To wonder why on earth anyone goes to Center Parcs?!

[CakePigeon4]

I’ve had several friends who have been to various sites and raved about it, but to me it just looks like a slightly more upmarket Butlins?! It’s extortionately expensive, the chalets look like they’re furnished by Premier Inn, you have to pay for activities, you’re stuck on site eating at their overpriced restaurants... Am I missing something?!

I don't understand why that seems to irritate some people so much!

The op title is written in an unnecessary antagonistic and borderline patronising style

I am sure that some but not all of the detractors or OP like to justify to themselves that they can’t afford something by rubbishing it ‘didn’t want it anyway’ and saying that it is a rip off.

Or they’re being deliberately goady by slagging something off that blatantly loads like.

Which btw is what most threads on this forum are about

Me and my bestie are going second week of september - for us its about accessibility as two wheelchair users going without any other support!

That and the bum sex obviously.

For those asking when the cheaper breaks are, you tend to need to book a fair bit in advance for the best prices. I just had a look and you can get a 4 bed Villa at Longleat for a Mon-Fri starting on 27th April 2020 for £499.

We love going to Center Parcs, we have been to all of them apart from Whinfell. For us it is the convenience of being able to leave the car at the gate and walk/cycle everywhere. Everything is fairly close together and there is lots to do for all ages. You can make it as cheap or expensive as you like depending on what you do and how much you eat out.

The pool is by far the best I've been to (the only place that may compete is the water park at Alton Towers) and you can spend hours in there everyday.

I just had a look and you can get a 4 bed Villa at Longleat for a Mon-Fri starting on 27th April 2020 for £499.

Great if your kids are under 5. What about school holidays though?

When friends tell me they go their have to say they go down in my estimation. Centre Parcs = holidays for people who lack the imagination/creativity/sense to actually search for much nicer and also less costly holidays ie. private rental cottages and book a few special excursions themselves.

Fuck me I am glad I don’t have any friends with This kind of pompous attitude! Most of my friends really actual friends morning vacuous arseholes who view friendship as dependent on minimum standards of imagination.

Summer half term: 25th May £1199 Mon-Fri for a 2 bed lodge at Longleat 😳

@gotmychocolateimgood obviously the school holidays are a lot more expensive. That's fairly straightforward supply and demand. Everywhere will be more expensive in the Summer holidays!

I believe the poster asking about the cheaper times of year was looking for her and her DH only?

We have pre schoolers so go off peak when, for me, it is a nice break and good value for money. If, once the DC are at school it becomes so expensive that I no longer consider it good value for money, we won't go. It won't annoy me that other people decide to spend the money and go though, up to them!

I just had a look on a self catering cottage website. Did a search for Cornwall and picked a random property.

7 nights from 27th April - £826
7 nights from 25th May - £1,380

Things are more expensive in the school holidays. Center Parcs isn't unique in that. I appreciate the differences can seem more marked but I suspect that's due to the fact that families are CP's primary market and so demand during school holidays will be especially high. If you don't think it's good value, don't go!

Summer half term 25th May £1199 Mon-Fri for a 2 bed lodge at Longleat

Only if you book it now. If you booked it 18 months before the date, it was less. If you book a place with 97.6% occupancy they offer the best price on the date they open booking.

(next Oct half term midweek is £200 cheaper than this Oct half term midweek for instance - if booking now - book this time next year and it will cost more)

Its nothing like Butlins , we went went to Longleat Centre Parcs once with all the family and everyone loved it . Its very expensive , although my son and his famly have gone off season with friends very cheaply
You dont have to eat in their restaurants , you can cook your own food , and you are actually allowed off the site !

I can never understand people who can criticise something they havent tried ?

We went a few times when the kids were little. It is VERY expensive for what it is. I can see the appeal if you live in s city but if you live somewhere with nice surroundings CP isn’t worth the money imo

@Shortstuff99 I don’t mean to be patronising, I was genuinely mystified as to what the big deal with CP is, as from what I had seen it just didn’t seem worth the money! I’m still not convinced, even though I totally see people’s points about an easy holiday, I’m just not sure I would be happy to compromise with crap food and slightly lower standard of accommodation in order for DS to have fun in a nice pool. But, never say never, we might consider a cheap term time break to give it a go.

The food is not crap. Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge, Las Iguanas - loads of others... or what you choose to bring from home - not crap.

@BeyondMyWits we can’t afford to eat out very often/at all, so if we do it’s a big treat - I just wouldn’t want to spend money on an average meal at a chain restaurant!

And actually, although I was basing my description on other posters saying the food was crap, the three restaurants you’ve mentioned are pretty near the bottom of the list of places I would choose to eat.

I don't know what sort of amazing luxury cottages people are staying in that are both significantly cheaper and of such a high decorative standard? I know CP has fairly uniform decor (and some of the older standard accommodation can look a bit tired) but the newer refurbed stuff is a perfectly good standard.

We generally do a shop at Aldi and take in our own food so no problem on that front.

We don't love the restaurants so if we want to eat out at somewhere more exciting we just go off site. We went for a week last year and ate out twice off site and once on site. It wasn't a drama.

I have 4dc. 13,12,8 and 6. We have tried all sorts of holidays over the years and I can categorically say that they would all choose CP over a villa with a pool. They much more enjoy activity type holidays where they get to try new things, meet new people, cycle everywhere, play in the woods etc. Obviously they love the pools, flumes, rapids and wave machines too. A rectangular pool with a villa (and ensuite!) genuinely does not appeal to them. Surely holidays in villas abroad are for adults?!

I like las iguanas

the three restaurants you’ve mentioned are pretty near the bottom of the list of places I would choose to eat

And there you go again, well I suggest you get a fantastic 3 bed cottage in Bray Beekshire for £600, discover a huge pool complex with loads of slides and flumes, that doesn’t exist, and convince Heston Blumenthal to give you a 90% discount at The Fat Duck so you can have the experience you seek, but at an economical price. Or just go to CP.

Having been to Haven, Butlins, Eurocamp and independent holiday parks I can honestly say that Centerparcs was great. I wondered what the fuss was about for years and now I know. It feels so much calmer and more upmarket than the others I mentioned.

That was @shortstuff99