Where ?
Duinrell Holiday Park in South Holland.
Duinrell is a happy place. There’s an on site theme park, water park and a accommodation spread out across fields, forest and dunes. The charming town of Wassenaar on the doorstep and the beach within cycling distance makes for the perfect location.
I’ll be posting more about the park soon, for now a review of our home for a few nights: a six person lodge tent located in a part of the park called the ‘Romantic Camp ‘. Aw, lovely.
Disclaimer: Not guaranteed to actually be romantic if visited in the school holidays with the kids.
6 Person Lodge Tent, Duinrell
So, what do you get?
In a nutshell: two bedrooms, a very cute box bed, large kitchen/dining/lounge space, toilet and sink with cold running water. That’s cold water only , but you do have an electric kettle to knock on for hot.
A fully equipped kitchen that includes the aforementioned kettle, toaster (in theory, I’ll get to that) coffee machine, fridge with ice box and four ring gas cooker.
Outside, each lodge has its own deck with seating.
First Impressions
Very good. The lodge looked exactly as shown on the website. Even down to the lovely ( but alas, not real) plants on the large dining table. Top marks for that, nothing worse than turning up somewhere that isn’t what you expected.
A great location. The park is huge, but we were within a five minute walk of the theme park and swimming pool. Slightly less to The Plaza, which houses a supermarket, take away and bar/restaurant. A stones throw from the shower block.
No parking directly at the lodge as guests are allocated parking a short walk away. Makes the camp car free and quiet, bit of a slog if you’ve a younger family or lots of luggage.
The Sleeping Arrangements
Two separate bedrooms, one double and one with bunks.
A cute and cosy double box bed, definitely one of the nicest things in the lodge. It’s marketed as a bed for children and I suppose it is, but as a double it would comfortably sleep at least one adult or older child.
Quite fancied it for myself until I climbed up to make up the bed. The sweet little access ladder is made for more sprightly and less awkward bodies than forty-something me. Left it to the young ‘un.
Top marks for the mattresses and bedding provided, all high quality and impressively comfortable. No camp beds- all solid wood, full size and with sprung mattress. Pillows and mattresses had good quality protectors on, always a reassuring sign.
Pillows and duvets provided were of a good standard. The duvets were actually lovely, thick and soft. They cuddled you to sleep. Appreciated as the nights were chilly.
A linen package is compulsory when booking at €9.25 per person. For that you get sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers and the pleasure of making the beds yourself.
Best Things About the Lodge Tent
There was much to love. Plus points included:
A lovely layout, with the main living area cleverly zoned so it felt nice but never crowded.
That lovely, lovely box bed. A charming feature and clever use of space. Underneath is a storage space.
The gas powered fire place. The website says it’s ‘none-heating’ but it did give off a good bit of heat and definitely made the place feel cosy. Much needed first thing and last.
The lodge security. It has a fully locking door and there’s no access via other zipped doors. There’s also a safe for small valuables.
A kitchen package is provided with washing up supplies, bin bags etc. A thoughtful if thoroughly practical touch.
Any Negatives?
Sadly, yes. In the interest of an honest review, I’ll share them.
First up, cleanliness. The lodge was clean overall: bedrooms were clean, mattress covers immaculate etc. However, when I started using the kitchen, it wasn’t. I found some old crumbs, had to wash some things before use, the bin lid was dirty. And the pedal bin mechanism was broken meaning you had to touch the lid to use it. Yuk.
A missing toaster. A minor thing, but it was on the inventory and I’d planned a few simple meals using it. Are you even British and self catering without beans on toast? Mr THL was sent to reception and they cheerfully agreed to get us one. They did. A full day later.
I’m aware that these are minor issues. Cleanliness is partly down to the last occupants, things should be left as you’d wish to find. However, the park should have a robust system of checks to maintain standards.
Lastly, the toilet. It’s in the very centre of the tent. The ‘walls’ are partitions that aren’t quite the height of the tent. So it doesn’t feel particularly private and- there’s no delicate way to put this- everyone can hear everything. We ended up not really using it.
Final Thoughts
Minor niggles aside, we really enjoyed this holiday.
The canvas design and wooden furniture gave us that outdoorsy camping feeling. The glamping touches like an electric kettle and quality beds made sure we were comfortable.
The lodges location amongst the trees meant we woke up daily to the shadows of the trees and plants decorating the canvas walls. A beautiful, simple things that made me smile.
Budget wise, the Duinrell glamping experience was a good deal. It worked out at about €50 per head, per night. That includes unlimited theme park access, two sessions in the water park, bed linen and tourist tax. It also meant we could split the stay between self catering and eating out. A good thing in Holland, it isn’t particularly cheap
Overall, I’d highly recommend. A great choice for a family, relaxed and budget friendly.
