Is Centre Parcs worth it

[SchoolZooTrip]

We have an unexpected opportunity to go away next weekend and was thinking Centre Parcs as something quick and easy to book but it's coming to £700. Is it worth it?
Looked at Haven which is £200 cheaper but the other similar alternatives I can think of are more expensive.

I did CP once and was horrified as to prices. If you can afford the money to do things (and critically they’re still available!!) then go for it

For £700 - absolutely! We paid twice that in easter holidays. We love centerparcs. My husband has gone since being a baby and now our children love it too. It's so easy with young children as everything is in one place and geared up for them. I find it really relaxing to leave the car behind and be surrounded by forest. You would think reading some of these comments they are so terrible they must be about to go out of business but with 97% year round occupancy they are obviously doing something right. The pool is amazing and definitely nothing like a local authority centre! If you aren't going to maximise the pool you can still keep activity costs down by taking bikes and making the most of the beach, playgrounds and soft play. Some family activities like squash families ball wall are good value. Don't get me wrong centerparcs has it's faults but there's nowhere else like it. Ribby hall, bluestone butlins and haven have all been mentioned as alternatives but they are all very different breaks. Just depends what you are looking for really

Disagree. I’ve done multiple forest holidays over the years in multiple locations and I’m increasingly disappointed. The price has sky rocketed so it’s not much cheaper than CP now so you pay through the nose for an increasingly dilapidated cabin in the woods. Luke warm hot tub, awful tiny beds with a mattress that hasn’t been changed in years, minimal facilities and activities. We went this summer and I won’t be going back again. We had no hot water so couldn’t take showers. We ordered food only to be told after there was no kitchen staff. Never again.

I’ve only been to Whinfell in the uk but it wasn’t like being in nature at all. There are roads with cars everywhere. There was no sight line from our accommodation where I couldn’t see people, property or cars. You could do a 20 min walk in the woods but you could still see treehouses. The only good thing was the red squirrels.

The food was shocking. The chain restaurants were blah but the centre parcs restaurants and bakery were on another level of disgusting and expense. I’ve never thrown away a vanilla slice before but if you told me I’d accidentally bought a plastic demonstration one at least it would’ve made sense! Even on a self catering holiday I don’t want to have to be cooking all the time because the available food is so expensive and dire.

None of the things were worth the money. Butlins has its faults but it’s priced right. I’m paying £200 for a mon - Fri for up to 6 people at the scrag end of the school holidays. I paid £1500 for 4 for the same last year at cp.

We literally can't afford it. The only time we went is when the grandparents paid to come with us.
It was ok. We went to the pool.a lot as it was free. You have to pay for every activity on site apart from that It's just not worth it for us.

I love centre parcs. After the initial lay out of money, it can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. You really don’t need to spend loads on activities. Take your own bikes if you have them. Pool is free. Lovely nature walks. Have bbqs if weather good. I did lots of activity bookings first time we went, but DCs moaned about being dragged away from riding bikes etc.

I’m amused by people saying how much they love being at one with nature at centre parcs!! Ok, I know there’s wildlife but it’s literally the most man made environment ever! It’s the outdoors for people who don’t do the outdoors.

It’s the outdoors for people who don’t do the outdoors.

What does this mean? How is it fake? Are the trees fake? the animals? I like the outdoors and I like CP but I'm not sure what the difference is?

You can be at one with nature like when you visit a zoo ...

Our family used to really like it years ago but it has gone really downhill.

what annoys me is you pay £££££ to go and each year you return you see none of that reinvested into the park.

that to me takes the piss.

That’s a real shame for you! It must depend where you stay or what cabin you choose. We went to the one in Cheshire / Delamere forest this year and the cabin was immaculately clean, newly refurbished throughout, loads of activities, outdoor gas bbq, hot tub was too hot if anything. I found CP tacky in comparison. We loved it so much we’re going back friends next year. The cabin we stayed in was called New White Willow Premium

Forest holidays don't have the swimming complexes though do they? different holidays imo.

You can’t take your car to your cabin either except to pack & unpack, unless you’re in a disabled cabin but even then, you can’t drive around the park during the stay. So if you’ve limited mobility and unable to use a bike, then you need to hope that you’re staying close to the facilities.

or hire a mobility scooter

No.

The difference is it’s completely maintained.

Of course it's maintained, but so are my local
parks and the NT place I go to.

We’re piling up all the usual sniffy Center Parcs objections in super quick time!

We’ve had the cost, the superiority of Belgian camps, the state of the accommodation, and now we’ve got nature purity. Can anyone throw in a terrible badminton injury for good measure?

I thought CP was an absolute rip off and the most boring holiday I’ve ever been on. Packed pool
area, terrible food and (very short!) activities. And there really are only so many bike-rides and walks you can go on. Both of which we can and do all the time at home anyway so the novelty wore off very quickly. The accommodation was damp and mouldy and woefully ill-equipped. You couldn’t drag me back! I’d rather stay at home and do day trips to different places, which we’ve done since the awful CP trip. I can’t afford to jump on a ferry and go elsewhere so am happy to spend a lot less and stay local.

The pools are very warm, and there are slides etc too, so lots to keep you in the water longer.

Definitely worth it - we live it there.

I guess it wasn’t for you then.

I guess if lots of people have the same objections then some of those could be rectified by somewhere charging £2k+ a family a week for accommodation. Particularly the food quality when they’re charging £20 for a deep fried frozen burger and chips.

I overlook the tired paintwork and grubby changing rooms at Butlins because I’m not paying 1000s to be there. I don’t understand why people are happy to pay out so much and find it enjoyable and relaxing to be honest. I have money to spend but I hate being ripped off.

But everyone would moan if it wasn’t maintained!! Low behold a loose branch or some leaves on the path!

each to their own. But we like it. I find it quite calming especially if you have a lodge away from the sports plaza/plaza. And actually around the further away lodges it is fairly wild. We saw deer in our little garden which was really nice.

everyone’s different so hopefully the OP can choose something that suits them

Yes totally different. Unless you’re intentionally paying thousands of pounds to live amongst the trees at both places …🙄

Nope. Not for me. How could you tell? 🤣