Issue no 2
September 2017
Sandy Balls Holiday Village Presents
Park life
What’s happening at Sandy Balls
Finally, I am sure you will be thrilled to hear that we have just launched a dedicated owners’ app, which will be compatible with all smart phones. You will be able to use the app for a whole host of things, which we are sure you will love. There is more of this covered in the newsletter, so I won’t uncover all!
Next year may well be interesting for the UK economy given our ambition to leave the European Union. I am of the belief that for UK tourism, “Brexit” is likely to be beneficial, however it is still important for us to be prepared. To that end, if you are on our managed letting scheme or are considering letting your holiday home, the earlier you can provide us with your desired dates the better off we are as a partnership to maximise our mutual success. In closing, I thank you for your continued custom and very much look forward to being able to share the exciting plans we have for 2018. With kind regards,
Carl Castledine
CEO of Away Resorts Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Park Life. I want to extend my personal thanks for your custom here at Sandy Balls. It is not lost on me or our team, that holiday home ownership is a very significant investment in your leisure time, and we are embarking on an ambitious plan to provide further improvements over the next 12 months. I look forward to being able to share some of these developments soon, along with our future investment programmes for enhancing Sandy Balls. Over the past six months we have been undertaking significant research to help us improve the facilities and services we offer you. Thank you to those of you who have contributed your feedback and insights so far. We may continue to call on you to share your ideas. You will already have seen some of the benefits of this research with the launch of our new Away Resorts smartphone app. There is a special section for owners and I do hope you’ll take the opportunity to download it. To help accelerate our plans I have recruited two new directors into our senior team. Dan Steadman has extensive industry experience and will help us ensure that you have the best possible service when purchasing and owning a holiday home. Andy Edge, formerly the Commercial Director for Odeon Cinemas, will help us evolve the ‘guest experience’ and will begin crafting exciting new products and activities that we are confident you will enjoy in the future.
Carl
We need your
holiday home October half term bookings are looking very strong, so if you’re not currently on sublet for this period or not using your holiday home and fancy earning a little bit of money towards your pitch fees, please get in touch with us via Guest Services on 01442 50 88 50
Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter to find out about all the latest news about autumn at Sandy Balls.
What a busy summer it has been here at Sandy Balls, our first one as part of the Away Resorts family. It’s been fantastic to be part of Away Resorts’ portfolio and has benefitted us in so many ways, in particular with the programme of events that we can now be part of. For the first time ever, we hosted a festival on site. The Colour Festival, which is inspired by the Indian Holi festival, sees the park transformed into a rainbow of bright colours as guests got together with our entertainment team to decorate the park in bright powdered colours, all set to the backdrop of some great tunes and entertainment. It was a very memorable experience, and we are looking to hosting more festivals and events.
As always my door is always open, please feel free to drop by.
Justin General Manager
Contact details Please could you pop into Guest Services when you are next on park to check your contact details with us. It might be that you have moved address, changed your telephone number or e-mail address and we need to know. Sometimes we need to get messages or updates out to you quickly either by a text message or e-mail so it is important we have theright details so you don’t miss out onrelevant park information.
Do you fancy a holiday at one of our other
beautiful locations?
Maintenance team No job too small.....sounds like an advert, however it’s true! If you would like us to quote on any maintenance issues or one of those “I’ll do that job later” scenarios, we’ll be only too pleased to help. Pop into Guest Services to find out more.
1.5% Credit-card charges We have recently introduced a charge for payments made by credit card. The 1.5% transaction fee applied to credit-card payments covers all costs associated with processing the transaction of which the bank charge is just one element.
As an Away Resorts owner you will receive a 10% discount at any of our six locations.
There are just a few rules; All discounts are subject to availability, holidays need to be booked by calling 01442 50 88 50 and selecting your park. You, our lovely owner, must be present on holiday. Your owner’s account number must be given at time of booking and ownership photo ID passes must be shown at check-in.
What you waiting for? Visit www.awayresorts.co.uk and see what takes your fancy
12:00
The new Away Resorts app has launched
Welcome to your park guide! Sign-in with your Away Resorts owner reference number to explore and discover your Sandy Balls. Sandy Balls makes the most of its unique and beautiful surroundings as well as being jampacked with fantastic activities and great entertainment to keep every member of the family grinning from ear to ear. Think of this app as your ‘park buddy’ helping you make the most of your stay. Here are some of the helpful features:
What’s On Events, entertainment and activities for all Find out what’s on, when and where. Book and manage your activities using the app and set reminders so you never miss out on the fun!
Sublet Choose the dates you want to sublet for 2018 and submit them via our APP All the information about how it works can be found here. So, you can sit back, relax and let us take care of your bookings.
