Hampton Court Holiday Park is a small friendly family run holiday park set in the heart of the beautiful area of Pembrokeshire and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in West Wales.
The Park itself is about six miles from the harbour town of Saundersfoot and about 3 miles from the market town of Narberth whilst the Pembrokeshire county town of Haverfordwest is thirteen miles. So we are conveniently located to explore the area and take in the various views whether you wish to do so by wheelchair on one of the ever increasing accessible footways or simply enjoying some fish and chips in your car on the harbour front at Saundersfoot whilst watching the boats come in with the tide.
The park is owned and run by us the Russ family. We live on the park with our children one of whom is profoundly disabled and a wheelchair user and it is this reason we decided to start catering for the disabled holiday market. We realised that as our son gets older and bigger it has become very difficult if not impossible to find truly accessible accommodation to go on holiday in and most importantly that there do not appear to be many places offering the facilities my family and I need in a “normal and inclusive setting”.
We decided we were in a unique position to try and do something about this and so designed the log cabin we are currently offering for hire as a holiday destination on a holiday park with other holiday makers but in accommodation built (not adapted) for the wheelchair user. We have equipped the cabin with a variety of things that we think will be of use to a lot of wheelchair users particularly those who require carer assisted hoisting.
The bedrooms are as follows:
Bedroom one: Has a single, standard pine bed with overhead hoist or if hoist and wheelchair access is not required (I.e. for two able bodied children or adults) then there is a second single pine bed which comes from underneath the single to create two singles or one double bed. Bedroom two: Has a single medi-bed which is profiling and electrically height adjustable with the option to have cot sides up or down and is suitable for those who may roll out of bed. This bed has an overhead hoist which takes the user to either their wheelchair in the bedroom or straight through into the wet room where they may be lowered onto the electrically height adjustable shower / changing unit or lowered into the shower / commode chair. Bedroom three: One Standard pine frame double bed with monkey pole and en-suite to shower room with toilet and hand basin (this shower room also has double door access although it is not intended as an accessible shower room).
The main accessible bathroom (wet room) has the height adjustable shower / changing unit which can be folded up against the wall for more space or if not required by a wheelchair user who can transfer to the shower seat. The shower / commode seat is self propel or attendant moveable and can roll into position for use from the bedroom if needed, it can also be positioned over the Clos-O-Mat automatic toilet if required. There is also a separate commode chair if required for use under the hoist or in the bedroom if required. The bathroom also has an electrically height adjustable wash basin with mirror. The wet room floor is covered in non slip altro marine flooring.
All overhead hoist rails in the cabin are provided with battery operated lift and lower hoist units with manual traverse facility. We find this more useful for control when positioning our son in his wheelchair and also leads to the hoist being more usable for an exterior gantry system should one be needed for use with a beach wheelchair or similar piece of outside equipment.
The kitchen area has been kept as simple as possible with the minimum of clutter. It is served by an electrically height adjustable sink / hob unit and small work area. There is also another small fold down work area and all equipment has been placed so it is accessible from a wheelchair with low level pan stands and small wheeled trolleys to accommodate storage. Please bear in mind we are attempting to cater for holiday use only and keep as much free space as possible therefore there is not as much storage as you will have in your house, besides who wants to cook on holiday when there are lots of lovely local take away places and restaurants to eat in (go on treat yourself). The kitchen also has a combination microwave oven and the usual kettle and toaster.
The cabin itself whilst being well equipped does not look in any way clinical and is instead just a very luxurious log cabin, which is by the way a genuine log cabin (not clad) And serves to give it a real warm feeling in both practical and aesthetic terms. The luxury includes two leather settees (two seaters) in the lounge with a leather rise and recline chair. Also a 40” plasma TV with DVD recorder and cast fire with glow effect. The dining area is part of the lounge area and includes an extendable dining table which most wheelchairs will go under. We also have a height adjustable wheelchair dining / activity table on wheels for various uses including exterior BBQ use. All the bedrooms are served with a 19” widescreen tv with dvd recorder. Your comfort is also guaranteed for temperature due to the natural insulating qualities that wood provides coupled with double glazing and central heating throughout so even if you fancy a break at the beginning of the season or even Christmas you will NOT be cold and will be as warm if not warmer than your own home. All heating is included in the quoted rates. The cabin flooring is covered in either altro marine (wet room / shower room) or laminate wood flooring. We feel this is the easiest surface to operate wheelchairs on and keep clean without worrying about wet weather being brought in on wheels and is what we use completely throughout our own bungalow and it blends in beautifully with the surrounds of the cabin.
