Coleman Gazebo, Event Shelter for Garden and Camping, Sturdy
Coleman Gazebo, Event Shelter for Garden and Camping, Sturdy Steel Poles Construction, Large Tent, Portable Sun Shelter with Protection SPF 50, White/Green, XL – 4.5 x 4.5 m
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| Dimensions: | 450 x 450 x 243 cm; 18.8 Kilograms |
| Model: | 2000034472 |
| Part: | 2000034472 |
| Manufacture: | Coleman |
| Department: | Unisex Adult |
| Dimensions: | 450 x 450 x 243 cm; 18.8 Kilograms |
got through a heavy weather camping weekend with this… it stayed up in very high winds but a couple of velcro tabs tore off and need to be repaired. The sun wall sides don’t peg down so blew around a lot in the wind
An excellent Gazebo that’s VERY strong. We bought it to replace a flimsy gazebo that we popped up and down in the garden, but swiftly broke on the rain.
This gazebo is incredibly toughy and well designed. I put the gazebo up outside 2 months ago and it’s still going strong.
I would recommend getting stronger, heavyief duty pegs. The one that it comes with are fine, but I wouldn’t trust them long term. We also didn’t seem to have enough!
I’d also say that you realistically need 3 people to put it up
Bought this for the husband and he’s over the moon. Didn’t realise how big it actually is until it was put up. I bought this for camping but I think it will also be used for other things.
This is my second shelter after 15 years and plenty of use my first one finally gave up the ghost. Which shows what good value for money, durability this shelter has. I did take the cover in/down on really windy days but left the frame up. Took me 15 mins on my own to put up but would be easier with two. Great product.
The only thing with it is , it’s heavy but very sturdy , and you will need the help of 3 other people to erect it and position it .. but for the money it’s an incredible piece of kit and brilliant for parties.
UV protection to 50, perfect to sit under and for grandchildren to play under. Our dog loves it too. I would highly recommend this product.
Looks pretty good too . I think it’s a little more difficult to put together than is suggested but absolutely worth the time .
We bought this for a BBQ on the Jubilee weekend. It goes up relatively easily though not as well designed as the Decathlon stuff. It worked really well and kept the sun and rain off. My concern however is longevity. This is made of steel and the paint was already coming off first time. The poles are joined to together with metal wire so I have real concerns that this will not standup over a longer period.
One of the hooks (see picture) was missing when it arrived. I forgot to contact the seller about this at the time.
Took a bit of time to assemble it single-handed but it worked well as shelter against both sun and rain. I kept it up all summer. When I took it down a week ago I remembered the missing hook. Of course Amazon more or less blocks communication channels after 3 months, so this is the only way of getting back to the seller. Is there any chance the seller could find me the missing hook?
Really pleased, bought so we could gather for a family birthday during covid with rubbish weather forecast.
Poles are steal & really heavy (4.5×4.5m), needs some care to put up as could imagine poles could buckle but once up brilliant & really sturdy. We’ve now left it up for 2 weeks and still waterproof. The design means rain runs off down legs so doesn’t get dribbled down your neck if sit too close to the edge. Very pleased
Very happy with this and item is as described. It arrived very promptly. Fairly easy to erect with two people. Not quite sure of the purpose of the tape that seems to attach to the four legs at ground level other than perhaps to help with spacing the legs when erecting but we decided to remove them as they would have been a dangerous trip hazard. It remains to be seen how well it will stand up to any windy weather but so far so good.
I accidentally ordered the extra large but so glad we did as it was brilliant. We had a garden party with family and so much space under there, plus we ordered 2 of the sides to make it more sheltered.
The instructions to assemble though are crap – but thankfully a YouTube tutorial from a guy in Oz sorted that, and we put it up in 15mins once we knew what we were doing.
Definitely recommend, much better than a normal gazebo and way better quality.
I’d been debating buying one of these for a while before finally pulling the trigger. It’s expensive once you account for purchasing sides as well and I’d bought enough cheap ones that broke in high winds or putting them up and down that I was hesitant to spend so much. I live on an exposed hillside so tend to get a good breeze regardless of how still the day is and that tends to be quite hard on gazebos etc.
