Campsite La Simioune ***

This is a gem of a campsite. It’s peaceful and natural. Like many French campsites it has no toilet seats - in my opinion that’s a benefit, being more hygienic, and you need your own toilet paper. The reception is not open all day out of high season - why should it be for a handful of campers? But like many French sites, you pick your pitch and contact reception later. We were lucky, the gardienne was around as we arrived and took time to discuss our needs and advise suitable pitches for us. She was in good humour, with my attempts to communicate in French - starting off in English is always a no-no! As we were compliant with the ACSI regs - off season, couple in caravan, we got the exact rate stated. Pitches vary in size. But there were plenty that could have accommodated our 7.6m unit. In high season it may be different, but then you would expect to book in advance! Access was ‘interesting’! We read previous reviews and looked up the route on Google earth. If you follow ACSI instructions, and look for signs to the campsite, you will have a narrow road to follow. There is no need to worry about this, most of the route goes through open countryside with passing places. There is one hairpin bend, but it’s fairly shallow and has a wide turning circle - nothing to worry about. If you follow the sat nav, you may be taken a different route with a much sharper couple of bends. We enjoyed a week here but would not necessarily recommend it for an overnight stay.

Why say that the Wifi signal covers the whole site when within minutes this is clearly nonsense? Worse, the showers are governed such that the water does not even get beyond tepid. Appalling. Do not come here.

Lovely friendly site in the middle of a pine forest away from the town of Bollene (4kms). Pitches are mostly in the shade. The swimming pool area is lovely but the water was very cold so did not go in despite the warm weather. We booked in for two nights but stayed six and visited several small towns in the area, the most memorable being La Vaison de Romaine. An enjoyable few days overall.

On top of the Acsi rate we were charged for every conceivable extra.
Child under 2, car, tent despite in being under my awning
In the end we would have paid less if we had booked two standard acsi pitches.
The pitch allocated was probably the worst they could have given for our outfit despite the camp being empty. The staff were not very friendly. A smile goes a long way.
We were not charged extras like these anywhere else during our holidays.
If you are two people with a basic outfit you are safe but they charge for everything else. No really in the spirit of ACSI.
Shame as it is a good site

So many extras were added to the ACSI rate. In the end we could have booked two ACSI basic plots for less. A smile from the staff would have been nice. All the sites we stayed at on this vacation did not charge for a two year old child but this one did. The one man tent under our awning was charged extra as was our second car. They really did not miss a trick to bump up the price. Is it within ACSI guidelines? Possibly but as we paid over double for a single pitch and was not charged anywhere near this at any other site it really felt like robbery.
We were allocated most probably the worst pitch available for our outfit despite the camp being half empty
As I mentioned the staff were miserable on arrival and departure
Such a shame as it is a good site.