Johnfowlerholidays Avis 

Was able to arrive early as accommodation had been cleaned and was ready for us. Very spacious with modern kitchen and three very good sized bedrooms, one full sized bathroom with dual ended bathtub and a smaller shower room with toilet and basin. On arrival I unpacked some food items and went to dispose of the packaging in the bins - rubbish and recycling. On opening the rubbish bin a very pungent smell of old cigarettes emitted from the bin. Phoned housekeeping and they came and replaced the bin. There were blinds up at all windows but the front door, which was fully glazed with clear glass, had the blinds removed due to previous damage. Had to request something to hang on the pole which was above the door. They bought a curtain later and hung it, it covered 75% of the door height. On unpacking our suitcases we found one of the bedside cabinet drawers had a previous guests underwear in them. Beds were comfortable. Staff were friendly. Being the holder of a Blue Badge I was able to use one of the four disabled parking bays opposite the accommodation. Two are for the bungalows adjacent to the parking bays and the other for anyone with a blue badge. They were not always empty. Further disabled parking bays close to the accommodations would be useful. Stayed here many times over the years and would come back again.

Static Caravan at Combe Martin Beach Holiday Park was disgusting. On arrival it smelt horrible. Inside was very unclean. Double bed was uncomfortable and after a couple of nights, i had pulled back the sheets to find a damp large urine stain. Mattress should of been disposed of. Lack of heating, we had to try to heat the caravan with putting the oven on. Mould in most rooms. if i could place the photos on here i would. i have how ever sent an email to the holiday park as well as the governing body for the holiday park for Health & Safety. Now awaiting for the holiday park to complete a 28 day investigation.

I would give less if i could. Stayed at Smugglers Cottage Cardigan Bay. Had 2 children under 2 with no hot water, a wasp nest in the garden, dirty hot tub, shower(cold) leaked all over the floor, toilet didnt flush, Snails crawling up the door frame inside the cottage, dirty placemats. Constant droning noise outside all night couldnt sleep so left after 2 days. a round trip of 9 hours wasted. AVOID AVOID AVOID. wish i had read the reviews beforehand.

Zoe on reception was always helpful and stripey Nathan doing the entertainment,he is always full of fun and friendly . The bar staff were lovely and the food from the takeaway was always hot with plenty of choice

So, booking process great, email communication great. Now the park.

First, 95% of the staff were great, welcoming, friendly and helpful.

Second, our "plus" caravan was very old, dated, need some tlc but was clean enough (the wood floor was dirty) I expected better to be honest.

Third, the pool complex was closed, we were offered the pool at another park 1.5 miles away, you couldn't pre book and it had a maximum capacity of 50. You can't walk as there are no paths and parking had to be paid for.
We asked for a drink from the bar as good will but John Fowler customer services refused.

Beach location is amazing.

The site just needs investment, the bars are tired, the show lounge is tired, the arcade is tired and the caravan stock is tired.
It's a shame, as the place could be amazing, will have to see what John Fowler Holidays invest in the park.

At night you could hear rodents scurrying around under the cabin. Keeping you awake at night. I did not see any bait boxes around. There was a lose floorboard and one of my guests dining chair nearly went down. Poor maintenance as kitchen doors etc weren't aligned. A knob came off one of the bedroom draws, curtain poles weren't straight. There was a stain on the ceiling around the flu, obviously there was or had been a leak. There was a screw not aligned with the door edgeing strip, luckily no one caught their feet on it. The fridge was constantly flowing with water even though it was on 3.5. We had to constantly wipe it out.
I know you get what you pay for, but a happy experience makes you want to return but I dont think so. A lick of paint and some maintenance during the two month's its closed wouldn't go a miss.

Have been staying at Ruda holiday park for over 40 years. We will forget the shambles parkdean left it in. This week beginning 15th of September we arrived to celebrate hubby's 60th birthday. Last orders 10 pm !! What a joke.Was told not many people in!! So you would rather we go back to caravan and drink our own beer!! OK will do!!!

Visited Southbay holiday park in Brixham and booked the premium plus caravan . Trust me this is no where premium plus !! It’s a bog standard caravan and extremely Small. Two bedrooms were tiny all rooms were tiny. I think John fowler is under the impression that if they give you a gift box with bits in and a tea towel with a dishwasher tablet ( no dishwasher though) that this makes it premium plus. It does not. I have had two previous premium plus caravans at waterside holiday parks and they were beautiful. This caravan was for 4 people but only 3 balcony chairs provided and no table. Lady on reception couldn’t care less and just said someone must have taken them and nothing she could do about it. Caravan had small side balcony no French doors. They really need to down grade to standard caravan. Overall a pleasant stay, bus to Brixham from site was handy but walked down most of the time as bus only every hour. Taxi back was easy and cost on average £7 so you are free to have a beer in the harbour. Would stay on site again due to close proximity to harbour but would book a cheaper caravan as premium plus a waste of money