I’m quite happy I did finally decide to purchase. Mine has been up for a few months now and is still standing strong. It’s weathered through some 40+mph storms, heavy rain and a touch of snow and hail with no issue. Today is the first time I’ve taken the fabric off during a storm – It was starting to get very creaky and I think today’s winds of around 50mph might be a bit too much.
I’ve bought 3 solid sides plus a zipper side. They all clip on quickly and easily, however there a gap around the edges so the cold and wind do find their way in. I’ve got a couple of electric blower heaters in there that keep us warm enough.
Much like a tent, these event shelters are only sturdy if they are well anchored. I’ve screwed the feet down into the joints of my block paving with long decking screws and attached a couple of the guy lines where they won’t get tripped over. I imagine if I hadn’t done this then it would have blown away or there would have been enough movement for the poles to get damaged.
It was fairly easy to assemble by myself. I was particularly appreciative of the instructions being sewn into the storage bag so they can’t get lost.
So far the shelter has held up to heavy rain, I’ve not noticed any leaking along seams or in the fabric itself and if it does end up leaking, an application of tent spray should fix it.
I definitely won’t be leaving it up all year around but for spring, summer and into early autumn I think it’ll be great.
Great shelter let down slightly by missing a vital metal hook. I’ve used a carribena as a substituted (see pics) since i can’t bear the thought of return shipping the whole hefty thing for a replacement, based simply on 1 pin. Shame amazon has no options for a partial refund or to communicateto only ship this small bit. New pins on ebay for 18 for 2…no thanks, my both have works great.
This 4.5 x 4.5 m shelter is in a self-contained, bag, and weighs in with all fittings at about 23 kg, or the weight of a fully packed suitcase, not too bad. It took about 1 hour to carefully assemble on my own for first use, and about 30 minutes to dissemble, and all parts seem strong and robust. There is a lot of headroom, 2.2 m or more in the middle. It is huge, 15′ square, and unfortunately a bit too big for our garden, so I am returning it for something a little smaller, but if you have a large enough garden, it is excellent as a shelter, easy to put up in spite of the size, and seem very robust .
Originally bought and used for camping and summer garden use, but ultimately turned out to be invaluable as a long-term storage shelter during some building work. It’s not 100% waterproof, but did what I needed, which was to keep sun and the majority of rain off items that I didn’t want exposed for months. Good value compared to the cost of a storage unit.
Pegging out securely down one side was difficult where I placed it next to a fence. I didn’t use the supplied pegs. I used trampoline anchors for the legs and Vango groundbreaker pegs for the guy ropes.
The shelter was damaged in January by Storm Brendan. The wind lifted it on the side where I hadn’t been able to peg securely, allowing a pole to pop out of place. That ruined the all important tension and the canopy flapped around and tore in the high winds in several places. I repaired the tears with clear gorilla tape and improved the guy rope placement so the shelter was back in action. For the subsequent storms Ciara and Dennis in February I removed the canopy and put it back once the winds dropped. The shelter brushed off all other weather that 2019 and 2020 could throw at it. It was up for 14 months in total.
The poles have some surface rust on the ends and the plastic connectors and feet could do with drain holes or they can hold water, but the poles remain solid and unbent. In the end it was sunny weather (somewhat surprisingly for the UK) that caused the canopy to fail. The guy ropes, the guy loops and the tensioners at the corners all succumbed to UV damage and started breaking. I repaired some, but after they all started going it was time to call it a day. I will look into replacing the canopy, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the whole shelter again if I can’t find a canopy for a reasonable price.
It arrived in two days and took 15 mins to build on my own on a windy day.
All of the poles are linked with a wire so you cannot mix them up or forget how they go together in a years time.
We have a 5m x 5m patio area and this is perfect for the area.
Due to it sitting on a patio we have raised mine as i have screwed the feet onto railway sleepers on each corner.
If you can get a deal on the sides in the price i would recommend it as i need to order at least two sides for now just to keep the wind off as it has now turned chilly.
