Camping de Châlons-en-Champagne

The website made the campsite look better than it was, which added to our disappointment. The mobile home felt dark and stuffy, with a slight chemical smell, and didn’t feel comfortable for our family. We’d booked two nights and paid for towels, but after checking in and briefly going inside, we told reception we wanted to leave. We didn’t use the room, towels, or any facilities, and left right away. We weren’t offered a refund for anything, including the unused second night and towel service. They handled it correctly as a business, but showed no flexibility or customer friendliness. The campsite and its surroundings fell well short of what we expected.

The toilet block is quite dated, as others have mentioned, though it seemed fairly clean and the showers had good hot water. The campsite itself was quiet and well located, with generously sized pitches separated by mature hedges. At about £17 per night including electricity, it also made UK caravan sites seem expensive.

The pitches were clean and a good size, and reception was friendly. We stayed one night before moving on. Out of the ten three-star and two four-star campsites we’ve visited this year, the four-star places have offered less. WiFi only works within 10m of reception, and the sports facilities, which presumably helped earn the four-star rating, have been left to rot. There’s no pride in the campsite, it feels like it’s just there to make money.

We had a cosy, easy stay at the start of May. Alexis makes nice pizzas at the campsite’s little snack restaurant.