Stayed at John Fowler Holidays - Ruda Holiday Park, Croyde Devon, with family. Stayed in a caravan which cost over £200 per night. The issues with the accommodation ranged from all round dirty, to broken stools, drawers. Tried addressing the issues at the park and following our visit, unfortunately the response was very disappointing. They blame Parkdean holidays, as they bought the site from them 6 months prior. However, inspections should be done by John Fowler to ensure the accommodation is fit for purpose and paying guests! The confirmed to me they had done inspections so by that they are aware of the condition of these caravans. A summary of the issues are as follows: -
Outside
• On arrival the key to the caravan did not work. There was wet tissues on the deck, outdoor chair with bird mess and bird mess down the window of the patio doors (inside & out). The door handle and door were in poor condition.
Kitchen
• Yellow stains to the ceiling
• Broken drawer
• Dirty utensil drawer, cooker, floor
• Fridge – dirt, hair in the fridge
• Broken footstool/stool
Lounge
• Curtains that don’t hang properly – the Accommodation Manager and ourselves tried fixing them but they would just come undone. They would not close properly
• Dirty mirror
• Settee in very bad condition and was very uncomfortable to sit on. There was hard board directly under a single cushion.
Shower Room
• We did not get an en-suite (as advertised)
• The shower room was mouldy, broken surround to shower controls and generally dirty
Bedroom/hallway & throughout
• Mould on skirting and walls
It was a very uncomfortable stay and spoilt our week away. I would never go on a holiday with John Fowler Holidays again! Total waste of money. Got loads of photos to share but unfortunately no facility on here to share them.

I was really disappointed this year we stayed with john fowler perran View. A couple of years ago. With our grandson. He rally liked cornwall. Perranporth in particular. Then this year decided to go back again as a family. Only from Monday to fri. But on the Tues we had some really suspicious Asian looking blokes 2 infact. In the chalet next to us always outside on there phone curtains kept closed. But on the Fri morn at 4.30am. There was alot of running up and down stairs, banging doors,ect next door and lots of different voices. when I looked out of the window there was a mini van with at least 12 males that I could see. All with a carrier bag of clothes. And your management tried to say they knew nothing about it when my husband commented on it. 12 men in a 2 bed chalet. And they apparently knwe nothing about it. That is the last time I will ever go to john fowler again and I will definitely not recommend especially for families 😢

Haven't even gone on the holiday yet but already experiencing poor customer service / just found out through Jen investigation the pool is closed all weekend - that being the reason we book ruda - not contacted by John fowler at all and not responding to e mails - avoid

Ruda Holiday Park 2025
We returned to this site for a static caravan holiday for many years when our daughters were growing up, the site was owned then by Parkdean. Our holidays were perfect in a great location. This year, 2025, thought we would return again but after making the booking the site was sold to John Fowler. From our experience, if you don’t want to be disappointed the avoid.
I paid to have “Fixed Door” which guarantees the exact favourite caravan and plot, in this case 192. On arrival I was given the enveloped arrival pack and told caravan number 232. On challenging this I was informed that they (John Fowler) were not given all the booking details from Parkdean. However I produced and email from John fowler valeting all my booking details, so lie number 1, and trying to blame Parkdean.
We were assured the van was in the same area and it was the same type of van per our booking (Pickwell Plus). When we entered the van, it was clear we had been fobbed off with another lie. The van was a much lower grade, falling apart, a substituted fridge freezer where there should be a build it integrated fridge freezer.
Back to reception they say the site is fully booked and cannot relocate us, and no understanding that the van is totally different from what we booked and paid for. The only compensation offered was to refund the “fixed Door” fee. This would not be the holiday we booked and looking forward to for best part of this year. Did not want to stay in this low graded accommodation and accepted to have a full refund with intention of returning home.
Be warned, it appeared most if not all the guests checking in were having the same problem.
Of course were not happy with just a full refund as this does not substitute the holiday we were looking forward to and the days out we had planned let alone wasted cost of fuel going and returning with no holiday.

I highly recommend this place. The service is terrible. The manager was very unfriendly. I reported my problem with a dirty hot tub, and she said the water had been changed and that she would show me the paperwork. The water had been changed, but the hot tub was very dirty (I'll add photos at the end). I should also mention that we arrived with a small child, one year old, and another child, nine. There were visible signs of a party where balloons had been popped, and the sofa smelled like something had died in there. The rooms looked like a prison cell. Worst of all, the manager said I could have wiped it down myself with a cloth. I replied that it wasn't my job, that I'd paid for a clean hot tub. I was upset, and the manager said that if I had a problem with it, we could leave. This shocked me, as I was treated this way simply for pointing out something the staff hadn't done. Then the lady offered me an 80 pound refund, but I was right, saying the staff didn't clean the pool, they just replaced the water. I agreed because I didn't want to ruin my family's vacation. The lady said it would take a few days for the money to be transferred to my account. After a month, I haven't received any transfer. I didn't lose much, but I hope people read this as a warning not to rent a caravan there. There are many other resorts nearby with better prices for the quality of the stay.

We booked a gold star bungalow. The shower didn't work, the tv also didn't work, these things were not fixed during our week's stay. The bungalow was stained and shabby. The kids' mattresses had to be changed. Customer service was very poor. Improvement needs to be made in all these areas.

