Family Glamping at Broadhembury Caravan Park, Ashford, Kent

July 12, 2017

Sleeps: Up to 4

Location: Ashford, Kent

Price: From £55 low season – £80 high season per tent / per night for 4 people

Despite only being a few miles outside of Ashford and within easy access of the M20 Broadhembury Caravan Park is surrounded by glorious English countryside. The caravan park is found tucked away down winding rural lanes and surrounded by farmland.

Broadhembury is well established as popular caravan and camping park and have received numerous awards in recognition of the high standard of service they offer. Earlier this Summer the park welcomed a collection of beautiful Lotus Belle style Glamping tents as an exciting addition to the park. The tents are located on both the Family Park and the Adult’s Meadow. We visited Broadhembury last weekend to try out their Glamping facilities first hand…and we enjoyed every minute of the experience!

The first thing that you notice about these Lotus Belle Tents is their unusual appearance, they’re almost a cross between a Yurt and a Bell Tent and they look like a Lotus flower…hence the name! The three Glamping tents in the family park at are all in their own little fenced off area and all in a row. They look pretty, smart and strikingly different to the rest of the park.

Be prepared to encounter curious neighbours and the odd question from by passers…everybody wants to know what it’s like inside the Glamping tents! Well…I’ll tell you…inside the tents you’ll find beds to sleep four with crisp, fresh linen, cosy throws. Pretty bunting hangs from the top of the tent and there are flowers placed on bedside tables. The tents are supplied with electricity which means there’s a kettle and bedside lamp for night time reading. This is indeed luxurious, even for Glamping! Having experienced a number of Glamping facilities in recent months this is the first time we’ve had electricity making that morning cuppa that little bit easier. I loved the decor in these spacious tents…clean, simplistic, cosy and bright.

Broadhembury have clearly thought about the little touches that make a difference when planning their Glamping pitches. Each pitch is fenced off and enclosed meaning that toddlers and young children are safe from site traffic and parents can relax (for once!) The tents stand on a wooden decking platform which has an easy access ramp leading into the tent…again making life easier for little people and reducing the likelihood of trips and falls.

The tents are adorned with solar powered fairy lights which come on automatically when the sun goes down creating a magical ambiance and fascinating the children. Finally…the tents are located within easy access to both the site facilities and play areas. Broadhembury have clearly gone to efforts to make these tents as family friendly and appealing as possible..and it’s certainly paid off!

The play area at Broadhembury is large and caters for both toddlers and older children. There is an under 5’s area with a small slide, Wendy House, ride on jeep, swings and play ship…all in good condition and safely separated from the main play area. For older children there’s a huge piece of equipment where the children can climb, slide and hide to their hearts content. There’s also a fab helicopter climbing frame and good ol’ swings. Behind is a large open space with football nets where mini matches and gymnastic sessions were taking place simultaneously. All our children loved this play area. We were happy for the oldest three to play there unaccompanied as it was so close to our tents and there was a very friendly, laid back vibe amongst the kids playing there. There was also a games room with table tennis, snooker, skittles and air hockey…plenty to keep all ages happy and a refreshing focus on traditional campsite fun rather than the hectic electronic entertainment which so many holiday parks offer.

Within your private enclosed area surrounding your tent you’ll find a covered BBQ area. The site can provide you with disposable BBQ kits or you can use the charcoal fuelled BBQ that comes provided. All the crockery, cutlery and BBQ utensils you’ll need are included in your hire of the tent…as well as washing up bowl, scrubbers and liquid. We found the BBQ area practical and easy to use. It was fairly tricky to wash up at the tent but the full wash facilities are a short walk away.

Bathroom and washing facilities are all located in the same block just in front of the children’s play area. I was impressed at the consistent cleanliness of these facilities throughout our stay. There are plenty of toilets and showers meaning that we never had to wait and there was always easy access to mirror and wash bowl areas. The showers were clean, warm and refreshing.

The park fell quiet just after 10pm and we all succumbed to a very good nights sleep. The faint drone of traffic reminding us that the M20 is not too far away…however we didn’t find this effected our ability to drift off and sleep well. We were provided with light duvets and blanket throws in our linen pack which were more than enough to keep us warm through the night. There’s also a ceiling heater for colder nights and off season stays.

With our stay drawing to a close we prepare ourselves for packing up by working our way through one of Broadhembury’s breakfast hampers. These are an optional extra and cost £18 to be delivered to your tent the night before you require your breakfast. We found this a great way to save on the hassle of shopping before we arrived and the pack is extremely generous containing bacon, beans, eggs, bread, croissants, juice, jams, butters, cereals and milk. We cooked the eggs and bacon on the gas fuelled job which cones with the hire of the tent. This wasn’t the easiest way to cook….but we managed! We gave up by the time it came to thinking about the beans and had them cold instead….but that’s camping life!

We were really impressed with the quality of the Glamping accommodation at Broadhembury….as Glamping accommodation goes this is definitely at the more luxurious end. It’s clear that the park has made real efforts to make the facilities as family friendly as possible…they’ve even included swing ball as part of their pitches!

As a site Broadhembury is clean, friendly and set in a pretty environment and the facilities are clean and well maintained. It’s worth remembering that this is a caravan park so if you are looking for the type of Glamping experience where you’re out in the woods and really getting back to nature then this might not be for you….but if you’re looking for an accessible, family friendly, stress free and high end Glamping experience this is about as good as it gets!

We received at complimentary stay at Broadhembury in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own. We’d like to say a big thank you to Charlotte for organising our stay and all the staff at Broadhembury for making us feel so welcome! 



4 Comments

  • Jonny (daisythebus)

    July 14, 2017 at 10:57 am

    Nice video!! Also I really like the look of those tents : rather unique and ready for a special stay. Glamping appears to have been the “in” thing for a few years now, and anything which lets people experience the camping / outdoors life has to be a good thing, right? Greetings from the Luxembourgish family with four kids ;o) #AdventureCalling

  • Rhonda palliser

    July 15, 2017 at 7:55 am

    Can you send me some more info please rhondapalliser650@gmail.com

  • Lauren The Helpful Hiker

    July 17, 2017 at 10:23 pm

    The bell tents look gorgeous. I absolutely love the idea of the little fence around the tents, we spend most of our camping trips chasing our two year old all over the place! This certainly looks a little more relaxing! The play areas look good too, a real family friendly site. The more I see, the more I’m coming round to the idea of glamping! Thanks for sharing with us at #Adventurecalling

  • David – Potty Adventures

    July 18, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    This looks like a great site. We have a 5m bell tent for much of our family camping but this lotus bell is on another level! Great video too. I’ll head over to YouTube and give you a sub. Thanks for joining us on #adventurecalling I hope you can again tomorrow.

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