True Cost of using Sites

[NessL]

I appreciate this post may set hares racing but I’d be really interested to see what the general consensus is of the costs of camping today. I have touched on this subject in other threads but I’ve given some thought to the true cost of running a camper for several years. I’m relatively new to camping only getting into it in the last 4 years and I have to say I’m really bought into the experience. Therefore I’m coming at this issue as a convert to camping over other stays such as AirBnB’s or hotels.

Next weekend we're booked to stay at a campsite we like in West Yorkshire, it’s in pretty countryside and has a lake. I’d say it was pretty middle of the road, it has a toilet block of an average standard. It’s not basic but it’s not 5* camping in terms of facilities. We’ve booked a grass pitch without EHU at £28pn for 2 people it's essentially a space on a field & it's peak prices due to the summer holidays. I looked at other nearby campsites and they were pretty comparable in price, some CL a little lower at around £20pn but others with EHU are £10 to £15 more a night. For comparison I’ve looked at a nearby Travelodge for the same nights and that is priced at £29pn admittedly that in an undesirable location next to a motorway but others in better locations are £40pn.

So my point is a hotel (albeit pretty basic) can be had for a couple of pounds more per night. And whilst I don’t have any desire to stay in a soulless Alan Partridge type motel it seems to offer a lot more for the cost. For the camp site they have to provide a space in a field, and access to a shower and toilet block, bins and waste disposal. Whereas the hotel has to provide seemingly a lot more such as fresh laundry, electricity basic, aircon, toiletries & tea & coffee facilities etc.
If I work on the basis that new & nearly new campers will depreciate typically £6,000/yr in the current market and say £1,500/yr for the running costs unless you’re using campsites for over 100 nights a year it appears to be a more expensive way to take breaks. I’m wondering if this will affect the popularity of camping if these prices remain or increase? I also find it interesting that the new T7 may have been designed more for days out or short breaks interspersed with hotel stays so are VW mindful of this issue?

As I mentioned I love camping and understand the many advantages over hotels but I sometimes think hotels have much more in the way of overheads so sites should be significantly cheaper than they are. I appreciate that there a many variables such as the depreciation on an older van would be much less, it’s more cost effective if you’re a family over a couple or cheaper if you’re prepared to wild camp more. Am I being overly harsh to sites, do they have costs near to what a hotel offers, or those who have been camping for decades - has the price differential always been the same or is it disproportionately higher today?

Don’t forget that campsites have had to pay for all that infrastructure to be built, but it’s only used for a portion of the year. Business is very slow in the winter months.
Travelodges are open 365 days of the year and prices change repeatedly, based on how booked they are. They will also be earning for any extras, e.g. mini bar and often breakfast.

 

[Van Diesel VW]

When I look to book a Premier Inn, never get a good price unless it’s a Sunday night, normally £100 plus.

 

[BeagleMum]

Decent club site prices are still available; stayed (all hardstanding/EHU) at Rhayader recently at £27 per night, this past week in Salisbury £24.05 and end of this month in Henley at £28.70.

A couple of weeks ago we stayed on a really lovely adult only 1 acre site in Fife for £28 per night. This included no charge for 2 dogs, EHU, spotless showers & toilets. Access to a large residents lounge that had games, books, fridge etc available for use. We considered this a reasonable charge given the time of year and the facilities offered.
We won’t pay any more than £10 for basically a parking spot on a field without any facilities.
Site fees shot up after Covid when demand was increasing with staycation.Then there is the rip off of standard charge for EHU.
This rose considerably following energy price increases, EHU should be metered. The site we were on had a mixture of small & medium vans & caravans, all the caravans we saw spent the evenings in front of a television, their electricity consumption way above that of small vans like ourselves.
Our view is that people need to vote with their wheels and refuse to stay on sites charging £40/50 and more a night otherwise nothing will change.

 

[Camperfamily]

I, long ago, concluded that trips in a campervan were not a cheap way to holiday, even before the cost of sites. But it sure beats staying at home, or going to an average hotel. So it’s an expense I can reconcile.

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

When you factor in the cost of camping in the UK, it is cheaper (including Ferry) to go to Europe.
I suck up the cost for weekends

 

[Van Diesel VW]

A couple of weeks ago we stayed on a really lovely adult only 1 acre site in Fife for £28 per night. This included no charge for 2 dogs, EHU, spotless showers & toilets. Access to a large residents lounge that had games, books, fridge etc available for use. We considered this a reasonable charge given the time of year and the facilities offered.
We won’t pay any more than £10 for basically a parking spot on a field without any facilities.
Site fees shot up after Covid when demand was increasing with staycation.Then there is the rip off of standard charge for EHU.
This rose considerably following energy price increases, EHU should be metered. The site we were on had a mixture of small & medium vans & caravans, all the caravans we saw spent the evenings in front of a television, their electricity consumption way above that of small vans like ourselves.
Our view is that people need to vote with their wheels and refuse to stay on sites charging £40/50 and more a night otherwise nothing will change.

Agree metering is better for EHU, if you are a low user you are subsidising the high users and no incentive to use less. However infrastructure costs to install metering is significant and again these costs need to be past on.

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

Most sites in Holland use metering, i dont mind paying 62 cents for a nights EHU!