I wanted to avoid the normal gazebo type outdoor area; this gives a nice alternative with a funky shape and easily removed sides. I only purchased 1 side; which met the needs as it allows you to create a barrier to direct the flow of folks at events. We have hosted garden parties and family lunches for 20-30 people using this tent. The instructions are a little tricky, the key seems to be aligning the based with the tape guide this allows the exact alignment. First time it took me around 20 minutes to put together; much quicker now, 10 minutes perhaps? Overall very pleased with this product; the carry case is strong and I think if we take care we can get this to last quite some time. Top product, don’t over think this one; in fact look no where else this product is the best out there for the price!
The material used is top quality,very well made and looks fantastic, it stood up to very high winds and torrential rain with only a slight leek at the seems.
This has got to be the best shelter/gazebo I have ever bought, and I have bought a good few in my 66 years,therefore I hole heartedly recommend this product and would definitely buy again.
All I can say about the negative reviews with regards it being flimsy and easily ripped,is that they must have erected it incorrectly.and as for the height of the entrance being to low,my son-in-law who is 6ft:4 has no problem at All.I have just taken down my shelter after being up for over 4 weeks and there is no sign of any rust(as reported in other reviews),in fact it looks as though it has not even been used.
Our garden is West-facing and the sun only really comes in from one side of the shelter in the evening. To help with this I bought just one side wall, which does a great job of keeping out the sun and the rain on that side of the shelter. I was a little concerned initially that the wall would act as more of a wind trap but it does no more than flap a little. The vent in the top of the shelter is very good at letting the wind disperse without causing any problems.
The shelter is not the easiest thing to put up alone but I managed it in about 30 minutes. Mainly because the poles are a little awkward to manoeuvre before they are in the final position as they are quite long (I have the extra-large shelter). With 2 people it would be much quicker. They are sturdy slot-together round steel poles rather than the flimsy square aluminium you see on the other gazebo types. I used a couple of the supplied tent pegs in each leg stand, and one peg for each corner set of guy ropes. I’ve seen other reviews stating the pegs are no good, but they are a decent size and strength, not flimsy at all.
If you want a fully-enclosed shelter/gazebo these shelters will be a bit more expensive than your typical popup gazebo as you have to buy all the side walls separately. But if you want to leave it up for more than a day or so, the extra cost is worth the peace of mind that it won’t just fall to pieces in the first breath of wind (assuming you properly secure it to the ground of course, which I suspect some reviewers who complained about their shelters taking off in the wind had not done).
Looking at the critical reviews.
– No rusty poles if you dry them out before putting them away.
– No shredding fabric if you dry it out before storing
– Easy to put up if you follow the instructions.
– Will withstand very strong winds when up IF you use decent tent pegs and if you put it up so the fabric is tight and the arches are curved.
The secret to success is to assemble the poles but with the last leg section undone. Then you can secure the roof on the four main struts and at the four sides before adding the final parts of the leg. Then secure one foot first in the ground and for the next push its’ foot towards the secured one until the foot plate lies perfectly flat on the ground. Your poles will then form a perfect ROUND curve. If you do this for all four feet you will have a self supporting dome. Then attach the hooks to all four corners and only then do up the rest of the velcro straps. Finally pull the ribbons on each corner as tight as you can so the fabric is tight like a wing. And that’s how your shelter will last for years unbroken.
The shelter comes in a well made bag with handles, have to say it is quite heavy, I have a bad back and couldn’t lift it by myself, thankfully I have a big strong partner to do that for me!
Unfortunately, or thankfully depending on your viewpoint, I wasn’t present for the ‘erection’, i was off buying wine! But it only took two men 15 minutes to put it up, don’t think either had put one up before, then another 5 minutes to put the side walls on (the sides have to be bought separately).
The shelter feels huge and spacious, Made with top quality material in a non-offensive colour. I can vouch for its’ waterproofness, 20 minutes after erection, the heavens opened and it was torrential rain for about 30 minutes, not a single drop from the inside. There was a bit of wind too, but the shelter didn’t shift an inch, it felt safe and sturdy, unlike a pop up gazebo being used by some nearby campers, alas that crumpled under the rain, one slight gust of wind an it buckled and broke (i have had a pop up gazebo myself, and the same happened to mine, I would never buy another one).
