Pyla Camping Reviews

3.0
Bernd P.August 2019
Advantages
- Great location at the foot of the dune - Sanitary facilities simple but clean - Good restaurant - Access to the beach possible, but strenuous
Negatives
- Pitches of completely different quality (some completely unsuitable for caravans and motorhomes) -Advance payment obligatory
Actually quite a nice place; unfortunately too expensive in the high season
First of all: our stay at this campsite came about by chance. All the other pitches we wanted to book were already fully booked. A few days beforehand, we almost panicked in view of some scathing reviews of this campsite in other forums. The lack of cleanliness in particular was criticized. I can't confirm... that at all! The sanitary facilities are far from hotel-like, but absolutely clean and well-kept! Communication before the vacation: booking proved to be quite a hassle. You can only book with a credit card. I had a technical problem at the time. Email inquiries in German and French remained unanswered as to whether a bank transfer would work. When the credit card was activated, there was no booking confirmation. The booking was only confirmed after a telephone consultation (communication was only possible in French). The arrival: before we set foot on the pitch, the entire amount for the stay was already due. For me, this is an absolute bad habit! The location: fantastic location below the dune! Visually, the location is really great. Access to the beach is possible via a spur of the dune. This is not quite as strenuous as walking over the entire dune, but still strenuous enough. It takes 10 minutes to walk up from the beach through the deep sand. The beach is natural (I don't mean that in a negative way) and quite beautiful. For those who like it more comfortable: just under 3 km away there are sections of beach (free parking) with much easier access. These are also well equipped with infrastructure. These beaches are also easily accessible by bike, despite the short and steep incline. In general, La Teste de Buch is 10 km away and has an incredible range of industrial areas with supermarkets, discount stores and shopping centers of all kinds. Unfortunately, only one road leads to the campsites. And it is very busy. This means that a shopping trip can take several hours (5 km traffic jams are not uncommon!) Sanitary facilities: no gender segregation, no toilet seats, no toilet paper. But there were plenty of toilets and showers. They were cleaned several times a day. Unfortunately, the temperature of the showers cannot be regulated; there is only one standard temperature (quite warm). Unfortunately, most of the showers are quite open, which can get quite frosty when temperatures are low (and we usually had them after sunset!). However, it's a mystery to me how you can come up with the idea of not covering the sinks. Washing up in the rain is also a funny feeling... The disposal station for chemical toilets also makes little sense. It's also outdoors next to the disposal station for camper vans. So if there's a camper van there, there's no chance of emptying it. Site facilities: there is a (very) small pool, a small supermarket, bar and restaurant. Absolutely sufficient. I also liked the barbecue areas scattered around the site. Garbage cans: well, very sparse. There is only one central garbage station. This is sometimes incredibly far away from the pitches. Otherwise there is nothing at all. Only small, unlocked bins at the sanitary facilities and sinks. It's great to look at cotton buds and tampons when brushing your teeth... The restaurant: Prices typically high in France. Drinks prices enormously expensive for a campsite! But the taste was great! The restaurant was busy every evening. Waiting times therefore included. Everyone has to help out in the service: entertainers, cleaning staff, reception staff... Friendliness of the staff: absolutely fine. But: it became clear that the reception staff in particular are not specialists, but rather seasonal workers. They can't really help with questions. One employee couldn't tell me where I could dispose of my chemical toilet. He didn't know the term in German, English or French. Finally, he explained that he didn't know the difference between a caravan and a mobile home. And that at the reception on a campsite. Last but not least, the most unpleasant chapter for me: the pitches. There are some really wildly romantic pitches for tents that I really liked. For caravans or motorhomes, some of them look really bad. Sloping, crooked, steep and sandy are the problems of many pitches. Added to this is the rather problematic distribution by the reception. Carvans have to park on steep pitches. Camper vans stand crooked on the pitch because it is far too small. Instead, tents and small camper vans are parked on large, level pitches. We had to push the caravan uphill along the path and then over an elevation on the pitch. No problem: the pitch was large. The access road, however, was a disaster. We needed 7 people to maneuver! Help from staff was only possible with the massive intervention of my partner (due to her good language skills). If I hadn't already had to pay the full amount for the stay, I would have left in a huff. By the way: despite the chocks, the caravan was still not level. To summarize: this is a typical French 3-star campsite, as I have experienced time and again. It's basically okay and I would have given it four stars in the rating here. But: unfortunately it is too expensive for its services in the high season. The price would have been reasonable a week later. Unfortunately, the price-performance ratio is not right. Well, the campsite can afford it. It was fully booked.
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3 campers found this rating helpful.