 

[PipPip]

We’ve long fancied a camper but have held off for a couple of reasons. One is the point you make that hotel stays pay for an awful lot of van depreciation and camp site fees. The other is that we have a holiday apartment in the French Alps that we use during every school holiday, so I felt we made our choice and the apartment won. Other than the odd weekend away we would have rarely used a camper, and with kids clubs and sports those weekends away were incredibly rare anyway. However, with retirement coming in the next 18-24 months we will have the time to use a camper properly so the time is now right.

 

[Corradobrit]

We’ve long fancied a camper but have held off for a couple of reasons. One is the point you make that hotel stays pay for an awful lot of van depreciation and camp site fees. The other is that we have a holiday apartment in the French Alps that we use during every school holiday, so I felt we made our choice and the apartment won. Other than the odd weekend away we would have rarely used a camper, and with kids clubs and sports those weekends away were incredibly rare anyway. However, with retirement coming in the next 18-24 months we will have the time to use a camper properly so the time is now right.

This was my motivation for getting a T6.1 now. Forward planning ahead of retirement with the opportunity to have a few adventures in the meantime. I usually go away for two 2 week trips per year and a few long weekends. Once retirement is a reality I can organise more extensive trips to more far flung destinations. So far I have not regretted the decision to get a Campervan.

 

[RockinNRollin]

Agree metering is better for EHU, if you are a low user you are subsidising the high users and no incentive to use less. However infrastructure costs to install metering is significant and again these costs need to be past on.

Surely the fairest way is a flat charge that's lower, plus a metered rate for anything you use? I.e. a cost to contribute towards the infrastructure and standing charges the site endures, then a per kWh rate for the actual energy used?

 

[Agnes_Cali]

When you factor in the cost of camping in the UK, it is cheaper (including Ferry) to go to Europe.
I suck up the cost for weekends

I'm not sure it's cheaper in total, but there's more choice and you can visit different countries. I just booked fully serviced pitch on the Rhein for 33 euro, out of the season it's even cheaper. I paid 10 euros for pitch without any service at the same location (shower and toilet block on the site). Or In Switzerland, I paid around £25 for pitch with electricity stone throw from the lake. Site in Luxemburg was 13 euro per night last September and I'm heading there soon again. Cheap fuel, free public transport, what not to like.

Since there's leisure battery in the van and I have solar panels, I don't want to pay extra for EHU.

 

[Barbara]

It's a bit of a conundrum isn't it??!!!

When we had our caravan with two young children, I concluded that after weighing up the cost of camp sites, insurance/depreciation/servicing on the cravan and the need for a hefty tow car to drag it around, we might as well book ourselves into hotels for our trips away. At the time though, we were probably only using the caravan three or four times a year.

Now there are just two of us and the Cali is my daily driver, I look on it differently.

Just a few minutes go, I booked a last minute three night stay for next week at the Norfolk Broads Caravan and Motorhome club for £123. It seems like a great location for exploring the area.

I don't think we could have found a hotel or B&B in the same area for £41 a night.

The Cali is sat there ready to go and although the MPG isn't as good as my wife's car. it won't cost us much more to drive to Norfolk in the Cali as her car.

And with a Cali vs the caravan, eating up the miles is a lot faster and less stressful

We were at Norfolk Broads site recently, on a hot day we went to https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/strumpshaw-fen . The campsite is near to Wroxham which is busy but lots of shops. We like the site, hope you have a good time.

 

[BeeBee]

I agree that it’s not a fair comparison ‘Campervan vs Travelodge type accommodation’.
Campervans offer you an unrivalled choice of experience… at a price.
Travelodge et al sell on their ‘value for money’
I do however agree that some site price increases are unjustified given facilities and that EHU issues need to be addressed .
We are members of Caravan & Motorhome but rarely use them as we prefer smaller and when available adult only….. in fact I have to consider “why are we members” !
It’s almost amusing that a proportion of the general public think that Campervan or even touring caravan holidays are ‘the cheap option’ . Let’s say and be kind to them it’s the very poorly informed.

 

[Velma's Dad]

It's basic economics. A Premier Inn probably has year-round occupany of 80%+ (just a guess) while for a campsite they have to make nearly all their money in a short season. But then, during that season when site numbers become the limiting factor, the site owners want to fill all the positions on the demand curve so they charge what the market will bear.. Wouldn't you?

Perhaps a more valid comparison might be the room cost at a Travelodge (etc) at a m/way services, versus what they will charge you to park up there overnight (£10-20 a night).

 

[Barbara]

Maybe a consideration should go to the fact that with a campervan you have either a fridge or cool box for the wine and tonic for the gin. Tea and coffee too is cheaper, keeping milk cold in a hotel is not always possible. Although if I stay hotels I use the van to convey breakfast and drinks, I have been know to take the cool box in to the hotel. My van is my everyday vehicle so I may see its use in a different light to those who have a van just for holidays.

I have not found a hotel as cheap as staying on a campsite but maybe price is not always the main factor. Maybe it all comes down to how the van is used and if a hotel or camping is more your thing.

Staying in Abbey wood at a campsite to visit London is a lot cheaper than a hotel and a lot easier than trying to take my bike up in a lift in a hotel.

Unfortunately campsites are not always where you may need to be and a hotel is the only option. My use of hotels is usually based on convenance practically in wet weather or when the van is very full. This is possible with a California as more likely to be able to mix and match hotels with campsites on a trip, a bit difficult with a caravan.

Many hotels charge for parking which should be considered when comparing but then they are often more in towns whereas staying at a campsite will lead to getting a bus or leaving the site and then paying to park in the town.