The top centre vent is a nice feature, allowing air to gently flow in, but not water.
The shelter comfortably fitted 4 camping tables, laiden with food and drinks, and 10 people sat in large camp chairs, we could have fitted more people in if we had needed to.
So glad I bought this shelter, with several camping events coming up it will get plenty of use.
………..
Have now used the shelter at three events over the past 3 weekends, and it has withstood another torrential downpour keeping us all dry.
I am considering buying another wall to try and keep us a little warmer on cool, draughty evenings, but not sure yet as there is a 3″ gap at the bottom of each wall which does make it a bit cold around my feet and ankles. Ideally, I would also buy a fourth wall, one with the windows and zip up door to make it more cosy, but at 27 per wall and 43+ for the wall with the door, it does make it a lot more pricey and the reason I have only given it 4 stars.
We have used the Coleman event shelters for several years to protect sporting teams from extremes of weather, in particular wind and rain and then in the summer it gives shade from the heat of the day. The shelter successfully manages all ends of the spectrum. As long as they are well tethered they can withstand the windiest of conditions and with the addition of side panels provide a perfect shelter for in between matches at tournaments. Our latest purchase is for the parents so we look forward to enjoying the same level of comfort as the children. They normally take around 15 minutes to put up, once it’s done a couple of times it’s very easy.
Really quick to put up, it says to do it with 2 people but it was easy enough for just myself in around 10 minutes and about the same to pull it down.
Something that really makes this great is the packing up. Typically with tents and other outdoor structures is the bag they give is barely big enough when you fold it all down, this one is perfect! Every time I’ve packed it away I’ve never struggled, it juts goes in and zips up easily.
The metal poles seem strong and have elasticated and metal joints between them so you’re not poking around looking for “pole a” to slot into “pole b” like other manufacturer versions. The cover is light but strong, we’ve had some strong ish winds and never felt like it was going to fall off or blow away. Nice touch, they include a coloured hole repair kit for the sheet.
This worked really well as it rained for the entire weekend.
The arches are sufficiently high that you can sit them just above the entrances to the tent, thereby making a relatively rain free area in front of the tents.
I also bought a wall for it, with a window, and this proved to be really effective at keeping the campfire smoke out of the shelter.
One minus point is that it doesn’t quite fit sideways into the boot of a BMW X3 (about 5cm too long), so I had to put one of the seats down and load it lengthwise. If you needed to use all four seats and don’t have a massive boot, then you probably want to get the smaller size. It’s also heavy, so you wouldn’t want to have to carry it too far.
I do see many event shelters and gazebos of all types bite the dust in windy conditions, the key to yours surviving is learn how to put it up correctly. Once that is done, make sure you secure it by pegging the base and also the guy-ropes.
Mine gets put up and taken down by myself 90% of the time and it takes me 15-20 minutes to put up and 10-15 to take down and pack away working on my own.
I have never used sides on it, but they seem reasonable enough, although I’m unsure whether my shelter would have survived some storms if I had sides on.
The shelter comes with a 2 year guarantee which is with the seller. The second time I used it 2 poles were damaged, a mixture of extreme weather and not securing sufficiently down. The seller arranged collection of the damaged sections and replacement ones arrived within 3 days.
Regarding how waterproof the shelter is, please look at my answer to the question above.
All in all if everything I bought were 1/2 as well designed and built I’d be a happy bunny
Easy enough to erect with a couple of people. The actual canopy is very strong and can take a reasonable amount of wind, The same can be said for the frame. It works well with the extra wind shield or side that I bought. We use ours as a shelter for our 12 piece Folk/Pop/Rock group for playing outdoor events and we all fit under it. Our music is not extremely loud and mostly just a bit louder than acoustic, the shape of the roof actually seems to help our balance and we can hear everything that everyone is playing.
We also use it as a lounge on our community camping trips and it’s a great place to all sit and chat as the evenings close.
I would highly recomend, it has to be one of the most sociable items we have bought for our charity support group. It’s a fine bit of kit.