Facilities Find out what’s on site From Launderettes to crazy golf, Sandy Balls is jam packed with facilities. Find everything need to know to ensure you are getting the most from your stay.
Notifications Set activity reminders
Discover, explore and never get lost Our handy park map will help you navigate around Sandy Balls. And, if you want to get away from it all, we’ll help you find your way back again!
Guest Services Maintenance, orders and home owner services So you can concentrate on having a good time, we’ve made it quick and easy to order holiday home owner essentials or let us know how to help.
By Scott Giles – Marketing Director When Max, our Creative & Entertainment Director suggested running a colour festival at Away Resorts, we wondered if he had gone a bit bonkers! Sure, we’ve done a few crazy things in the past like the giant cream pie fight, but sending 150 kg of colour powder into the air and dyeing the swimming pool pink was taking bonkers to a whole new level! Thankfully the colour festival turned out to be more fun than we could ever have imagined. We had hundreds of people across all our parks queuing up to join in. Taking inspiration from the Indian ‘Holi’ festival, everyone grabbed cups full of vibrant colour powder (biodegradable corn starch) and doused their friends and family. Young, old and in between, everybody got covered in colour and at the end there were some absolutely epic selfies! The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and we’re planning to run the event again in 2018 so if you missed out this year, don’t worry you’ll have chance to take part next time. Keep the date of 21st July 2018 free in your diary.
So much to do, so much to remember! Worry not, our useful reminders will ensure you never miss a beat.
Weather Five day forecast
Park Map
Colour Festival
Come rain or shine we have activities galore. Our five-day forecast lets you plan for all eventualities.
2017
events so far...
Colour festival
And this is just version 1.0 – we have lots of exciting updates to come…
Colour festival
The adventures start here! It’s time to get your owner reference number ready, download and go! If you need help, please pop into Guest Services. Our team will be happy to show you the ropes!
Colour festival
Cream pie fight Colour festival
Keep in touch with Away Resorts’ latest news with our NEW online experience ‘Goodtimes’
Cream pie fight
www.goodtimes.awayresorts.co.uk
Local
events
There are some amazing off-park events happening around Hampshire over the next few months.
Southampton boat show
Beaulieu Fireworks Spectacular
Starts: 15 September Ends: 24 September
Starts: 19 October
S outhampton
Woodland Crescent New holiday home locations The re-development of eight fantastic holiday home locations, with views to the River Avon are selling fast.
7 8
Now on sale
sold sold
3
All locations have parking bays, so if you fancy an upgrade and re- location please pop to the Holiday Home Sales Office at the entrance to the park, to find out more.
1
2
Beaulieu
TheYachtMarket.com Southampton Boat Show is a spectacular world class annual event held in September and attracts visitors, exhibitors and investors from all over the world. TheYachtMarket. com Southampton Boat Show. The Show is one of Southampton’s biggest events and takes over the City for a 10 day period, whilst people of all walks of life discover what the marine industry has to offer them. www.southamptonboatshow.com/
Bournemouth Marathon Festival Starts: 7 October Ends: 8 October
One of the largest firework displays in the south, choreographed to music with a range of entertainment for the whole family. Arrive early and enjoy the attractions of Beaulieu before fireworks and live entertainment. Enjoy old time fairground entertainments, including a big wheel, gallopers and a coconut shy. A firework party to remember. www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/beaulieufireworks/
The Bournemouth Marathon Festival is a world-class, engaging and inclusive event. It captures and promotes the essence of a vibrant, healthy and active lifestyle through a series of fun and challenging mass-participation running races, all inspired by the stunning coastal arena of Bournemouth and Poole. www.bournemouthmarathon.com
On park
Halloween
events
Monday 30th October
Winter Wonderland Starts: 16 November Ends: 3 January Bournemouth Gardens
B ournemouth
Full of atmosphere and tradition, the Christmas Gardens of Light include an outdoor ice rink, Alpine Christmas Market, and historic gardens draped in lights. Bournemouth Gardens of Light brings Christmas light and fun to Bournemouth Gardens from November to early January. Twinkling lights and beautiful alpine stores are the perfect backdrop for festive winter shopping, and ice skating adds a little adventure to the mix. www.makeitbournemouth.co.uk/ outdoor-ice-rink/
Come along and spend a spooky weekend with us…the kids will love apple bobbing, spooky stories, our scary disco and much more! And for the adults why not grab a blanket, tell some ghost stories and toast some marshmallows by the fire pit!
Festive breaks at Sandy Balls Throughout December Join us as we transform our main Village Square with twinkly lights and traditional Christmas trees. Aromas of mulled wine and mince pies drift from the Woodside Inn as you enjoy some festive entertainment. Cuddle down together in your holiday home or perhaps make your way to our very special Christmas Panto!
