.

In short, it was very disappointing, and I spent my first night there in tears just wanting to go home. We eventually managed to make the best of things by taking a few day trips out and the kids loved the pool but the rest of the time they (and us) had very little to do...not even any internet access in the villas, only in the main centre.

In short, I would not recommend this place at all, unless you don't mind 'roughing it'...it's not luxury in any sense of the word. To be fair to the staff they were all friendly enough, but we did find the level of customer service to be very sloppy and the overall general consideration for health and safety to be very poor. Never was I more relieved to get home from a holiday than I was from this one!

Whilst the pool was first class I felt slightly cheated on the promise of luxury accommodation. The house (Exclusive) was dark, old, poorly furnished and the sauna ... what can I say...great marketing!

We stayed with sunparks in germany and the accommodation was spotless, good quality and ideal for a weeks holiday. The swimming and play area facilities were first class and we were very impressed. We booked Belgium for this year expecting similar standrds. when we arrived the accommodation was filthy, plugs hanging off the wall, fridge wouldnt close and dog hairs all over the lounge. the accommodation was also dated and grotty and I was devastated. The stairs were open tread and my youngest would need very close supervision on them. The beds looked grotty. The toilet had not been cleaned for weeks, it was shocking.
We complained to the manager and she dealt with us very well. We eventually got moved to different accommodation. it was top of the range, reasoably clean and much more luxurious. we enjoyed our holiday but are now considering whether to risk a further booking with Sunparks after this.

We visited Sunparks De Haan from 23 - 27 August. We stayed in an exclusive 2 person villa with our 21 month old daughter. The villa was nice, with a lovely enclosed garden. Our daughter loved the bunnies hopping around the garden. The villa was clean although there was damp in the toilet and some mould in the bathroom. Other than that, the villa was comfortable and spacious enough for the 3 of us. The swimming pool was tired looking and there were only 2 family changing cubicles which we didn't think was sufficient enough given that this was a family resort!! The staff in the reception and information area were quite unwilling to speak English and one was really quite rude when we asked for some information on Bruges. She would not help us!! Our villa was fairly close to the main complex, however some are really quite far away so I would suggest looking at the village map and choosing your villa in advance!