Parkdean Resorts Lower Hyde Holiday Park in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight Review

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Lower Hyde Holiday Park

Lower Hyde is a sprawling and leafy holiday park in Shanklin

If you've read this website before, you'll know that we are big fans of the Isle of Wight and of Parkdean Resorts (we also run Isle of Wight Guru).

We paid a visit to Lower Hyde Holiday Park this autumn - here's what we thought of it. 

There is a nice undulating landscape at Lower Hyde, which gives it a bit of character

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First impressions of Lower Hyde Holiday Park 

Lower Hyde Holiday Park can be found at the end of a long driveway in the seaside town of Shanklin. It isn't right by the beach in Shanklin, which is something of a shame. However, it's only about a mile away, so it's a short drive or a long walk (if you are more patient than me). 

Lower Hyde Holiday Park has a sister park called Landguard. They are effectively one park with two halves and you can use the facilities at either. We will write a separate review for Landguard, as we've also visited that park recently (yes, we get about a lot!). 

One of the first things that I picked up visiting Lower Hyde Holiday Park is that it is quite a leafy and sprawling site. There is a significant range of accommodation and it takes you some time to get to know where the site extends to. The facilities are compactly located but the accommodation covers a large area. 

We found plenty of trees scattered around Lower Hyde

Lower Hyde is quite a large site, once you factor in the adjacent site of Landguard

The trees soften the scenery at Lower Hyde

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Facilities at Lower Hyde Holiday Park

We liked the fact that the main facilities at Lower Hyde Holiday Park are all together. 

It's got an outdoor swimming pool with a slide, which was not in use when we visited as it was the end of the season. There's also a good sized restaurant and a couple of other places to get food, including an ice cream hut. 

The minigolf course has been recently revamped and we thought it looked great. The same goes for the sports court at Lower Hyde. During busy times there is a great buzz around this central entertainment area. 

The seaside themed minigolf at Lower Hyde is looking good

If you want to use an indoor swimming pool, then you can walk to Landguard. The two sites are connected by a footpath and you don't need to cross any roads to get there. It took us about 15 minutes to walk from one swimming pool to the other. 

Lower Hyde also has a pretty good playground as part of the main complex, plus an arcade. A bike hire company is based at the resort, which works well as it is next to a long cycle track called the Red Squirrel Trail. 

This playground can be found near the swimming pool at Lower Hyde

The sports court at Lower Hyde is in good condition

Of course, it would be nice if there were an indoor swimming pool at Lower Hyde, but I think having the Landguard pool nearby pretty much makes up for it. Neither of the pools are huge but they are both good fun and you will spend a lot of time at the beach anyway.

This is the reception building at Lower Hyde

Entertainment can be found in this building at Lower Hyde

There's a small Nisa shop at Lower Hyde

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Accommodation at Lower Hyde Holiday Park  

There's a real mixed bag of accommodation at Lower Hyde Holiday Park. You will find a big range in prices when you go through to their website. 

Some of the cheaper properties are single storey chalets. We had a wander around these, which can be found near to the entrance. These have a real nostalgic vibe to them and will appeal to you if you want to relive your childhood spent at somewhere like Butlins.

These traditional chalets are a budget option at Lower Hyde

The majority of the accommodation at Lower Hyde is standard caravans, which are mostly 12ft wide (I didn't bring a tape measure, but they looked like 12 foot wide caravans to me!). These are scattered throughout the fairly hilly site. You won't get a sea view at these, but they are a little bit more interesting than straight rows of caravans and many of them are underneath trees.

Kudos to whoever put this caravan into place!

I liked this area of the park, which had larger lodges and a bit more space

As we made our way towards the Landguard end of Lower Hyde , we found some really lovely larger lodges with balconies. These were in a very neatly kept part of the park, which had beautifully smooth tarmac and some lovely trees. 

This spacious lodge was on a path between Landguard and Lower Hyde

The layout is quite sprawling but it's more interesting than Landguard

We also spotted these rather modern caravans and lodges

Caravans at the edge of the site overlook fields

As we explored Lower Hyde, we also found the touring and camping area as well as the glamping safari village. The camping field is surrounded by tall trees, which gives it a nice bit of shelter (which is welcome if you are coming in high winds!).

Lower Hyde has a good-sized camping and touring area

The camping and touring area at Lower Hyde

Near to the camping and touring area, we found the Safari Village with its selection of glamping accommodation. These tend to be similarly priced to the cheaper caravans. See our guide to glamping with Parkdean for more advice.

There are several safari tents at Lower Hyde's Safari Village

The safari tents are in a secluded spot towards the edge of Lower Hyde

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Final thoughts on Lower Hyde Holiday Park 

We liked Lower Hyde Holiday Park a lot. Personally, I like a holiday park that is sprawling and has an interesting range of accommodation. I am less keen on holiday parks where caravans are in neat rows. That's only a personal thing but I think it works better.

We've now been to all of the Parkdean Resorts on the Isle of Wight. My favourite is Nodes Point as it has lovely sea views and easier access to a beach. However, Lower Hyde has a fantastic feel to it and it's more convenient for getting to the more tourist-equipped parts of the Island.

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Related guides from the Holiday Park Guru

• 10 best Isle of Wight holiday parks
• 10 best Parkdean Resorts holiday parks