De Biesbosch

-

We thought we’d be able to relax for a weekend during this vacation. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out.

We arrived around 4:00 p.m., and by the time we’d unpacked everything and sat down on the couch after a long drive, it was a quarter to 6. Over the course of the following afternoon, we noticed more and more issues;

- a serious buildup of dust in every corner of the accommodation
- dust buildup on the headboard of the bed
- the handles on the bedroom closet are either not attached or not attached properly
- the bathroom door handle is almost falling off
-The faucet is loose in the kitchen countertop; moreover, it didn’t spray water properly, making it nearly impossible to wash dishes
-You’re supposed to leave the cottage tidy and the broom clean. However, this was very difficult because there was no broom head attached to the handle.
-Hair left on the walls of the shower stall
-A table leg on the piece of furniture in front of the couch was almost falling off; in any case, it wasn’t properly secured

During check-out, we brought up a few issues with the receptionist. The woman seemed friendly at first, but after we pointed out some issues with photos of the accommodations, she appeared to take it somewhat personally. No apology was offered. She claimed it was our own fault for not calling the front desk to have everything fixed while we were there. She also claimed it was the responsibility of the previous guests to report these issues. Furthermore, she noted that the park has over 600 cottages, so things can sometimes be forgotten or “overlooked.” We decided to leave it at that, as we only wanted to point out the issues.

Nevertheless, I emailed this exact story because the explanation and apology remained incomplete and negligent. On the drive back, I reflected on the explanation and the accusations she made against us and previous guests. I find these completely unjustified and, frankly, incredibly inconsiderate.

Basically, an accommodation should be clean and well-maintained upon arrival. The facilities should work properly and be securely installed. That a glass might sometimes be broken, or some cutlery isn’t spotless—well, that’s to be expected. I think everyone agrees with this—or should agree—otherwise, in my opinion, you might as well close that park down.

What we found was absolutely not this. So the park failed in this regard. Not the previous guests. Not us. Under no circumstances should guests have to return to the front desk after check-in with the complaints I mentioned above. The “maintenance staff” or the “cleaning crew” should have simply seen and noticed this. I hope these people simply open the bathroom door while cleaning; they would have noticed the doorknob then. I also hope the cleaning staff use water. Then they would have seen that the faucet wasn’t stuck. The fact that these people “overlooked” this—something so essential—strikes me as a very strange explanation.

Then there’s the explanation about the 600 accommodations they have to check to keep track of. If that turns out to be so incredibly difficult, the park should consider either renting out fewer units or hiring another team. Seems like a simple calculation to me.

All in all, the employee’s explanation—which offered no apology whatsoever—makes absolutely no sense, or these issues should have been resolved in some other way (before guests arrive). Again, this is the park’s responsibility, not the guests’.

After sending this email, we did receive a polite apology from customer service the next day, and 10 percent of the base rent and 50 percent of the cleaning fees were refunded via a voucher. They also offered us a free priority booking.

The amount we paid for this weekend was 377 euros. We’re getting 80 euros back via a voucher (which we’ll have to redeem with Europarcs again). This, of course, makes absolutely no sense. After pointing this out again, there was nothing else they could do.

I strongly advise against this park.

-

The cottage wasn't cleaned very well—you find dog poop everywhere, there aren't enough trash cans, people drive too fast in the park, and the supermarket is a total letdown.

We stayed at Just Nature Light 4 for 5 days with two adults and two children and had a wonderful time.

The house is small but perfectly adequate and equipped with everything you need for a few days. It was clean enough, and the smart TV was a nice bonus.

However, it gets quite warm inside the house in the summer. We brought a fan with us and were able to cool the house down well by creating a draft.

All the staff at the park were very friendly and helpful. Knowing English is an advantage here. The restaurant in the park offers good value for money; the staff were very nice, and the service was really great.

A few suggestions for improvement: Since the house has a gas stove, the pot handles get very hot—you should definitely bring pot holders. We also would have liked to have a power outlet in the bathroom.

Overall, we had a wonderful stay and would recommend the park.

The park is in a beautiful location. At least half of it is right on the water, while the other half is next to a three-lane highway. We had a view of the harbor and the river. House No. 271 looked good from the outside. Inside, however, it was full of spiders—big and small—and hadn’t been cleaned; the furniture, floor, and ceiling were all dirty....