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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that people should at least go to Centre Parcs before they slag it off

141 replies

Ohbehave1 · 25/09/2015 20:30

I am fed up with my friends saying how expensive Centre Parcs is or how they wouldn't like it when they haven't even looked on the booking site.

I know they can be expensive but I have done it on the cheap. And I know that they have gone downhill a bit, but they can still be good value for money.

For those that want to complain, at least look at the booking form.

OP posts:

Bunbaker · 25/09/2015 21:52

We like the same holidays Mintyy
We went to Northern Finland during February half term and were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights while we were there. It was an amazing short break and we packed so much in while we were there. I would love to do another trip like that but in Norway next time.

M4blues · 25/09/2015 21:53

But having lots of stuff I one place suits us very well. So my 12&10yr olds can be going high ropes and zip wires or quad bikes whilst my 3yr old is doing balance bikes or toddler football.

hedgehogsdontbite · 25/09/2015 21:55

I wouldn't ever go because they're liars. They led me to believe that it's all under a giant glass dome and I recently discovered this is a LIE!!!.

2ndSopranosRule · 25/09/2015 22:00

I've been once and had the most miserable long weekend ever. We were with FIL, who I can't stand, which possibly coloured my experience, but I was so disappointed with so much. The pool was okay, but the accommodation was terrible: honestly we've stayed in far far nicer static caravans for a fraction of the price.

The thing I hated the most was the complete lack of anything unique. I can drink shitty Starbucks coffee on any high street; why would I want to do that in the middle of a forest.

Still, I'd go again minus the FIL. Just to see if it's tolerable when you aren't sharing a villa with someone you hate.

Fuckitfay · 25/09/2015 22:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BoffinMum · 25/09/2015 22:10

I think it's crazy money for what you get. We went a couple of years ago and our villa (which was expensive and supposed to be recently refurbished) had broken and damaged appliances, wires hanging out the wall, and was incredibly damp and smelly. In the main centre section we spent a lot of time in crowds feeling like we were at a railway station. You couldn't use the pool properly as there were too many people in there, and there was nowhere to sit as a lot of the free space was occupied with private hut things that had all been booked up weeks before. Also the pool area was filthy with hairs and floating plasters and so on everywhere. It was hard to get a table in a restaurant or to do anything that hadn't been planned weeks ahead and booked, which meant there was no room for spontaneity and/or responding to the weather. Staff were generally pretty grumpy, especially in Starbucks (I don't even like Starbucks but that was all there was with free tables). We made a formal complaint but nothing ever happened apart from a desultory attempt to re-clean the villa. Total waste of whatever we spent, which I am sure was well in excess of £1000.

MissDuke · 25/09/2015 22:11

I do think people can have a good idea whether or not they will like something without doing it. They may be right or they may be wrong - but they can certainly make an educated guess. We love CP and a holiday lying on a beach in Spain is my idea of hell, I know I would hate it - but yet I have never tried it! I don't see anything wrong with your friends opinions op.

Mintyy · 25/09/2015 22:11

There are always loads of threads on here criticising Centre Parcs, but they seem to be thriving. I imagine they have a whole team of staff trawling the internet for mentions

Siennasun · 25/09/2015 22:12

I thought it was all under a giant glass dome too! I was sooo disappointed that this was not the case
I've only been once but I did love it. It's all a bit sci-fi despite the absence of the giant done
I love all the activities, don't care if they are expensive and don't understand people who are obsessed with not paying for any extras. I got flamed on the travel advice section for asking about which of the animal encounter sessions were best. I was told to drive to sainsburies, buy some bird seed and take my toddler to the lake to feed the ducks. I could do that at home

Boredofthinkingofnewnames · 25/09/2015 22:12

Why does it bother you? I like certain types of holiday and not others. CP is a short break to me, and more for the kids than anything else. Def wouldn't want to spend my two week holiday there.

Siennasun · 25/09/2015 22:14

If CP staff are reading, please get some better restaurants. Thanks.

M4blues · 25/09/2015 22:14

At Longleat, a substantial amount of the village is in the dome. It's one of the reasons I don't like Longleat.

