‘Own a piece of the south coast’. That’s the slogan used by Hoburne Holidays at their flag ship holiday park, Hoburne Park in Dorset.

As well as owning a piece of the south coast with your very own holiday home Hoburne also offers family breaks in luxury lodges and static caravans – and they invited us along to see what it’s all about.

 Hoburne Park

A family owned business since 1912, Hoburne has seven holiday parks across the south coast and we’ve already stayed at one – Hoburne Devon Bay in Paignton, Devon – once as a family of four and once as a family of five.

We’ve had great experiences both times, so I was interested to see how their Dorset offering – which just outside Christchurch in Dorset isn’t quite such a trek down south – compares.

10 reasons I’m loving Hoburne Park in Dorset

1. There’s no need to get on a plane. We haven’t flown with all three kids in tow yet and I admit I don’t relish the thought. Hoburne Park is on the sunny south coast just two hours from London by car and two hours from where we live in Sussex – long enough to feel like we’re going somewhere but not long enough to make me want to tear my hair out.

Hoburne Park

2. They cater for families of all shapes and sizes. As a family of five we don’t fit into the one-size-fits-all ‘two adults, two kids’ category and often feel penalised for having a third child, but that’s not a problem here. You pay for the lodge or caravan, not per person. We had a three-bed platinum caravan with a bathroom and two loos, which suited us perfectly. Oh, and it was spotless.

3. The main bedroom fits a travel cot. You might think a static caravan would be a squeeze with a baby and all their paraphernalia but that wasn’t the case at all. There was plenty of room for all five of us.

 Hoburne Park

4. The on-site facilities are great. When you book accommodation you’re not just booking somewhere to stay – there’s a restaurant, cafe, bar, evening entertainment with reps to entertain the kids, leisure complex including swimming pools and a gym and an outdoor adventure playground, which are all free to use and super clean and well maintained.

 Hoburne Park

5. There are indoor and outdoor pools. So if the weather’s bad you can keep them entertained indoors (the giant mushroom was a hit with our three) and if it’s nice they can play outdoors – perfect given we visited in the middle of a heatwave. The outdoor pool is heated and doesn’t have a ‘deep’ end so great for kids to play in.

6. The outdoor pool is big enough to swim in. A major bug bear of mine when I go on holiday is swimming pools I can’t actually swim in, but this one’s big enough to do proper lengths. And if you can blag a bit of me-time afterwards there’s an adults-only steam room and sauna too.

 Hoburne Park

7. You can use the evening entertainment as a bribe. This kicks off with a ‘Sammy Rocks’ disco for the kids, featuring Hoburne’s mascots Sammy the Seahorse and Larry Lobster. The threat of not going each night miraculously resulted in good behaviour all day!

 Hoburne Park

8. Kids make friends with other kids. Which gives you a bit of a break. Our older two wasted no time making friends with the children from other caravans around us, and their constant ask when we were back at our caravan was to play on the grass with the other children.

 Hoburne Park

9. You can ditch the screens. Although each caravan comes with a 32” TV we didn’t need it. We also took the kids’ tablets with us in case the weather was bad but we didn’t need those, either. They were perfectly happy playing outside, in the park and in swimming pools and didn’t notice the lack of screens once.

 Hoburne Park

10. It’s by the sea. When I say by the sea, I mean right by the sea – as in walking distance. There are miles and miles of blue flag golden sandy beaches right on your doorstep, so there’s no need to feel confined to gates of the holiday park. And you really will feel like you own a piece of the south coast.

My top tips:

If you’re going to go beach don’t bother driving – parking was a nightmare owing to the sunny weather. You’re better off leaving the car at the holiday park and walking.

My verdict: 5/5

If you’d like to see what Hoburne Park looks like in action head over to my Instagram account where you’ll find Insta stories charting our stay highlighted at the top of my feed.

Have you ever been to a UK holiday park before? Is it the sort of holiday you’d consider? I’d love to know your experience!

We received a two-night stay at Hoburne Park in Dorset in exchange for this post. As always all opinions are my own and based on my own honest experience. Prices for Hoburne Park during peak season start from £768 based on a short break in a standard three bedroom caravan. You can click here to see their latest offers.

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