JOHN FOWLER ST IVES HOLIDAY VILLAGE.

Visited last year. Arrived to cabin furniture sofas soaked and the oven not working. They tried drying them with leaf blowers and offered £50 refund and £50 food voucher for oven not working. We didn’t receive them.

Gave them another chance again this year arrived after 7 hours travelling to cabin not ready again and a very large group of 3-4 family’s who came together and booked to be side by side right in-front of the facilities. Straight away the large group teenagers and children took ownership of the facilities and refused my son and other children access and told them they had to pay. My son who has autism was confused and didn’t understand them and went on the swing. He was violently pushed off. badly bruising his knees.

The second day a fight broke out where the same large group attacked another family resorting to the police being called. We was kept awake all night by fighting

My son again was refused access to the park and was called discriminating words and kicked in the legs and groin.

We reported to staff and they told us to go back to our cabin and they will come and talk to us and reassure us. No one came. We had to walk past the large intimidating group again still running around wild and taking over the faculties. We couldn’t find the manager anywhere on site and eventually found the one young man security man on site.

This left us feeling very vulnerable and unsafe and isolated to our cabin and we made a decision to leave immediately.

We was supposed to stay for 7 nights we stayed for 2 and the 2 days there was hell. We are £2000 out of pocket.

They have refused a refund even though their terms and conditions are any large groups should be booked through one person so extra security is added. They are now saying it’s a minimum 10 family bookings. It doesn’t state that anywhere. It also states any bad behaviour coming from anyone will be removed immediately. After violently attacking my son twice and other children and fighting with adults where police was called I’m shocked that wasn’t enough warnings and was still allowed to sta. We believe it’s because there was a lot of them and they wanted the money coming in from them.
They also said I was reassured we wasn’t. Lie after lie and not protected.

Other people who experienced the same as my family since have made contact and agree they went through the same thing and will not be going back.

Please do not book here. The service is slow the staff are rude, your not protected from violence, your children are not safe here and after arriving after a long journey be prepared for your cabin not being ready. They have offered refunds for people with filthy cabins but not for family’s who was unsafe and being violently attacked form other residents.

WARNING! DO NOT BOOK HERE. YOUR WASTING YOUR NONEY AND WILL END OF WITH A VERY HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE AND OUT OF POCKET

Absolute joke of a company. We booked a lodge through Hoseasons, only for this company to cancel it 2 days before we were due to go.

The reason given was due to an 'unsafe decking'.

The lady that called was pleasant enough, but didn't offer an alternative and basically highlighted it wasn't their problem and that I needed to contact Hoseasons to resolve.

Hoseasons have refunded it, and I haven't got an issue with them.

Not a lot we can do 2 days before we were due to go, and have to hope we can find an alternative.

I'd certainly recommend you avoid this bunch of jokers!

John fowler is very friendly at sandy glade any problems they sort out been going there for over 10 years going at least twice a year

Currently staying at hayle and its shocking, very shocking. No entertainment at all and with it still being holiday season. They charge a high price still. Over priced watered down beer. First night on it and gave me the runs. Food is absolutely disgusting always burnt and tasteless. Also over priced crap. Site is run down, still the same decor from 9 years ago. Staff are useless and would rather stand around chatting with each other.

I think the management need to look at the site and spend to redevelop or close it down.

We had rain running on the inside of the building first night, was told it won't happen again as its not meant to rain for a couple of nights.

Avoid this site at all times they aint got a clue. Customer service is gone. Incompetent staff and everything is over priced crap.

Wouldn't use john fowler again even if it was free. Money grabbing a holes and dont care about Customer service

Also paid for the WiFi, keeps asking for me to sign in to pay again

Stayed at Surfer's Paradise Croyde, run by John Fowler Holidays.
I was there for 4 days, and the toilets and showers were not cleaned once. They were very off-putting. There is also no friendly or informative welcome as there used to be, just a security guard.
Shame as it's a lovely setting with a short walk in one direction to the beach, and in the other to Croyde village. Despite being there in August, the numbers were significantly down on previous trips to the same place under previous ownership, so I'm guessing others have voted with their feet.

We have been coming to Ruda for many years, but 2 years ago decided it was getting very bad.
We missed Croyde and decided to give it a go under John Fowler and so pleased we did.
I could not fault the staff, everyone we dealt with were so friendly. Our boiler had low pressure and it was sorted within 20 minutes.
The fish and chip shop 2 years ago was not good. This time food was boiling hot and lovely. Did not try the restaurant but kids went to chicken shop and loved it.
We know nisa is over priced so we use the tesco in braunton and only go to nisa for emergencies.
We did go to North devon water park (been meaning to go for years), it was amazing well worth going, we went 2 days in a row.
Before John fowler we always had problems with cleanliness of the caravan, this time no problem at all. The bins were kept clean, did not see any rats!
Well done for making Ruda great again. We will be back.
Lovely holiday, very sad it went so quick.
Ruda staff 5* - special thanks to maintenance staff thank you all x x