The weather was good on all days except 2nd August when it rained for most of the morning, thus giving me the chance to experience any water resistant property of the shelter. Strangely enough there was no leakage but on checking in the morning of 3rd August there was condensation on the inside of the canopy, which was easily wiped off. I put this down to the fact that it had rained the previous day, I did not use a ground sheet and water would have been able to seep through on the grass due to a very slight incline of the ground. Other than that it did exactly the job it was bought for – to give protection to about 20 people from any rain and temperature drop in the evening.
I have now bought the groundsheet and hope this will resolve the condensation issue, though that will have to wait until next year now. I had already bought two ‘door and 2 sidewall panels which were used on 2nd August to very good effect.
The event shelter provided the solution to the suitable cover and protection for around 20 people, which in previous years events had caused problems. I had looked at possibly buying a large tent to remedy matters but that would have cost over 3 times the price and been far more awkward to store.
The parts fold-up very easily and neatly and go back in to the supplied bag, which occupies a relatively small space in the corner of my shed. I sprayed the joints and inside of the poles with WD40 to give some protection from any damp that may have crept in, however I will not know how well this has worked until I use it/open it up next year.
There is one down side. The instructions for erecting the shelter are attached on the inside of the carry bag and leave quite a lot to be desired. The clarity of the ‘picture only’ instructions are easily misinterpreted and the importance of properly aligning the leg poles before setting-up and fixing with tent pegs could readily be missed. I suspect some of those who have complained about bent or broken poles may well have fallen foul of this lack of clarity. Luckily I took the construction process slowly and methodically – I won’t pretend I got it right at first attempt – and arrived at a stable (surprisingly very stable) structure. I did try the construction first without putting the canopy on, which enabled me to make better sense of the instructions.
I note that the time to construct quickly seems to be held out as a virtue. I would suggest that this process is not treated as a ‘race against time’, but take the time to familiarise yourself with the parts and the proper construction and get at least another person to help you. I could have put this all together on my own, though preferred the extra help and advice in making sure it was being put up correctly.
Hopefully none of this is taken as being negative comment as I think the concept and product are excellent – more thought to the instruction though – please.
I was looking for a cheap gazebo, but on reading the reviews there seemed to be so many unhappy customers I thought I’d buy this instead. I am so glad I did!
On opening the packaging it is immediately apparent that a tremendous amount of thought has gone into the design and packaging to make the product easy to use (e.g. instructions sown into inside of bag so they cannot get lost, and storage bags all durable with attached tie strings). The quality of the materials is superb, and they are very carefully and cleverly manufactured.
With a little help from my wife we erected the shelter on our first attempt in about twenty minutes, and I dismantled it myself in five. It was easy and there are no complicated elements. One piece of advice, when erecting for the first time watch the helpful Coleman video on youtube – it shows exactly what to do.
BUT…..
…and there is a BUT….Coleman clearly have an issue with their Quality Control, I have just returned my second one of these as it had the same issue as the first. The clips that pull the legs together at the bottom of the sheet/shelter roof have a design flaw, if the stitching is not perfect the pull straight out, I have had this happen with two shelters….hence 4/5 not 5/5
I will order another and hope that this does not have the same issue as it is such a good shelter though….
The third one I have bought for our club. It looks a bit daunting when you empty the considerably weighty bag of poles and cover, but follow the instructions to the letter and it’s easy.
You can buy sides for it as well and it would be easy to use as an impromptu awning on vehicle, motorhome or caravan.
One word of warning though; despite the design, it won’t handle winds very well. This is mostly due to the very thin-wall metal tubing used for the frame, but to beef it up at all would make it too heavy to lift in it’s bag. The guylines are all on sewn tabs as well and these can rip off quite easily if you aren’t careful. However I gave it 5 stars for a reason – if it is used within the manufacturers spec’, you will have a long lasting well made product that will last well.
Fantastic, takes 2 men 15 mins to erect with side panels and totally waterproof.
Long version.
I read all the reviews and decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed.
