Oban Holiday Park:
What a disappointment. I expected a "holiday park" to have decent facilities, especially at £35 night. Speaking to another camper who had been there many times but some years ago, it seems that what was originally a mainly tent campsite is remodelling itself to offer luxury lodges, glamping pods and huge static caravans, at the expense of campers who seem to have been relegated to the status of second class citizens.
There are half a dozen or so hardstanding pitches, but too narrow to include an awning. Otherwise it's one very large
very sloping field with a few scattered EHUs, and you just park up where you like. We watched
every new arrival do exactly as we had - drive around for half an hour trying various spots, looking in vain for somewhere remotely level. With levelling ramps, we were eventually able to get reasonably level, and quite close to the "facilities". These consist of a few outdoor (covered) washing up sinks with only intermittent hot water, and no plugs for the sinks (
bring your own washing up bowl or waste a lot of water); 2 showers and 2 toilets each for ladies / gents, which is inadequate for such a large site (first time I've had to queue for the loo!) with intermittent hot water in the sinks; hand dryer not working;
bring your own toilet paper, as it was only supplied (3 rolls for each toilet) after I told reception there was none; worst of all, despite telling reception that the washrooms were filthy, in the 2 days / 2 nights we were there, the
toilets & showers were not cleaned at all. There was a small dollop of poo in one of the showers - I'm guessing because someone went to the toilet and found no paper so used the shower afterwards
Absolutely disgraceful. There were signs posted by all the taps warning that the water was contaminated with bacteria and not safe to drink, and recommending using bottled water or at least boiling all water intended for drinking or cooking. I really think this should have been clearly stated on the website and made clear prior to booking, so that you could at least top up your tanks (
bring your own!). On top of this, WiFi is only available at reception (nowhere near the camping field), so I missed the Arsenal v Ateletico game.
Very conveniently located for Oban and the ferry to Mull, but I would avoid it at all costs.
In contrast,
Salen Bay Campsite, Isle of Mull:
Just arrived today, but first impressions suggest this will be one of my favourite sites to date. We arrived early (due to catching an earlier than planned ferry from Oban) but the very friendly and welcoming owner/manager (?) checked us in anyway after explaining that the washrooms were currently closed for their daily "deep clean" (12:00-13:30). And on inspection later, I am happy to report that they were absolutely spotless - even smelled lovely! Beautiful location, spectacular views from pretty much any pitch - we're on a bluff with uninterupted views of the water. Could get a bit breezy
Nice little "bothy" with a table & chairs, washing machine / dryer (for a fee) and a freezer. And excellent site-wide WiFi, which means I can peruse the forum happily while waiting to watch Bayern v PSG later
