Caravan & Motorhome Club membership

[Cali Phillip]

Used to belong to both, dumped CAMC after one too many stays on sites where the interpretation of 'friendly' was really "the wardens don't give a stuff and do nothing". Particularly when kids are running across your pitch and landing a football on your precious vehicle, and no-one (either parents or wardens) are prepared to tell them 'no'.

Now use Caravan Club sites and their CLs (small 5 unit sites) and find the standards much higher. Agree hugely with GrannyJen that the 'rules' mean other visitors usually keep the noise down and I am not disturbed.

My only complaint about CAMC is that I like my shower REALLY hot and most sites have the water temperature limited so that some twit cannot complain they scalded their hands and try to sue.

Yes, a CAMC site I stayed in for work mid summer had loads of kids roaming about till after 2200 with bikes, not very relaxing ,noise and close passes to the pride n joy.
We tended towards simple more CL type or farm sites or wild, just found the bigger site expensive with lots of extra we didnt need.

 

[RoB5urf]

We're still CAMC members, but only because I forgot to cancel my renewal this year. We haven't used a club site for a while because we now much prefer smaller, independent sites and CAMC Certified Locations. If you join CAMC be prepared for a ton of email in your inbox.

 

[2into1]

If you join at a show, you usually get vouchers for 2 free nights thrown in. That more than pays for the annual fee, particularly if you use them peak season.

 

[Bellesca]

What is a CL site?

 

[RoB5urf]

Certified Location. A small site with max 5 spaces, often with limited (if any) facilities

 

[ejmoore]

We are members of both, but generally I think CAMC is probably more worthwhile as a lot of CCC site are open to all, not just members. We use CLs more these days, but in the winter (inc autumn & spring, wetter seasons generally) I like the reliability of a CMC site with hard standing & good facilities. In the summer we much prefer a rougher, more 'holiday'-feeling site with tents everywhere, kids running around etc.
The CCC's requirement to book two nights if you want to book makes me use them less, as we like to tour around or just go for one night - it is possible, but only if they've got space on the day.

 

[Lewis]

We’ve been members of Caravan and Motorhome Club for 6 years now and found the sites to be very clean and well-equipped. Really easy to stay on, especially as we’re somewhat fair weather campers.

Arguably their locations aren’t the most exciting - with some exceptions but the quality of facilities and simplicity has balanced this.

The clincher for us used to be the simplicity of the booking system, the zero deposit and ability to cancel just a few days before without penalty. All of this has now changed and deposits are required and cancellations within 21 days trigger loss of deposit.

I respect all of the business reasons for doing that but it has made them less attractive to us now due to lack of flexibility. I’ll be interested to see if this leads to more last minute availability. If not, we may cancel our membership.

 

[SunnyWeather]

CAMC offer a member benefit of discounted supermarket shopping (eg 4% Sainsburys)

 

[chockswahay]

So I was just discussing this thread with my owner and she pointed out a few details that I had forgotten. The Caravan and Camping Club by its very nature can attract larger groups of party goers which can lead to higher noise levels. Tents are considerably cheaper than motor vans so again can attract a different sort of crowd. The CAMC on the other hand does have an air of snootyness that tends to discourage certain types. Now I have been deliberately vague in my statements as I don’t want to get flamed on here.

For what it’s worth we reckon that the ‘rules’ etc of CAMC can actually lead to a more restful and relaxing stop. Also the regimented style of layout etc does mean no bun fights with the neighbours over space invasion etc. Their main sites do seem to have very clean and reliable facilities so as @GrannyJen said…… for some ….. money well spent.

Regarding the comments about being full of ‘Great Whites’ etc my wife drew the parallel…… ‘better to be the worst house on the best street than the best house on the worst street’ so in our little California we could be the smallest camper mixing it with the big boys, or the most expensive camper surrounded by students in tents (nothing wrong with students, just sayin ).

It’s clearly a matter of personal choice and horses for courses. I dunno why I’m posting this quite frankly as these days we try to avoid campsites altogether but we will use them if desperate and no other choice

 

[andyinluton]

Regarding the comments about being full of ‘Great Whites’ etc my wife drew the parallel…… ‘better to be the worst house on the best street than the best house on the worst street’ so in our little California we could be the smallest camper mixing it with the big boys, or the most expensive camper surrounded by students in tents (nothing wrong with students, just sayin ).

When we first joined c&mhc about 30years ago, it wasn’t unusual for us to be the only motorhome on a site.

The demographic has certainly changed since then & the mix of Campervans v great whites v caravans changes massively from area to area. Last one we stayed in the Lake District the caravans were a distinct minority & motorhome a majority, the further north you go in Scotland the fewer caravans & the more campervans you get. Conversely Devon appears to be a caravan breeding ground but Cornwall is more campers.

 

[Hawthorn37]

All interesting comments in posts in this thread. I tend to agree with them all, with similar shared experiences. We’re members of both clubs, and one benefit of ‘any’ club site is you don’t stress too much about the facilities, the rules and what to do when you turn up. We tend to book sites based on location and availability, not the club badge. Saying that, there are some the cohabit the same real estate, and in these cases we’ve opted for CAMC as we prefer to pick our own pitch.

 

[BikerGran]

I don't belong to either because I find plenty of cheap but very good sites via Pitchup, or even just on Google maps. I rarely pay more than £25 a night (just for me) and usually a lot less. But then I choose to be without all the facilities as I prefer very small sites or even wild camping.

 

[Norfolk Jim]

We were purely CAMC members but recently joined CCC looking to use their CL's more. We've always preferred sites where we can be 'away' from everyone tucked up a corner (espcially if we have our excitable labrador with us) and for quite a long time have been very lucky. We do use other sites if no club site near where we are going but generally I have a good look at reviews of site before any booking (not just Trip Advisor but all review sites) and perhaps this has put us in good stead. Only last night we were discussing where we are going in September. 3 years ago we were on way back home and decided we'd like to visit Edinburgh and tried to find a site at last minute near Edinburgh - our search late in the day lead us to Edinburgh CAMC site who had space. At first I was shocked at the cost for 2 nights but as chap explained if we joined we'd very quickly get that money back on discounted prices there and elsewhere (which we have). The site was reasonably large but facilites spotless. We asked about buses into city and were told to ignore and to catch the minibus which goes direct from site into city about 4 times in morning and back from city about 4 times in afternoon - think it was about £5 each for return (we had 7 hours in city). We've now been to that site 4 times in last 3 years and going again in Sept; want to go round Botanical Gardens. This May we've used both clubs to book sites in Galloway and the Lakes using CCC for 2 CL sites and CAMC for the other - no issues and certainly costs haven't gone up that much really. Interesting what Granny Jen said about hotels..............I had a last minute trip to Bristol 5 weeks ago as elderly aunt rushed into hosp with major stroke (she sadly passed away soon after). I needed to stay overnight but although hosp offered me a put you up bed I preferred a hotel bed but was gobsmacked by what was available. This was a Thursday night and all I could find was Filton Travelodge for £84!!!! Yes it included breakfast (which was 30 mins late opening with a lot of moaning from workmen) but amazingly did include, at no extra cost, an uncontrollable noisy A/C unit blowing cold air (it's controls on wall came away in hand exposing wires), curtains that didn't shut by 3"- lots of road lamps buring brightly and an air vent on the window that didn't shut so you heard all traffic! Did complain but no other rooms free......really! Am still awaiting refund. Wish I'd gone in camper!!