Pontins Holiday Park in Prestatyn, Wales was once a thriving tourism hotspot, but now it lies dormant and soulless after it was closed permanently in November 2023
Countless memories were made by families up and down the country at Pontins Holiday Park in Prestatyn, Wales.
A once thriving tourism hotspot with its own private beach, swimming pools and playground — but now the “filthy hellhole” lies completely dormant, and a shadow of its former self.
Having been open since 1971, the park closed permanently back in November 2023, and speculation would continue to swirl about future plans.
There have been rumours of redevelopment into a new attraction, or perhaps to be knocked down for flats and houses, but no decision of any substance has ever truly been made, and it has been left to rot away.
Photos emerged over the years, showing an overgrown, sad and dilapidated site with run-down buildings dotted throughout.
News of the park’s unexpected closure hit the local community hard. Britannia Hotels, who owns Pontins, had not only brought the shutters down on the Welsh site, but also its Camber Sands park in East Sussex.
Local residents spoke to North Wales Live earlier this year where they explained what they would like to see done, with Pete Davis, who owns a cleaning business that once operated at Pontins, saying: “It ought to be used for something. I think it should be a holiday camp again. The council could issue a compulsory purchase order (to help that happen).”
Another agreed, adding: “It’s empty and I’d rather it was a holiday camp again. We moved here in 1973 and it was never any trouble to us.
“I don’t want it knocked down for more houses as I don’t feel there are enough doctors’ surgeries and schools, not enough infrastructure to support them.”
But a grandmother-grandson duo labelled it a “decrepit” and an “eyesore”, saying: “It’s quite decrepit and an eyesore for the local community. Something needs to be done. It should be reborn as a holiday camp or used for modern apartments.
“Something needs to be doing to it otherwise it’s going to become a drug den or a place for flytippers.”
The people are not the only ones who wish to see change at the abandoned holiday camp, with the Mayor of Prestatyn, Cllr Adrian West, adding: “I want to see the site brought back into some form of productive use again.
“For it just to be lying idle is doing nobody any good. I would not want it used for some sort of industry, given that it’s right next to the waterfront.”
He added how Pontins Prestatyn holds the keys to bringing life back to the town’s streets, increasing footfall which would be a mega boost for shops, as well as increasing the number of employment opportunities in the area.
But not everyone is upset the park has brought the curtains down after more than half a century of operation, with one Tripadvisor review admitting: “Thank god this rancid filthy cesspit has shutdown. Awful, worn out and really dirty. and it needed knocking down years ago.”
A second under added: “As time has gone by all the rooms are filled with mold, vomit, worse than a dog kennel. It looks like a garbage dump,” while someone else confessed: “There are no words to describe how awful this place is. A prison cell would be preferable to the chalet.
“The areas outside are overgrown, potholes in the car park, pavements cracked and overgrown. Concrete on stairs broken, support for stairs rotten, nails sticking out.”