DixieNormas · 25/09/2015 22:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

5Foot5 · 25/09/2015 22:30

We had a week in a French CP. It was OK but very expensive for what you get. We normally stay in a gite or similar but that year we thought we would try CP because our DD was about 8 and we thought it would be nice to go somewhere with plenty of stuff for her to do.

Well the accomodation was very so-so. We actually paid extra for a lakeside view but that turned out to be a view over a stagnant and very unscenic bit of backwater. Nowhere nice as any of the gites or cottages we normally rent but at least as expensive.

The pool was pretty good but we find an hour or two of that every day is really quite enough. I guess if you could happily spend all day by a pool then you are sorted but we can't.

Everything else you have to pay for. We paid for DD to do a pony ride. This wasn't meant to be anything you needed experience for, just a pony that your parents led around the lake. We got some bastard pony that took off into the undergrowth dragging me with it - thank god she didn't come off. Later that day we saw an angry dad marching back to the stable leading the same pony with a crying child following behind so this clearly wasn't a one-off but a totally unsuitable pony for what it was being used for.

By Wednesday we were getting stir-crazy and cycled into the nearby town to eat at somewhere that wasn't part of CP.

It wasn't awful but for the money we can get a much nicer holiday elsewhere. However, I suppose like all holidays it just comes down to what you enjoy doing. We like being independent, walking and staying somewhere nice and we can take or leave the water activities so I suppose CP was never going to tick all the boxes.

Sunshineandsilverbirch · 25/09/2015 22:36

Well most of our friends are massive CP fans. They're always trying to sell it to us.

Now of course I'd never be so rude as to say so to them but as far as My DH and I are concerned CP would be the seventh circle of hell.

Seriously not our thing.

I really don't have to go there in person to know that. I have occasionally had a giggle at the prices on line.

jubblie · 25/09/2015 22:41

I agree it's a short break and not a 'holiday.' I suspect that children enjoy it much more than adults!

featherandblack · 25/09/2015 22:46

I went there mid-week for my first wedding anniversary and had a wonderful time! We loved biking through the forest and watching fawns nibbling grass outside the back door. The pool was much enjoyed too. The restaurants weren't amazing but we had a car so could easily leave. We weren't going around with a clipboard noting the excellence of the accommodation or the accents of our neighbours. I think you'd have to be boringly urban or simply stuck-up to have a massive problem with Centre Parcs. I look forward to returning with our children.

featherandblack · 25/09/2015 22:47

I also think the man who created it said 3-5 days was more than enough time to spend there at once!

TheLambShankRedemption · 25/09/2015 22:54

Been. Won't be returning.

MissFitt68 · 25/09/2015 22:55

Oh dear! I think op was expecting everyone to agree with her!

Ta1kinPeace · 25/09/2015 22:59

feather
your post totally confirms my opinion

it was good VFM as you were in term time
you used a car to get good food
your kids were not with you

Shockers · 25/09/2015 23:07

No need to go before you slag it off folks... I'll tell you how crap it is .

I endured it annually for 17 years because it was a whole family holiday. During that time it got steadily less green and outdoorsy and more high street money grabby.

I finally escaped the domed purgatory about 6 years ago when they hiked the prices up to the same cost as a Eurocamp holiday somewhere sunny with an outdoor pool.

You can keep it.

FizzyGood · 25/09/2015 23:23

I'm in centre parcs right now! I honestly am! Here at Longleat with my mum for our annual autumn girly weekend away together. I really like it, it's just perfect for what we need

BackforGood · 25/09/2015 23:30

Well, your title is a daft statement, as, how do you propose people go, if they can't afford it ?
I looked (donkeys years ago) and thought 'wow, that is a LOT of money', when I thought I was looking at the price for a week. When I looked closer, it was the price for just 4 days!! . It certainly was extortionate when I looked at the prices - you don't need to have been there to be able to find that out.

Follyfoot · 25/09/2015 23:36

I dont need to go to CP's website to know I would hate it there. It doesnt have anything that I look for in a holiday. If others like it, great, but each to their own surely?

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