Dates visited: 19th to 26th of June, 2023
We’ve stayed at a few Yelloh! Villages over the years but this one takes the cake. Le Brasilia does everything on a grand scale and does it well. On our approach to the site we were greeted by a gatekeeper who instructed us where to go and where to park while checking in. Once we had checked in one of the staff accompanied me to the motorhome and then lead us by bicycle to our pitch. The road to our pitch was beautifully paved, the trees, grass and bushes were all perfectly manicured. The pitch had on site electic hookup, freshwater and drainage which allowed me the opportunity to test out my Collapz drain pipe. Wi-Fi was included in the fee and we were given access for 8 devices. So far so good. As we had arrived relatively late we opted for take away Pizza. The pizza was lovely albeit a bit oily but I don’t think that’s something I would personally be concerned about if it’s got flavour – which it had. Pizza eaten, chairs out, table cleaned it was off to the bar which has a large outdoor seating area (with table service if you want it). The beer was reasonably priced and chilled, the wine was OK (finally something that’s not perfect). Then a night show staged by the staff started – this is quite unusual for us as it was a bit out of season so the majority of sites don’t run a full week of activities (animations) until high season (July and August). The show was a bit on the cheesy side and was a half-mimed half acted version of Grease with the songs being mimed and the dialog being voiced (in English) by the actors. It was a bit of a laugh and relaxed us into the experience.
OK day 1 down, we weren’t even there for a full day and already had experienced a lot of the site and liked what we saw. Day 2 built upon our experiences and we managed to get a full appreciation of the site. This campsite is host to a significant amount of rental units and pitches. We had opted for a full-service pitch to avoid having to move during the week to empty the the waste tank. The pitch was large, with mature trees offering shade and was a reasonably close proximity to the toilet blocks, beach and central area. The central area is home the the aforementioned bar plus a commercial area that offers lenty of options for shopping on-site but at a premium compare to a supermarché. The site has two small general shops, a bar, ice cream shop, large restaurant, take away, bakery, fruit and veg shop and clothes outlets. And all of this is done to the same high standard as the rest of the site.
Stage shows every night. The local kids entertainers miming to songs from popular movies (Grease, Encanto) coupled with choreographed dance routines and live dialog. Kids from the kids club join in on the traditional ‘last night’ Two nights the show was live music 80s-90s synth pop and a rock guitar trio (father mother daughter) rocking out to Fleetwood Mac etc. Service at the bar was reasonable, prices were acceptable with only minor disappointments (Customer service not high on the agenda for some of the bar staff).
There is a reasonably nice beach accessible directly from the site and on a hot day the breeze from the sea is really welcome (temperatures went as high as 34C while we were visiting). A dip in the meditteranean waters is doubly refreshing but care is needed as the water gets very deep quite close to the shore. I would think that children should be kept under close watch if they are not confident swimmers.
We did try out the restaurant on the Friday of our visit. The total for the food was about 100 euros for all of us (2 adults and 4 children) including a glass of wine and a beer. As it was still low season I don’t think they were well equipped for the Friday influx of guests so the bar and restaurant staff seemed somewhat overwhelmed. I can’t complain too much though as we headed out early so we didn’t experience delays as long as some. I would imagine in high season this wouldn’t be an issue but you might need to pick your days if going out of season.
While the site itself has little we can complain about there isn’t a huge amount in the locality. If the onsite shops aren’t to your liking or don’t have the range of value you want. The supermarché in Saint Marie a little run down but the one in Canet en Roussillon is pretty decent. No major hypermarchés within walking or easy cycling. There is a big shopping centre on the near side of Perpignan but does require a bit of cycling on a busy main road or a creative trip through the back roads so it’s really a bit far. The area itself has a marina and there’s probably plenty to explore when you get the chance the site is however located well out of the way and not in a location that makes accessing the local town that easy.
Which gets me on to the down sides of the site. The site is massive so it does take a while to walk to the bins. And did I mention the wine being reasonably priced but actually a little tepid? Probably, so it’s a site that doesn’t have much, if anything, I can fault. The staff are, for the most part, excellent, the site is impeccably maintained and well suited to on-site living. But of all the sites we stayed on this was the only one that we started to get cabin fever on. We think a lot of this was due to our deciding to stay for a full 7 nights. For many people 7 nights on this site won’t touch the sides but for us four nights would have been a better fit. Le Brasilia is a site that is perfectly suited to those who want the best facilities without having to go out and find them. I don’t particularly mind paying a premium for convenience but I feel it robs me of the opportunity to grow. Completely a personal choice but we prefer a site where the staff can’t speak English and we have to explore the local town if we want to find out where the best boulangerie is. If you like to holiday on camping villages, are old or young, have a family or a dog, or neithe,r and like to stay on-site and have options to be entertained, fed and relax then I couldn’t recommend ‘Le Brasilia’ highly enough. If you prefer touring around I’d still highly recommend it but would think that your duration of stay would be a matter of personal preference.
Conclusion: At the time of writing I’ve been to approximately 50+ sites and Yelloh! Villages le Brasilia is easily the ‘best’. If you like this style of site you should give it a whirl.