Center parks - a bit tacky?

In fairness, I'm a doctor too and I think it's fair to say that a lot of doctors are aspirational lower middle class. There's lots of conspicuous consumption amongst my peers, and many of them spend an awful lot of money just to go on the same holidays, buy the same gadgets, and own the same cars as other doctors in an attempt to fit in.

I absolutely couldn’t agree more

the parking miles away too with all my stuff really annoyed me too - we don’t have a white Range Rover 😂

Never really been interested in class or tackiness. So my opinion might not be worth much but we love a CP for an easy kid friendly holiday. We used to love the winter wonderland at Elverdon first week of December. Magical.

Now tend to go for European ones. Fresh bread and pastries for breakfast. Brilliant cycling inside and outside the park. Excellent pool. Activities for all ages, both free and paid for. Trips out from the park to the local area. Yes the food is awful and expensive. But we tend to eat out now, a quick trip advisor helps.

The above post has to be satire, surely.

MN obsession with class has peaked in this thread.

It's the chavs with money that love this place, the actual middle classes have moved on to something like potters, much nicer imo
PP nailed it with the nevaeh and Jaxxon, my chav relatives love it, the only complaint is that they can't drive their massive white range rover up to the cabin. They also love Disney 😂

I went to St Ives last week.
Definitely didn't feel middle class! It was tourist hell.

I thought CP was shit as well when we went - especially for how much it cost. The premium cabin was really basic and old, the options for eating out were dire (and really expensive), the onsite shop was crap, the pool was nice but the changing rooms were dirty and all the activities were ridiculously expensive when we'd already paid a small fortune to be there.

It was no middle class oasis. We went to the one in Suffolk and the restaurants in particular were so tacky. So were certain rules treating customers like cattle.

Our lodge was nice I’ll give them that but we’re used to genuinely middle class places with better service

Sasssh- don't tell anyone but CP is basically the same as the smaller Haven sites, only far more expensive. And with more trees. My kids love both.

It's not my first choice of holiday but we sometimes go to both CP and Haven because they're easy and because the kids love them.

Haven clientele tend to be friendlier, it's quieter (probably because I've never been to their big sites) and it's significantly cheaper. CP swimming pools are nicer. Food is crap at both but the kids like it. I take "naice" bread and coffee with me if I want it.

Essentially both CP and Haven are like having a holiday in the Trafford centre. There might be fountains, statues and pillars but it's not Rome. If you go expecting it to be naice you'll be disappointed, but if you unclench and let the kids enjoy themselves you might find it's fun.

Well, it is what it is. The cabins and their settings are fine. The main areas feel very much like a holiday camp, which it is. I found everyone walking in together on changeover day like a scene from Hi-di-Hi. I found the clientele to be a mixed bag. Aside from the prices it's not particularly upmarket. It's the sort of thing that you enjoy when the kids are young as you get your enjoyment from watching them have a great time. Once they start to outgrow it, you look back and see it for what it is. In essence, if you didn't have young kids to entertain in usually rainy holidays, you probably wouldn't holiday there.

It’s always what I think of now when anyone mentions Centre Parks.

Also a doctor and husband an accountant, and it’s v popular with lots of work colleagues/ friends for both of us. So agree probably fairly stereotypically middle class

We went for a long weekend to one to join some friends for a 40th birthday and I was massively underwhelmed
I wouldn’t say it was tacky but it was incredibly overpriced for what it was I absolutely wouldn’t be in a rush to go back there not a chance.
we’ve also done Butlins, haven, park Dean and I think they’re all much of a muchness with centre parks trying to be the posh relative over charging. Also I don’t think there is enough to do - the other resorts have a lot more activities/ and entertainment on offer and food packages at Butlins are much better

My sibling and spouse are both doctors and whenever we go to Center Parcs I cannot tell you how many other doctors they run into - people from uni, people from foundation training, people who work in their hospitals now. From that, I'd say it's pretty middle class! (Agree the food is rubbish but like most people with kids, we go for the pool and because it's within easier travelling distance for a weekend than Europe.)

You should have popped into the Abbey, the Duke and Duchess are always glad to welcome random, but classy, holidaymakers to their lovely home. Do give it a try next time, they'll be thrilled. No need to slum it OP.

You can call CP overpriced but it's not tacky.

What it is, is a brilliantly easy holiday if you have young kids. Park up and just disappear into a bubble for a few days.

OP have you been on holiday to Butlins?

😆😆

I’m loving the eight-year-old Egon Ronays and Aggie MacKenzies.

"People go to cornwall because it's a marker of being middle class." 🤣

You sound absolutely obsessed with being middle class, which you use interchangeably (and incorrectly) with something being a certain level of quality. And also bread!

Fwiw most people go to Cornwall for the beaches, temperate weather, views, etc. Not to tick it off the list to get their "middle class" brownie badge

I think you need to get
a) a bread machine
b) a sense of perspective
c) a dictionary (to check the meaning of "middle class" and "tacky"

A child thinking the microwaved food is grim, means they would rather be watching the world go by in a cafe in Paris?

Or, it just means a child thought the grim food, was indeed grim. Yep. That.

Last time I took DTwins swimming (just local pool) they complained that it was filthy. The changing area was gross. I complained on the way out. Clearly they were signalling that they should be in Andalusia, observing the architecture.

What snobs they are

Did the kids have fun OP ?
if so who cares if you think it’s a bit tacky

We recently went to the Whinfell one. Agree on a few points the centre Parcs own restaurants weren’t great, and shop is an overpriced co-op. I thought the pools were pretty clean.
To be honest centre Parcs isn’t really a holiday designed for adults it’s for the kids, ours had a fantastic time and we made lots of lovely family memories and for that reasons I’d go again. It’s about time with the kids not is an average restaurant chain the best meal you’ve ever had.

Our nearest one is about 40 mins away, so quite often go for a cheaper holiday in Jan/Feb, I would never go in summer it is way too busy. We usually meet half our town there which is funny as they are all doing the same thing. We usually deliveroo food in, picking it up from the gate from places that have a good reputation in the local area, most of my work colleagues are from that area so they usually gove me a gew tips. The chalets are very basic, but the kids love it for a long weekend.

😂😂😂