Is Centre Parcs as a child free break a terrible idea?

[StephenStrange]

Me and DP looking for a cheap break for last week of Sept, come across some Centre Parcs deals - one is Mon-Fri for around £400. This seems super cheap although I have heard the activities/food are expensive when you get there. We probably wouldn’t do loads, mostly spa/relaxing stuff rather than sports etc.

Am I mad to consider this for a break with no kids involved? Will we hate it?

The idea of being in a nice forest appeals but please talk some sense into me if it’s a terrible idea.

Have you looked at forest Holidays? Similar, no pool but you get a hot tub. I'd prefer to go there than cp.

We’ve been with and without kids. Loved it both times.

No kids are allowed in the spa, but you will see children around the rest of the place.

But 😣😣😣

God I thought Center Parcs was a nightmare and would definitely not go back

I would do it, it will be mainly young families with preschoolers there at that time midweek so the big water park rides will be more empty and the restaurants should be quieter late at night. Spa is great.

Not terrible

But utterly and completely unappealing me

Stealth Forest holidays looks nice too, a little more expensive but more adulty than centre Parcs I guess? Definitely an idea so thank you!

Contrasting advice so far but thank you everyone. It’s proving hard to find something we both fancy without spending a fortune as money is tight this year so haven’t been able to stretch to a beach type holiday

Have you been before?

Yes. For a lot less money you could go somewhere absolutely lovely!

I would. Just for the spa

I'd be happy enough there child free for a few days, but I like the pool, the spa and messing around on a bike before chilling out with my sewing. I went for the weekend for my birthday child free with my family and we enjoyed it.

I go to Center Parcs every year with my friends and no kids, we love it.
We have a spa day, hot tub, hire bikes and enjoy relaxing and drinking lots of wine by the log fire. Heaven.

We went several times before ds came along. Spa is excellent. Mooching around the sites on a bike always fun (apart from Longleat which is one big hill!). Pool open till 9pm so go late and it's fairly toddler free. You can self cater if you want. Prices are the same as the outside world!

I’ve never been before, not even as a child. Spa is sounding good though.

Hoping to spend no more than £400 for accommodation for the week or Mon-fri stretch so open to other suggestions from parc-haters

Not especially fussed about where/what, just in great need of a break and change of scenery

I'm not a fan of Centre parks but I know many people are
Have a look at sites such as TUI, icelolly.com, holiday pirates etc and you can often pick up a beach holiday package for £200 each

Also the spa is extra as is everything except the pool
Restaurants aren't great either
I've been to a few conferences there off peak and there's always work being done

I second Forest Holidays- much better than Centre Parcs

We went for years before we had children. Loved it.

i’ve been twice pre-kids and it’s lovely. we used the spa, went swimming at night when it was really quiet, cooked our meals in the lodge (and ate out a couple of times) i really like being surrounded by forest!

The thing is I think you could get a decent hotel at that price. Do you have to be sc?

It will be set up for families and I found the accommodation pretty basic. I'd be tempted with a shorter spa break. Champneys do good deals mid week. You could probably get 2 nights in your budget including food. A hotel with spa facilities would be cheaper than that.

The alternative would be a nice cottage, you'd get better accommodation but probably not much in the way of facilities, though hot tubs are becoming increasingly popular.

Where are you willing to travel to?

I've been child free with friends and enjoyed it a lot, it was quiet, went too pool and spa and cycled around about, chilled out in our cottage. I like it that it is close to home so no travel and low stress.

We've just booked a week in a CP in the Netherlands. Came to £500 for a VIP cottage and the Eurotunnel fare. We're also going child free. Eurocamp also has some brilliant deals on at the moment.

Woburn forest one has hotel rooms in the spa bit - obviously aimed at adults!

I liked Woburn as well as it was quite small.

Thing to bare in mind is it might be quite busy with toddlers as it's out of termtime and still a warm time of year

Center Parcs in the uk are quite insular, whereas on the continent they are located in towns and can be used more as a base for visiting other places. Cheap flight to Amsterdam and a 30 minute train journey will get you to some parcs on the North Sea coast. They are much cheaper than UK sites, and you have got the beach and day trips to Amsterdam, Haarlem etc - great for a grown up holiday

We stayed at Ribby hall last year; had the two kiddies with us (4&1 at that time) so it wasn’t too busy. They had a separate adults only spa and restaurant bit that looked great and was set apart from the main complex. Neither of us adults wanted to go in there alone while the other looked after the kids (ok I wanted to but felt guilty!)

I have and it was great.

Stayed in an apartment rather than a villa and the appt blocks tend to be be adults as most are one bedroom.

Spend lots of time in the spa which is kid free and tended to head out later in the evenings when most small kids were in bed. The pub in the late evening got noticeably more adult occupied after 9pm - especially if you go in term time as generally the families there have pre-school children who want to be settled back at their accommodation by then.

The appt was lovely and we cooked some nice meals and opened a bottle of wine on the balcony.

Sure there are more romantic places but hotels with a spa will cost £200+ a night.

As it was we had a nice relaxing time - which is what we were after.