I (Mim), my girls Niamh and Keelin (7), my sister Linda and her son Liam (4 1/2) were lucky enough to have a weekend break in Selsey with Bunn Leisure at the largest of their parks ‘West Sands’.
I arrived 45 minutes before our check in time, the reception staff greeted me warmly and checked us in, I was given an envelope with the keys to the caravan and all the info I’d need as well as a map of the park and directions to our caravan. I took the opportunity to pick up a voucher code for an hour free wifi while I was at reception.
There are over 1,000 caravans on the site, I found ours easily and parked close by but not in front of it. The girls and I went in to view the caravan before unpacking the car and wow, we were thrilled. We had a gorgeous brand new (2011) Silver 3 bedroom caravan which wasn’t very far from the main ‘Waterfront Complex’. We really liked the idea that the main complex was the opposite end of the site entrance/reception, which meant less traffic and a safer environment for our little ones.
Linda and Liam arrived after about an hour, I had managed to make up Niamh and Keelin’s beds and my own before she arrived, the bedrooms were cosy but perfectly acceptable for a short break/week and the cosiness adds to the fun of it all, the only thing we weren‘t completely happy with were the pillows (we did mention this in the comment form on departure and 4 days later I received a letter acknowledging our comments and advising they were passing them onto housekeeping). Being a new caravan it was spotless, fully equipped (even clothes pegs!!) with lovely fixtures and fittings, I wouldn’t mind the curtains in my own house 
We chose to cook in the caravan rather than eat out, if you’d rather eat out there are a number of different places to eat with the food being reasonably priced for example breakfast was £2.99, Sunday lunch from £5.99, 9″ pizza starting at £4.90 or fish & chips all on the site. Ice creams were £1.25 with a flake, the children enjoyed those. If like us you choose to cook in the caravan, there are 2 small Nisa supermarkets onsite or a short 5 minute journey by car into Selsey will take you to a couple of Co-Op shops.
We took a ride around all the parks on the free Bunni Express train, it leaves from various bus/train stops hourly and the whole journey takes an hour, there is also a free courtesy bus, which allows you to visit any of the parks to use their facilities.
We went to ‘The Embassy Club’ for the children’s entertainment every evening. The club is huge and on a couple of levels, if you’re too far from the stage they have monitors dotted around so you don’t miss any of the action.
The children love getting stuck in, playing or dancing. Once the main children’s entertainment ended it was bingo time. To allow for some quiet to play bingo, the children were allowed to go into the kids club room which was just through double door. Children weren’t signed in or out and your child could only go in there if you yourself were in ‘The Embassy Club’. We did allow our children to go in, and they couldn’t get enough of it. We took turns to check in on them to make sure they were ok. Though it’s a ‘kids Club’ it’s not a babysitting service and parents are expected to be ‘around’ while their children are there.
We made full use of the swimming pool ‘The Oasis’, the children loved the Leisure/Fun pool which has a slide and lazy river. If you just want to swim then the competition pool is right there beside the Leisure/Fun pool. If you’re into working out then they have a gym or you can relax in their sauna and steam room, they also offer beauty treatments, massages and facials. Prices start at £8 for an eyebrow wax trim/shape to £45 for a full body hot stone massage.
On Sunday morning the I took Niamh and Keelin to take part in ‘Bella’s Splash time’. It was meant to be organised games for all ages with two of the Team Stars. The girls did have fun but it wasn’t quite what I expected, there were no floats or inflatable’s for the children to play on, one lady who brought her 18 month old son left early as it wasn’t suitable for him. We did stay until the end, though it wasn’t the full 90 minutes as stated in the entertainment 
guide.
Linda took Liam into the Sensory play while we were in the pool, unfortunately Liam was slightly too old for it and most of the children were younger than him, Linda thought it was going to be lights and sounds but it was basically soft play with other toys, a play house and drawing facilities. That said, Liam did enjoy his hour there.
In the afternoon we watched the show ‘Bunnies Go Live’ the children had a chance to look at or even touch some insects and reptiles brought in. Niamh and Keelin really enjoyed this but Liam was reluctant to touch any of the insects/reptiles.
Even though we had a long weekend at West Sands, we didn’t have enough time to sample all of the activities and entertainment put on by Bunn Leisure. We never made it to the children’s play park, the funfair, crazy golf, ice skating (on synthetic ice, additional charges for this), bowling and much more. One thing is for sure, you don’t even have to leave the site, they have it all right there for you even the beach!!
The beach is a pebble beach right on the Solent, on a good day you can see across the water to the Isle Of Wight. We spent an hour on there on Saturday afternoon with our children dodging the waves, other children simply playing with the pebbles, some men sea fishing and women enjoying the sunshine.
We loved our break so much that we enquired about prices for next year, it’s definitely somewhere we’d consider going again.
One thing I noticed was that very few (if any) staff wore name badges so I can’t mention anyone who went the extra mile and there were a couple of ladies in reception who were fabby.
To sum up West Sands was very easy to find, had plenty of facilities, clean, well equipped caravans and very friendly and helpful staff. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Mim Seager and her sister, Linda Healy and their children, Niamh, Keelin and Liam
For more information about Bunn Leisure and it’s Parks, please visit: http://www.bunnleisure.co.uk/
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