I manage/coach a under 7 rugby team. We go to festivals and friendlies in all weather. Even though it is described as a sun shelter, I purchased this primarily for use when it’s raining. So far only used it the once, but it was amazing.
Myself and another coach arrived at the tournament and it was windy and threatening to rain. So we set about putting it up.
The poles are held together by sprung wire, so no worries of which attached to which (beware — don’t be too heavy handed with these. Our under 10 coach has managed to break one of the wires!). We very quickly had the frame together, with the feet on.
We then set about putting the cover on. Not easy in strong wind. We are big guys, but were a little concerned we might end up in the next field.
We had already pegged down the feet. This proved a problem. As we hadn’t got them the right distance apart we couldn’t get the cover on. Had to un-peg the feet and move them. Got the cover on. The side panels were easy to fit — had our 7 year old boys help.
All done just as the heavens opened up. It poured down. The water was cascading off the shelter and down the sides — on the outside. Totally dry inside. This is also good in moderate windy conditions, because it is slightly flexible.
Thoroughly recommend.
We bought this after putting up a 20x10ft pop up gazebo. Well the gazebo was up for about half an hour, then with a slight gust of wind, the metal frame buckled…such a waste of money…..so I read the reviews about his one and….it was so amazing, that we ordered another one. We had 25 mile an hour winds…it didn’t even flicker. It was completely waterproof and although we have bought sides for protection, it’s so big you are completely sheltered from the elements. We put the 2 of them side by side on our lawn and filled it with lights and bunting, it looked amazing, I cannot praise this item enough. My husband has now asked me to the slightly smaller one for our patio. I also bought the other pegs with the green ends and I think that made a lot of difference. One piece of advice….throw the instructions away. Set up the middle cross piece and click in each side, then attach the feet, they slide in easily. Once the frame is together, just slide your canvas over it and tie down as instructed, should take no longer than 20 mins tops, taking it down took 8 minutes. You”ll never by a gazebo again.
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We bought one of these to use at an 18th birthday party event.
To me, the instructions weren’t particularly clear about how to put it up but once my wife had taken the job over, it all became obvious!
Once up, the shelter looks fantastic and drew many flattering comments. It was a slightly breezy day when we used it but it seems to have coped well with no damaged parts to report (I was a bit nervous about this, given other reviews).
The shelter covers a very large area and is plenty tall enough for over-6ft people to enter and leave without stooping or brushing their heads on the canopy.
The comments about availability of spares are a little concerning, however I can only review as I have found things to be to date. So, five stars for a superb event cover, and holding my breath that the next time we use it it remains as undamaged as the first time!
We bought this shelter from Amazon and it arrived with a faulty pole. As with many reviewers we found Coleman most unhelpful, but Amazon came up trumps.
We have used it for 3 seasons now. It blew away once in the wind but we mended the damage to the flysheet (several foot long rips) with tent mending tape & it is as strong as ever.
It is considerably more robust than a gazebo but the pegs supplied are only suitable for the feet – best to buy sturdier pegs with better grip for the guys, as it can act like a big sail in the wind.
Not completely waterproof but it doesn’t claim to be.
It provides great flexible space for all kinds of events and is now an essential addition to our camping equipment if we go in a group.
Bought this to use as a communal area as we always going camping with groups of friends. First weekend we used it was late June and the weather was short sharp heavy showers and 20mph gust of winds. My husband spent a long time pitching the shelter making sure it was secured down with the all the pegs and guy ropes. As a result the shelter with stood everything mother nature throw at it. We had bought side panels but theses acted as sails so we took them off pretty quick.
We have just used the shelter again this time in the soaring heat and it was perfect for sheltering from the sun.
If you pitch the sheleter correctly it will with stand high winds, we have proved this !!! Dont be put of by the negative comments, this piece of kit has been worth every penny. Can’t wait for our next camping trip with friends.
The design is awesome. It holds up well even in blustery winds (40 mph+). The key is to use bungie cords at the end of the guy lines to give the lines some play in strong gusts, and to stake everything super securely with the largest tent stakes you can find (I found some 10″ or 12″ plastic stakes on line).
