Recently for easter we all went down to Rockley Park in Dorset, Poole, run by Haven Holidays company!
It is fantastic if you have children as they pride themselves on their various mascots for entertaining the children with various shows and performances in the 'show bar'.
As for adults & teenages alike, there's the amusements arcade, bowling, pool, tennis, football for activities & more! For the drinking part theres a brand new refurbed bar/diner with open terrace for those hot summer months overlooking the outdoor pool. With that they have installed a new sound system (by the name of bose) indoors and outdoors so you can listen to the music whereever you are! The music playing was surprisingly varied as 2 years ago we went and it was just oldies playing on VH1 music channel (not that there's anything wrong with that). The food selection is really great (it's had it's named changed to Mash & Barrel) and the quality of it is superb though prices can be quite pricey. £4.59 for jacket potato!
One of the major redevelopments has been with the outdoor pool area, ba r& grill, & a funky new waterslide with a large tower you walk up, which links into the main indoor pool. You'll see from the pictures the tower from the outside is still being finished off with some panelling and exterior work to be finished. The outside pool will also be refurbed as it's looking a bit tired now. Bits of scenery will be placed around it for effect too!
As for the entertainment it was generally very good! They have invested for this year £200k into the showbar (goodness knows how they spent that much!), which has mostly gone into the new sound system and lighting. It has definitely payed off too because the voices and speech are very clear whereever you are in the room so you do not feel left out in any of the music & shows!
As for the lighting it looks visually stunning with the smoke machine. DMX moving head technology helps create the 'dazzling' light shows which were combined with the different cabaret entertainment which was put on, so well done for that haven!
The weather was 'ok' for the most part. On the friday we had a cloudy but sunny sky, saturday tipped down, but sunday the sun came out again!
All in all it's a great holiday if your looking for somewhere to take the family, or with mates for a laugh and enjoy the general Haven Holidays atmosphere! They pride themselves on their entertainment and it was very good this time around! They hire different acts from around the country to come and perform, do nightly discos and the cabaret staff do in-house shows to represent their acting & singing abilities. I spoke to one of them and they have nearly all come from Drama educational programmes.
We are thinking about going back in the not too distant future maybe for the summer if it's hot enough, but we'll have to be quick because easter bookings there sold out this year!
Hope you enjoyed my review & here are some highlight photos below, enjoy!
Mash & Barrel terrace looks over outdoor pool
^ Sound system fitted around back area of pool so everywhere the music is covered!
New Mash & Barrel Entrance
Inside and around Mash & Barrel
Amusement arcade, which is very big (bowling to right of photo just out of shot)
Showbars new lighting & sound system
I remember watching magical shows with magicians performing very tricky acts!
Very sad..
:P