Forest holidays - are they any good?

[Lovemylittlebear]

Just looking at a three day forest holidays stay for myself, husband and four kids in June (10 weeks, 4, 5 and 8). We want something that would literally just allow us to relax and have family time and take the kids bikes and scooters to play and be able to walk the dogs.

Does anyone recommend this play or have anything particular positive or negative that might influence our decision? Ideally Forest of Dean. Other option is centre parcs.

Financially it’s tight for us to have a holiday this year. I have some Christmas and holiday money that have squirrelled away to pay for it (alongside Tesco vouchers). The cost per dog is 15 per night. We have 3 very small dogs that mostly like to sleep in there basket. We wouldn’t be able to afford the holiday if we have to pay 15 per night per dog for three night but could manage the extra £45 quid. I know this is cheeky but do they check how many dogs you have in your cabin?

Thanks

We had a week in the Forest of Dean a few years ago, me and DP, her DD and DGS who was then 11 I think. It was absolutely lovely, lodge was beautifully designed and well equipped, we all loved the hot tub, calm quiet surroundings, we did some activities and generally chilled. Expensive, sure, but a real treat.

Can I ask where you spend the Tesco vouchers for holidays? We usually just use them for cinemas and restaurants but obviously these have been off for a year so I have some building up

Thanks guys :) I saw on money saving expert that you could use up to 25 percent of total bill and then I logged in and I have £35 accrued which triples so I would have £105 off the cost. Not sure how to use them yet though as when I did a ‘run through’ I couldn’t see where I would enter them. I might ring them later to find out. They also have a ten percent off deal atm. Not sure if there are any better deals flying around... I’ll have a hunt and let you know if I find anything else x

I’ve enjoyed Forest Holidays and would totally recommend, but they do come and do stuff to your hot tub daily so might notice the dogs! Also the one we go to, Strathyre, is relatively small so you see the same staff out and about. They’d notice you were walking 3 dogs, whether they’d say anything is a different matter. Tbh I’d notice someone walking 3 dogs as it is a lot of dogs!

Check the dog policy carefully, most ban more than 2 dogs. I personally would look at independent options if money is tight - these sites tend to be overpriced

We went for a weekend in October. The lodge was quite nice and considering they didn’t seem to care about most of the lodge surrounding ours breaking rules about not mixing households I’d be surprised if they cared about the dogs

We had a lovely time at the Forest of Dean site a few years ago, definitely recommended. Lots of good walks very close. We definitely used Tesco vouchers, I think we had to book over the phone for this. We've also been to the Sherwood site, which was fine but the lodges weren't as nice so probably wouldn't re book for there.

Ah thanks so much guys. They are very small well behaved quiet dogs but because of that they do attract attention. In their policy they have up to four per night. Three is a lot of work!!! Two are getting on now and my youngest fell in love with my mums tiny poochon (she lives in the states) and my daughter went through a period of being quite poorly in and out of hospital so I caved and bought her a dog that looks identical to her grandmas - best purchase I’ve ever made :) she’s such a good little companion and puts up with being cuddled and fussed.

Does anyone know whether they have extra Covid cleaning procedures in place or anything like that?

Thanks again :)

Make sure you book one of the pet friendly lodges or you'll definitely stick out like a sore thumb. We like the one at Sherwood forest with the benefit that it's right next to (5 minute stroll) Sherwood Pines visitor centre complete with an enormous park perfect for your dc's ages.

Ah thanks so much - I’ll take a look :) we would definitely book and pay for the dog friendly cabin as wouldn’t want to stay in a cabin where future customers need to stay somewhere pet free and would pay for a day but an extra £100 on top for two tiny dogs that don’t do much just seems like such a lot of money when things are a bit tight...bloody Covid lol x