Findhornbayholidaypark Avis 

When we arrived on Saturday, we were told the Wi-Fi was down because of a storm but it would be fixed on Monday. However, the accommodation (Clearwater) didn’t have Wi-Fi all week. The manager tried to fix this by putting a repeater outside the chalet in a plastic Tesco bag (pictured).

Despite this, we were still unable to connect to the Wi-Fi. My sister (who made the booking) called the manager on the number listed on booking.com because the website said this should be the first point of contact for any problems. When the manager answered he said, “How did you get this number?!” When my sister said from booking.com he replied, “We’ll have to see about that!”

She explained the Wi-Fi was still not working and two of our party had to leave because they were relying on it. He told her that “most people wouldn’t be bothered about Wi-Fi”. He then said that he had checked and it was working on his phone and on another member of staff’s phone so it must be our devices that were the problem. When she said she didn’t think that was the case he shouted, “I’m terminating this call!” and hung up on her.

He has since removed ‘free Wi-Fi’ from the booking.com listing and has specified there is no internet access. Why would he do that if it was just our devices that were the problem? We also noticed a review from May this year saying there was no Wi-Fi. I wish we had noticed that before booking! Clearly this is an ongoing problem and not just due to our devices.

My sister left a review of our experience on booking.com and they have replied, saying that, during the phone call with the manager, she threatened to give a bad review if we didn’t get a refund. This is absolutely untrue! They have clearly written this to undermine our genuine concerns. Unfortunately, as it was a phone call we can’t prove this is the case. I would advise anyone else who has a complaint to put it in writing so that the company can’t make up lies to undermine you.

This was a really unpleasant experience which left us quite upset and it was definitely not the relaxing holiday we had looked forward to.

I booked in the evening and only discovered in the confirmation email that sleeping in an awning is now prohibited due to updated fire regulations—something not enforced during our visit two years ago. I accept the rules and refund policy, but when I realized the mistake and tried to correct it within hours, the response was essentially, “Tough—we have your money.” This critical restriction should be clearly flagged during booking, not buried in the terms and conditions.

Stayed in an EcoPod - it was my second time visiting. Shop on site really useful, cafe serves lovely snacks and drinks. Area is peaceful, pods have everything you need (except cooking rings, but you can take your own camping one). Some beautiful walks in and around the area, a good base to visit other places. Check in was easy as was checking out.

The area is lovely, and the climate much milder than other parts of Scotland. There is a nice nearby pizza place, but it is not open often. What spoiled the holiday for me was the snobishness of the nearby community, the Findhorn Foundation, which the caravan park is linked to. My girlfriend was not allowed into their community centre, not even for a cup of tea, because she had not paid hundreds of pounds to attend an "experience week" course. She has asked me to book the caravan park because she wanted to join the community, but their attitude spoiled our holiday. My advice would be to try and get a place nearer the Findhorn Village itself, which is very picturesque. We spent most of our time there, and the villagers there were much more friendly. The WifFi at the caravan park was also virtually non existent.