Osea Leisure Park becomes first 5* Park in Essex

Family-owned and operated, Maldon-based Osea Leisure Park celebrates a Five Star rating from VisitEngland, making it the first park in Essex to receive this level of recognition for two on-site facilities, The Park and The Meadows.

Osea Leisure Park has been scored by VisitEngland, as part of its quality assurance scheme, out of five levels of quality, exceeding each category, from cleanliness and services provided to physical facilities, by over 90%. Having successfully grown its offering, including its iconic pastel beach huts located on the Blackwater Estuary, quadrupling the number of staff, doubling the size of the Deckhouse bar and restaurant and building up the Meadows glamping site, Osea Leisure Park is at the forefront of tourism and hospitality.

The park, which began its story pre-WW2 in 1933, was opened by Mabel Speakman to pea and fruit pickers for camping and to enjoy spending time with their families. Now, having recently celebrated its 90th birthday, it has been transformed into a leading, innovative, and community-focused business run by Mabel’s great-granddaughter Janie Robinson.

The VisitEngland assessor commented: “Osea Leisure Park never stands still. A number of ideas and plans are in place for the future, and it is most encouraging to see the continual development and enhancement of the park and facilities with the management team and Owners being very much aware of the ever changing market and increasing guest expectations.”

Janie Robinson, Managing Director of Osea Leisure Park says: “Since I took over Osea Leisure Park 20 years ago, it has been our mission to turn our resort into ‘the best holiday park’ using traditional values in a modern world. Our team has always gone above and beyond to ensure every visitor who comes to our park makes memories that will last a lifetime. We are very proud of what we have achieved, and we can’t thank our team enough for the contribution each and every one of them has made in helping us achieve Five Star status.”

Osea Leisure Park is an award-winning independent family park, built from traditional, community values and owned by four generations of the same family since inception. Its recent Five Star award highlights its efforts to push boundaries, having developed an additional 33 acres of the park to offer luxury camping facilities on the Meadows, including the Glass Houses, Emperor Pods, Royal Pods, Malvern Pods, Safari Tents, Stargazer Tents and luxury Shepherd’s Huts.

The park enables holidaymakers to enjoy the perfect getaway, providing access to a range of outdoor activities including sea and freshwater fishing, the use of the beach, swimming, cycling, boating, kayaking and more. In addition, Osea Leisure Park also offers ownership opportunities for both new and used holiday homes, lodges, static caravans and beach huts, as well as Saltmarsh Point – an exclusive development of luxury lodges. Saltmarsh Point has 33 privately owned luxury holiday lodges within an exclusive enclave. A quiet and natural setting rich in wildlife, it is set alongside the unspoilt Essex coastline.

A spokesperson for the British Holiday & Home Parks Association, the UK park industry’s representative body, said that Osea Leisure Park could take a real pride in its achievement:

“Five stars is the highest possible grade awarded by Visit England and is a valuable indicator to guests and holiday caravan buyers of the high standards they can expect to enjoy.

“Visit England assessors look not just at the quality of the park’s facilities and accommodation, but also at the friendliness, hospitality, and warmth of welcome extended to visitors.

“In all these respects, Osea Leisure Park is clearly at the top of the game, and the five-star grading is a credit both to the business owners and their team.

“The park’s participation in the David Bellamy Blooming Marvellous Pledge for Nature Scheme, organised by the Association, also suggests that nature and wildlife benefit from the same VIP treatment as their guests. Keep up the great work!”

With plans to further extend its restaurant, develop new lodges and continue to update the menu at the Deckhouse Bar to reflect seasonal and local produce, Osea Leisure Park is proud to be at the forefront of the hospitality and tourism industry, creating an environment for holidaymakers where they can make lasting memories.