If you’ve recently booked a Haven holiday, you might be wondering which holiday home you’re going to get, and where it’s going to be in the park. Location can make a huge difference on any Haven site and Haven offers the chance to pay extra to choose your holiday home, but is it worth it?
When can you choose your holiday home?
We booked our Haven holiday around 10 months before our arrival date. At this point, we didn’t have the option to choose our holiday home. I logged in to my Haven account to check something around 3 months before our holiday date and the option was there. I guess this is something you have to keep checking for.
Should there be availability, the option should be there right up until 7 days before your arrival date.
Which Haven locations offer ‘Choose your holiday home’?
Choose Your Holiday Home is available at all Haven parks except Far Grange and Celtic Haven.
Are there any exceptions?
Choose Your Holiday Home is available to most guests, depending on availability however, there are some exceptions. These are:
- 7-night bookings arriving on a Saturday
- Dog friendly newspaper promotional bookings
- A booking of more than 7-nights
- 3rd party bookings
How much does it cost?
Choosing your holiday home incurs an additional cost. The cost of choosing your holiday home differs and there are a few factors to consider to ensure you get the right caravan for your family holiday.
When looking to do this for our own holiday, we were offered a variety of caravans in various locations. We had originally booked a Bronze 2-bedroom caravan at Haven Seashore (in Great Yarmouth). When it came to choosing our holiday home, we had options of the same grade caravans in quite a few different locations, caravans with more bedrooms but the same grade and caravans of a better grade.
Prices depend not only on location but also on the type of holiday home you choose. We decided to stay with our Bronze 2-bedroom but make sure we had a good location. For somewhere close to the swimming pool, we paid £35.
Other options went right up to about £235, where upgrades were involved. You might find that you have a bit more spare money than when you originally booked and want to splash out on an upgrade and now is the time to do that.
Location, location, location
We have been to Haven Seashore before, and have stayed in various different grades of caravans so we knew what to expect. What mattered more to us was the location of our holiday home. Haven Seashore is quite a long park and we have had a caravan right at the end before. It was a lot of walking. This time, we knew we wanted something a bit more central and closer to activities.
By choosing our holiday home we were able to secure a caravan about a minute away from the indoor swimming pools. This is ideal for us as it means less walking and quicker getting to places where we will spend a lot of time. You might find that you want to be closer to the supermarket, or the beach and choosing your holiday home on a Haven holiday park allows you to do this. We have family members who can’t walk long distances or could do with a short walk after a long day so this is why we chose to pick the location. of our caravan holiday home.
When you have the option to choose your holiday home, you can have a good look at the Haven park map and figure out where everything is. For short breaks, such as a weekend, this could help you to make the most of your holiday.
How do you pay?
When you have picked which holiday home you want for your holiday, you can pay in a few different ways.
If there’s enough time left, you can add the amount to your balance, and pay it off in instalments.
You can also pay the amount in full at the time of booking. You might need to do this anyway depending on the date of your holiday.
Is it worth paying more for?
This is obviously quite subjective and while it might be worth the extra cost for one family, it might not be for someone else.
For example, my Mum struggled a bit when we had a caravan right at the edge of Haven Seashore, as did Erin when she was about 3. Families with more able members might not mind the longer walk back and therefore, might not want to spend extra money on their holiday home. For us, the extra £35 is absolutely worth it and it was a much cheaper price than I was expecting.. However, I wouldn’t have paid the upper amounts, or over say £50, as it makes the holiday a lot more expensive when it is only supposed to be a cheap getaway.
Consider if you’re getting a good deal, how much time it might save you while you’re there, have you found the perfect place for your family? The location of your caravan at Haven can make a huge difference to your holiday experience but it might not be worth it if you’re paying a fortune. Be sure to get great value for your location and don’t spend more than you want to.
If you’re looking to book your next Haven holiday and are considering choosing your holiday home, I hope this has helped. A caravan in the perfect location could just be a couple of clicks away!
