Awards crown Devon park's 75 years of quality holidays

Devon's acclaimed Ladram Bay Holiday Park has finished its 75th anniversary year on a high after being declared the West Country's top destination for kids and adults.

The Budleigh Salterton park scooped the top Diamond Award for Family Fun in the Devon, Somerset and Dorset region in November's prestigious Hoseasons Awards.

It's the eighth year in succession that the park, owned by the Carter family since 1943, has come home from the event with the premier family fun trophy.

The accolade was presented by comedian Paddy McGuinness at Hoseasons' sparkling annual awards ceremony at the Celtic Manor in South Wales.

But the judges hadn't finished with the park, for the family was once again asked to step into the spotlight to receive a second accolade from the major holiday bookings agency.

This time they named Ladram Bay as overall UK winner of the Customer Choice Food Award for the quality and value of its catering.

Both awards are based on the volume of customer satisfaction ratings received by Hoseasons from families who have stayed on the hundreds of parks with which they deal.

Ladram Bay director Zoe House, a member of the Carter family, describes the park's 75th year as one of the busiest on record with guests giving the thumbs-up to a raft of new facilities.

They included a new 160-square metre Splash Zone aimed at energetic youngsters which includes
interactive water features, spray guns, and even a sea serpent that sprays water.

The Splash Zone was officially opened during a day of celebrations at the park by Exeter-born Olympics swimmer and gold medallist Liam Tancock.

Happy customers were also responsible for another top award for Ladram Bay this year when they voted it a place in TripAdvisor's prestigious "Travellers' Choice Awards 2018".

The review website bases its annual list of winners on the verdicts of millions of visitors who rate their experiences at different places to stay.

In the "family accommodation" category of the awards, Ladram Bay Holiday Park was voted number seven in the top 25, thanks to the volume of positive feedback it received.

It trumped even some of the UK's best known names in the holiday parks and hotel industry.

The vast majority who voted gave the park an "excellent" or "very good" rating, with many making enthusiastic comments about the quality of their stay and the friendliness of staff.

Ladram Bay also has a five-star accolade from VisitEngland, and once again this year received a top gold award from botanist David Bellamy for its environment care.

There is more information about the park at www.ladrambay.co.uk