My Stay in 3 Words?
Fun, outdoorsy, laid-back.
Want to Know More?
Find the link to the style of lodge we stayed in here, and the Duinrell home page here.
Over to you. Have you been to Duinrell? Does the idea of a Dutch holiday appeal to you? This is my first blog post in a while, so I’d love to catch up in the comments.
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like to read about my glamping experience in the Cotswolds.
Helen x
Sounds like you had a good break. I loved the shadows of the trees on the canvas. Given what you said about the toilet, that would be a big issue for me. Otherwise, it does sound comfy. I agree with you about Customer Care/Quality checks, they should inspect rooms to ensure they’re ready for the next family.
I agree, a simple check would have avoided the cleaning and toaster niggles! Overall a fabulous place to stay though, I’d still recommend. Thanks so much for your interest in my post about glamping in Holland.
Youre welcome Helen. The place did look lovely
WOW Helen, talk about taking glamping to a new level! 🌞🌳🌟 Sweet!
It doesn’t make me jump up and down with glee, Helen, snuggly duvets apart. I guess it depends on surrounds and things to do, and you’ll get to that next time.
I will Jo! The park does have some full scale luxury accommodations too. Maybe I’ll book one next visit, just in the interest of balance and research…
Nah, cheap and cheerful is fine, Helen. Not that anything is cheap with a family. It would serve its purpose 🤗💗
This sounds, on the whole, like camping I could get behind, despite advancing years. We’ll bear it in mind!
It’s definitely camping for non-campers!
The lodge tent looks really cosy. I’m not a camping person, though I’d definitely do glamping again as I like a proper bed. A shame about the few niggles as the cleaning staff should check everything between lets and I’d also be disappointed not to have a toaster as my days nearly always start with thick toast with lashings of butter and thick cut marmalade! Glad you got one eventually. Looking forward to finding out more about this part of the Netherlands in your upcoming posts.
Thanks Marion, I’ve got a few posts planned around what we got up to. I think the toaster is a British thing, I’m a tea-and-toast girl but all the Dutch and German families seemed to head to the bakery each morning.
I love all the glamping options you can chose these days. I don’t think I could go back to plain and simple camping again, as fun as it was!
I feel the same, I’ve enjoyed a few traditional camping breaks but I’m sold on this glamping malarkey!
I do love Holland and any excuse to visit! That said, I’m not one for camping, no matter how upmarket – I think all those years of “compulsory camping” with the Royal Air Force rid me of any desire to go camping for “fun”! Your trip does look good, though … so you never know!
Haha! There were some lovely guest houses and hotels a little further out towards the dunes and I did cast an eye over a couple and think…one day! For now though I’m a happy(ish) glamper.
That would have been me then – in the guest house and waving at you in your fancy tent! 🤗
I’ve never been a fan of camping but I would like to give glamping a try. This sounds like the sort of break we would have enjoyed a lot when our sons were young. Thanks for such an honest review. I could live without a toaster but you lost me on the cleanliness details but perhaps I’m too fussy?! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.
Not too fussy at all! I’m fine with basic but any hygiene issue puts me off. More annoying when it could have been an easy fix. These breaks are definitely good for families, very relaxed.
Have never been glamping and must say that on the whole it has never really appealed. That said, I can see why this was such an enjoyable stay. Love all the wood and the overall rustic vibe. Cleanliness niggles are something we have to deal with again and again and again as longterm Airbnb customers. It is a bore and annoying considering you pay a cleaning fee. Solid review, Helen.
Thanks Leighton, it was a fun experience.
Glamping has been on my bucket list for a while, but I haven’t actually made plans to do it yet. I do have a birthday coming up, though, so maybe that could be something to do to celebrate… I actually camped out in someone’s backyard last weekend for a girls’ weekend, but I did not fair well. We had a tent and the tent had spiders and I didn’t get a lot of sleep while we were there. We had a good time, but I was so glad to be back home among my creature comforts.
Oh no! Spiders definitely aren’t welcome company! I recommend glamping, it’s all the nice bits of camping/outdoorsiness but with plenty of comfort.
Never imagine myself camping but glamping I could do!
Glamping is camping for non campers. Only thing is, once you start adding in luxuries, it’s hard to go back to traditional camping!
Love the rustic look and feel of the place. Would love to try glamping in the future. Sorry to hear that you encountered issues, especially regarding the cleanliness which I’m also very particular about.
Ah Rosie, I’m so sorry I missed your comment. Just found you! Glamping is a great experience, hygiene issues aside. I hope you get to give it a go in the future, and thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.