Overview

I needed somewhere to stay in my motorhome whilst visiting our work hub in Newcastle. Out of season, there weren't many options so I ended up booking at Sandhaven, even though it's a fair way out of Newcastle. With hindsight, I am so glad I did! I would choose to stay there again as it had everything I needed to make my stay as easy and pleasant as possible.

Transport & Parking

I arrived by motorhome and found the site easily. The main road into the site is wide and has a good tarmac surface. Reception is clearly signposted but there is no marked arrivals area, so I wasn't sure where to pull in. I realised quickly though that anywhere at the side was fine.

Access

The pitches are definitely the main asset on this site. Normally touring pitches are large gravel areas - great for the vehicle but terrible for wheelchairs! These pitches have a gravel area, then a tarmac area and then grass. I think they intended that you pitch on the tarmac and walk on gravel but I did it the other way round. That meant I never had to wheel over gravel, which was fantastic! Having grass there too gave me somewhere to toilet my assistance dog on rising and before bed. The road around the site is smooth, good quality tarmac. On either side of the site, there are parks with good paths that go around the park and down to the seafront. I was able to access the bins, toilet emptying and other services quite easily. All the pitches have electricity, water and waste. I couldn't use the waste point on my pitch as it's all low down but there is also a couple of big drains near reception and they were happy for me to do a drive over to empty.

Toilets

There is an accessible toilet and shower which is on a Radar lock. I had a look and would have used it but the shower was one that is fixed to the wall rather than having a holdable shower head. That doesn't work for me so I just used my own. That wasn't a problem though and was made easier with having water on my pitch.

Staff

The staff couldn't have been any more helpful and friendly. My first night was 5th November and there were big firework displays from the beach. Loads of people were trying to use the site as overflow parking. The staff were out very quickly to stop them and then they stayed out to check that we were all safe.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Although not the site itself, one of the main things that made this site so good, is its access to the parks, beach and other attractions. The site entrance is straight onto good pavements. On either side of the site entrance are entry points to parks. The paths are good quality and mostly wide. These lead straight down to the beach. There are various options then for where to walk. The promenade is lovely! You can walk quite a long way, off road, with sand and sea on one side and various cafes on the other. It was cleaned daily but in places sand had washed up which made it difficult to wheel on. On the other side of all the cafes, running alongside the road, is a lovely wide pavement. This was also good for walking the dog. The beaches are all sandy, so not really accessible without a specialist chair but at least you can get right upto the sand - again handy for playing with a dog.