Camping Les Hautes Prairies ***

Although this is our third consecutive year at Camping Les Hautes Prairies, Lourmarin, it is almost certainly our last.
The young staff who run the campsite are friendly and helpful but some of the facilities are poor and do not warrant the high tariffs that are currently being charged. Many of the emplacements are poorly maintained, being overgrown and ill-kempt, whilst the sanitary facilities at the entrance to the camping are modern and fresh, masking the fact that those at the top of the campsite are old and in need of significant improvement. The shower enclosures are mouldy and suffer from rotten wood and there is little point in privacy cubicles if the cannot be locked from the inside. The toilet blocks are cleaned regularly but the times for cleaning are baffling and seem determined by the needs of the cleaner rather than the needs of the camper. How else can one explain why seven year old children are told to use the toilets at the bottom of the campsite at 7.30 in the morning because those at the top are closed for cleaning? Cleaning times are totally random and do not conform to any set timetable.
The wifi is free to use on the campsite but again it only works at the entrance so although everybody pays the same campsite fee, if you are lucky enough to be sited near the entrance, you get a much better deal than those sited further away.
The young staff running the site put a lot of energy into providing a full programme of entertainment for families with children and the campsite does have a very large swimming pool attended full time by a lifeguard but here too there are issues. Yes, the poolside area has been covered with fake grass to hide broken concrete and there has been significant investment in new sun loungers and deck chairs this season but provision for shade is inadequate. With temperatures topping 36+ degrees regularly during our three week stay, three fixed sun parasols are not enough and result in the inevitable placement of towels early in the morning to reserve places. Add in the fact that members of the public who book a meal in the restaurant at lunchtime are granted free access to the pool for the afternoon thus increasing the pressure on limited poolside resources and the overriding impression is that staff are more interested in bar profits than meeting the needs of their resident campers.
Lourmarin is a lovely French village with lots of restaurants and galleries to interest tourists as well as an excellent market on Fridays but there needs to be a sustained and significant improvement in the facilities at Les Haute Prairies if we are to return. Given that it is an alleged three star camp site, Les Hautes Prairies is currently over priced and in need of significant modernisation by the Campasun chain it now belongs to. There are much better campsites in the region which offer better facilities,closer attention to detail and better value for money.

The reception here was very friendly and helpful. This is a very quiet and peaceful site with pitches separated by high hedging which offered privacy and shade but also stopped the sun getting through next morning. Water and electricity points were plentiful. The toilets / showers were clean but half were closed down in September so that everyone had to use the ladies block. There is a small shop but this was running down at the end of season. The swimming pool looked lovely. There is a restaurant at the gate which we didn’t use. The nearby town of Lourmarin looked nice but was quite a long walk away. This is a good site for an overnight stop and we would use it again.