My only beef with this product is that the materials are substandard. The first one I bought saw something like 2 months of use total and the fabric just doesn’t handle the sun well–it became brittle, tore easily, and seams failed at stress points. I managed repairs with sail tape and a heavy-duty sewing machine, but it was a major hassle. The heavy steel frame is a lot to lug around, and the crimping that orients the joints grew sloppy with use so the parts don’t align as well as they should. The plastic brackets that connect the steel tubing tend to wear with time and rotate on their axis. Adding sheet metal screws to correct for this seems to work, but, again, is a hassle.
Bottom line: fantastic design, substandard materials. I’d gladly pay twice the price to own a product that looked and functioned like this, but didn’t need the constant babying and repairs. Solution: I bought another. And expect it to wear out just like the first one. Devil’s bargain, but because of the great design, still a bargain nonetheless.
This is just the thing for camping with friends.
We cooked under it, ate under it and drank and chatted in the evenings.
You will want at least 2 walls to go with it to keep out the wind. I only used 2 on our recent trip and it was enough but if the weather turned I would doubtless have been grateful for the other wall and the door set I also brought. The walls go up and down really easily, they clip on with big plastic clips and then attach down at the feet to keep everything tight. No windows in the walls though, only in the door wall.
Used in reasonably strong winds with no problem at all, just remember to peg down the feet and use the supplied guy ropes even if you aren’t expecting wind. There is a lot of fabric to catch the wind especially with one or more walls up.
It isn’t supposed to be waterproof but people seem to be saying that proofing the seams is sufficient to keep things pretty dry underneath.
It’s big – 4.5m square so watch out for that on restricted size camp sites – but nicely fit 6 sets of adults in the evening. A couple of families can easily cook and eat under it without getting in each others way.
This is much better than our previous (admittedly cheap) gazebo.
After much searching for an affordable marquee to use for parties in the back garden I came upon this almost by accident. It doesn’t appear when you search for ‘gazebo’ or ‘marquee’. I bought it with the matching groundsheet and without any sides. I ordered it using Amazon Prime and it arrived within two days.
It took my husband and a friend 40 mins to put up for the first time. They both enthused about how cleverly designed it is. You do need two people. The matching groundsheet was helpful in guiding them. My husband was able to dismantle it easily by himself when we had finished with it.
We had a garden party with 17 five-to-eight year old girls and there was plenty of space for them plus several adults to dance and have party games. The sides curve upwards quickly meaning that most of the inside has great headroom. The shelter is very sturdy. We had a couple of short showers and it kept everyone perfectly dry. We left it up for several days and nights waiting for a sunny day to dry it off before we put it away and it didn’t suffer at all. It didn’t move either, even though it was a little gusty at times.
It looks great, too! You can hang decorations from the curved metal bars that line the four openings. It wouldn’t be elegant enough for a formal celebration but it’s perfect for informal garden parties or as a regular sun or shower-shelter. I wouldn’t leave it up in an exposed place if it’s windy but in a sheltered spot it seems to be able to handle light winds.
It comes with a storage bag which has the instructions sewn in so they can’t get lost – another clever touch. Overall it’s sturdy, looks great and should last a long time.
The day after the party, it started raining, and has barely stopped in the 3 weeks since, so I’ve ended up leaving it up the whole time. Not only have I enjoyed being outside in the rain under it, but now the sun has finally come out, it’s proving to be a great sunblocker too. It’s still lovely and bright under there, but I can actually work on my laptop outside too, as it takes away the glare.
As for the build and quality etc – we had difficulty working out the pictorial instructions, but once we decided to just ignore them and work it out for ourselves, we had it up within a few minutes. We couldn’t quite get one side to stretch over the poles correctly and had to just leave it loose on that side in the end – probably due to us getting it wrong rather than anything wrong with the structure itself. It’s ended up staying that way these 3 weeks and hasn’t suffered for it.
We’ve got it up on our (large) deck, so we’ve had to tether the guy ropes to rocks, garden benches etc, although there is also the option to screw it down as each of the feet has 4 holes in it for securing with tent pegs, but you could easily use large screws instead for a more permanent fitting.
I would definitely recommend this product!