Camping Les Varennes

It was immediately apparent to us (and others with whom we spoke) that sadly since the campsite was under earlier family control that much of the earlier atmosphere has been lost. Many of the pitches have been given over to mobile homes this has had an impact upon the camping community. Prices, especially for the mobile homes, is very much higher in comparison to those available at other campsites and in our opinion of lower quality although new. As an example we believe it to be inexcusable that a small security safe in addition to fly screens are not fitted as standard in mobile homes in this price category. We were further disappointed to find that the heating of the indoor pool had been reduced making swimming on colder days an unpleasant experience. If the campsite advertises a heated indoor pool then it should be heated ensuring a pleasant experience. We formed the opinion, whether correctly or not, that this reduction of heating was a cost saving exercise by the management. WiFi has been mentioned several times over the years and regrettably there doesn’t appear to have been any effort to make improvements in this area despite the campsite not having been anywhere near full occupancy during our stay for 3 weeks in May. A campsite that we were happy to award a full 10/10 in earlier years we now find that overall only justifies a 4/10.

Positives: campsite was very clean. Also small which gives great freedom for children to roam safely. Excellent location close to the beach and town. Negatives: staff very unfriendly and unhelpful; this approach seems to come from the top down. Do not seem to like children. In general the facilities appeared to be arranged to suit the staff as opposed to the campers. Also demanded on check out that the cabins are completely spotless at the end which was not explained on arrival or indeed at any time. Have stayed in many places and have not experienced this before. Peculiar when very limited cleaning equipment is provided. Unfortunately, for these reasons would not return.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, In fact booked for a week and stayed two. The staff are lovely so helpful, the loo block is spotless, as are the grounds. The pitches are a good size and the position of the campsite is wonderful, less than 15 minutes walk into the villages that has a large market every day, go across the road and through the woods, you have miles of beaches, it only takes under 15 minutes. Would definitely stay there again

Stayed with the caravan for two weeks. Fabulous location close to the village and the beach where you could walk for miles.

We visited Les Varennes at the end of August and I’ve been unsure whether to post this review as it is not at all positive, but decided that people should be aware before they book Les Varennes (I wish we had known) I will start with the few positives about this resort. The Island of Ile de Re is really lovely and we had great fun riding bikes and visiting the markets. The onsite shop was useful, and the staff in the shop were friendly. The Aqua aerobics instructor was lovely!!! The resort itself was nice enough. But that’s where it ended, we found the reception staff to be very rude (even shouting at one of our party in front of our young children). Yes our party were a bit loud on the first night, and were rightly told to keep the noise down and stick to the curfew in future (which we did, without fail), but it felt like we were being victimised and the staff seemed to enjoy coming over and moaning/shouting at us. Our children were even told off for making too much noise, they were on holiday - and just trying to enjoy themselves. It really felt like we could not have fun at the resort, which was a shame. The chalets were very basic, and I have to say I have never slept so badly. I have never suffered with back pain, but woke up every morning with terrible back pain. The beds were very uncomfortable, just a very thin plastic mattress. There is a hob, but no oven so we made a lot of pasta. Another thing that ruined our holiday was being told on our penultimate day, that we must clean our chalet. We were happily going to strip all the beds and towels, but were not expecting to clean the whole chalet, esp whilst not being supplied any cleaning materials. Tbh we did not check the inventory line by line when we first got there, but thankfully all items were in our chalet when we left. So I would recommend asking reception for an inventory list on check in and checking all the inventory as there is a chance you could get stung for something being missing. And maybe take some anti-bac spray as this will save you money buying some on departure. Overall I would recommend the island of Ile de Re, but not this resort.

Not my idea of fun and really don’t think some members of staff should be in a customer facing role! Hands up, some of our party were a little noisy on the first night and got a serious telling off, but from then on, we were all back in our accommodation by 9.30 each night. In fact, from then on, the staff really seemed to have it in for our party, think we were told off most days! The children were riding their bikes too fast 🙄 they were too noisy, we dared use the play area 10 mins before the 10am opening - really !! I was telephoned whilst off site and told ! to ensure one member from each party attended reception before 6pm that day to discuss our behaviour. I should just point out that I am in my mid 60’s and certainly not accustomed to having threats off being thrown off site ever. And to cap it all, on the last night, the families staying in the “lodges” were informed that they were to clean it thoroughly. No cleaning products were supplied and had to be purchased and the hoover in reception had to be shared. Unbelievable, really not sure how they can justify that with the prices charged. You have been warned!