Depending on who was using the caravan, we asked either the occupant to carry out their own cleaning or used the park's own onsite cleaning firm, costing around £25 per clean. Most owners have a deep clean completed at the end of each season.
We decided to operate a no-shoes policy in the caravan, asking visitors to leave their footwear under the van. If you don't want your carpets to be covered in mud and grass, we would suggest doing the same.
Maintenance
We were pleasantly surprised to discover that there was very little maintenance work to carry out, apart from the cleaning.
We presumed that the exterior of the caravan would need washing at certain points throughout the season, but this was not the case. In the main, all the caravan units on the park stayed very clean, although we noticed that caravans on pitches beneath trees were more susceptible to moss and mould, as well as annoying things like blocked gutters.
Our particular caravan used mains metered gas. If your unit uses gas from bottles, bear in mind that these will need replacing from time to time.
Annual Checks and Services
In order to protect our caravan over the close season, we asked the park's team to complete a full winterisation service on the unit. This included a drain down of the water system, as well as several other processes designed to keep the caravan fresh and in good condition over its period of non-occupancy.
Many insurance companies require you to winterise your caravan as part of their policy stipulations. Thorness Bay's team charged us £49.95 to complete the winterisation process.
We also asked our park contact to arrange an annual boiler service and health check. This was carried out by a gas-safe engineer and was completed in full compliance with all current legislation. Following each service, we received the appropriate Holiday Home Gas Safety certification, as well as the peace of mind of knowing that our family and friends were safe in the caravan.
Not bad for £69.