Winter Foodstock Saturday 2nd December Expect festive fun, delicious food and drink! Experience some of the finest festive food and drink products at this superb event. With fun children’s festive activities. This is a weekend not to be missed.
New Year’s Eve Party 31st December Why not join us for a spectacular night of entertainment and dancing! We’ll transform the Village square to become one big party with a whole range of music, perfect for adults and families.
start planning...
On park
A trip down
memory lane
6
Wow who remembers Sandy Balls like this? If you do, you have probably been coming on holiday or an owner for a few years. Do you have any old pictures you would like to share with us? Send them to holidayhomes@awayresorts.co.uk as we would love to see and share them!
Cream Pie Fight Sunday 26th August
events
2018
Winter Foodstock Friday 1st December
Easter Friday 30th March
Festive Breaks 9th - 25th December
Colour Festival Saturday 28th July
NYE Party Sunday 31st December
Halloween Thursday 27th October
Earn thousands of pounds
simply by letting out your holiday home!
Fancy a little upgrade? Step 2
Managed Letting Many of our Holiday Home Owners at other Away Resorts locations let their holiday homes when they are not using them. It provides Holiday Home Owners with extra income that can help cover running costs. Obviously, the amount you can earn will depend on how often your home is available to let, but this is entirely at your discretion. Whatever suits you can be accommodated. Our managed letting service is dead easy to use and only requires a couple of forms to get started.
Earning Potential So how much can you earn? Well, we can’t give you a definite figure but we can promise that we can try to get the highest letting income possible. As you know, everyone loves a bargain and the competition for holiday dollars is fierce so there are times when we have to run promotional discounts via advertising and direct mail campaigns. Rest assured that our discounting decisions are made with very careful consideration of your best interests.
When it comes to holiday letting, your success is our success. Something to keep in mind is that most people enjoy holidays over bank holiday weekends, during school holidays and throughout July and August. If you can use your holiday home at other times and keep these peak periods free for letting, we increase our chances of your success.
Holiday Administration The best part of the service is that we manage all bookings. Nothing for you to worry about. At the end of the year, we add up your bookings and subtract a commission and you receive the rest. All holiday homes must have up to date health and safety certificates.
HOW OUR MANAGED LETTING SERVICE WORKS :
1 2 3
After all, it is in yours and our interests that the park be a popular destination choice.
You decide the dates you wish to let your holiday home out. You decide how you would like your sublet money paid to you three times a year. You sit back, relax and let us do all the hard work!
We will then prepare a ‘no-obligation’ proposal for you, including the partexchange allowance on your current holiday home and the full delivery, siting and connection costs. We will also prepare a finance package designed to suit your specific needs if you wish to use our competitive finance schemes.
Perfecting perfection! We just want you to know that it is all quite normal for people to upgrade their holiday home. Honestly, it’s fine! Circumstances can change and the perfect holiday home just needs to be, well, more perfect! There are always a great variety of new and pre-loved models available, so feel free to pop in to Guest Services for a cup of tea and a rummage around the latest holiday homes that are available.
Simple to upgrade When you decide you want to think about a new holiday home, simply contact the Ownership Team via Guest Services. They are trained to take you through everything you need to know. You may even consider moving to another pitch on the park at this time.
Step 3 If you are happy to proceed and let us have some of your hard-earned cash, we will advise you of the expected handover date. We can also arrange to exchange your holiday home for your new one all in one day if you like.
Step 4 If you have an approved veranda on your current holiday home, this will be removed and fitted to the new one by the Park Services Team or an approved contractor.
Step 5 Move into your new holiday home, kick back, relax and wonder why on Earth you didn’t do this sooner!
Step 1
To find out more pop into Guest Services
Call us now on 0142 5 65120 6 and ask fo part ex r your ch quote ange today
One of our Ownership Team will visit you at your holiday home for an inspection to help us value it.
Holiday homes for sale only
£67,495
only
£71,495
2017 Pemberton Marlow -
2 bedroom | 35 ft x 12ft Great family holiday home Spacious lounge Fantastic location
2018 ABI Oakley
only
£78,495
only
Brand new
£87,995
only
2018 Willerby Aspen -
3 Bedroom | 42ft x 13ft Freestanding furniture Great sized bedrooms En-suite shower
-
only
£139,995
2 Bedroom | 36 ft x 12ft Great family holiday home Spacious lounge Fantastic location
2018 Victory Belmor -
- 2 Bedroom | 36ft x 12ft - Open plan - Exceptional holiday home
£97,995
2018 ABI Blenheim
2 Bedroom | 38 ft x 12ft Ample seating for the whole family Fresh design Front opening doors
2007 Pinelog Rustic -
2 Bedroom | 32 ft x 20ft Comes with decking Log burner Be the envy of all your friends!
Pop into the sales office to find out more | Open 7 days a week