Why do so many people dislike Centre Parcs so much?

[coulditbeme2323]

Following on from the thread about over rated things, CP came up again and again.

I feel I am in the minority on MN, but in real life it runs anywhere between 95-100% capacity.

Of course people are entitled to their opinion and if you dislike it you dislike it, but honestly what do people find so awful about it?

It’s so sterile, it reminds me of The Stepford wives or the Truman show, everyone leaving their identical cabin on their identical bikes, riding off to do the same activities.
The restaurants when we were there were crappy chains, the activities are so expensive and for some you have to pay for the privilege of supervising your own child.
TBF first time we went we had two small DC and went in term time for about £300 and the lodge was new. It was really quiet and aside from the crappy restaurants it was a nice enough break, we didn’t do the activities just went for walks/cycled and swam.
The second time was part of a larger family holiday in school holidays, the kids were older and wanted more activities and it was so busy. It was awful.

I do like it. Although I haven’t actually been other than when there were some level of Covid restrictions, so I wonder if my experience is skewed (it was less busy as they had to be well under capacity).

I am going again with my youngest in October so will see!

I think it was higher end and unusual when it opened in the 1980s, but a lot has changed since then and they really haven't. Nowadays we have online booking, Airbnb, and more competing venues.

I loved going there as a kid, but the ratio of enjoyment available and the price to stay there and actually do stuff is so insane these days.

Often it's cheeper to fly out to a different country, stay in an all inclusive resort for two weeks, do a bunch of days out, and fly home.

A single week at CP in August for a family is almost £3k and that's before food and activities which can easily add another £1k. Two weeks could easily be over £7k.

Looking at TUI package holidays for the same departure day, there are several two week options for sub £2k for the same family size.

I’ve definitely said this before on mumsnet about our one experience of CP:

it is forever known in our house as Centre Pukes.

We went when kids were quite young, pre school age so we weren’t tied to school holidays and some friends of ours raved about it so we gave it a try.

The chalet was shit. Basic. Not well looked after.

The activities were extortionate.

The restaurant area was dirty and like a shopping mall food court.

The pool was like a human soup with plasters and hair floating in it and I can still feel the moment my foot squished into some poor unsuspecting man’s goolies when I came hurtling along the rapids bit in the pool. 😩

You feel like you are trapped on site. Huge fences etc and getting out for a day trip took some doing.

And yup, the whole family, except me, came down with norovirus starting while we were there and for the next week like - one after another like dominoes. We actually left CP early.

Not for us!

I think it's good for certain groups/events we go with grandparents once a year as a meet up in-between our homes go when the kids have an inset day for a long weekend, its not overpriced I don't think at those times if you look per person the kids choose 1 activity each and then we do some family stuff and it works well. However if you went Monday to Friday in August and did an expensive activity every day I can see it would be over kill and expensive

Costs a lot of money. Our cabin was very basic, and a little damp/musty. You have to take everything except the kitchen sink on holiday with you. The park is very big and busy. The list goes on.
I've been to other places since that are cheaper, luxury cabins with a hot tub, all activities are free once there, better restaurants on site, more peaceful etc.

We like CPs but we never go in school holiday so never pay the extortionate prices. We make the most of training days and go for those weekend.
It usually works out at £1000 for the lodge for a weekend for us, the kids and my parents to go. We rarely eat out when there as that is expensive but do a few activities.

We've never experiences any of the issues with sickness and dirty pools that others have mentioned. We've only ever had good experiences even in winter months.

Its very expensive, the restaurants are rubbish, there are too many people.

But I still go, and enjoy it, because it is easy and my kids LOVE the pool. We can spend all day every day in there. A lazy convenient holiday primarily for the kids. Chuck a couple of bags in the boot and go. Have done some European ones as well and I liked those better, more space than the UK.

I think the experience and value can depend on the age of your child and the time of year you go. It feels better value during the Winter Wonderland thing they do, as there is more to see and do (for free!) alongside the pool. I think the pool is really good, the changing rooms are well organised and the actual pool is warm (the room and the water) which isn’t always the case in other holiday parks. It is especially good for little ones with good sized pool areas where they can stand, sit and play.

I think for families with school ages children who have to go in school holidays, and who would need to do lots of activities, it would be horrifically expensive and poor value.

I really enjoyed Longleat but I had really low expectations and a child of the right age (8). We did a bird of prey thing, mini jeeps, the tree tops climbing thing, pottery painting, mini golf and spent hours in the pool and riding bikes. He had a fab time and it was very low stress/ effort for me. We only ate out once - went to cafe rouge which was fine/ normal for a chain. There is no good restaurant there that I am aware of. Oh yeah we did pancakes and was fine too - DS loved it.

The people were pretty civilised. I used to work in a Butlins and it was a zoo comparatively - people vomiting at the kids disco and all sorts. I am 30 years out of date on Butlins though it may have improved.

I know groups of adults go to centre parcs without kids though and that genuinely blows my mind!

It’s the only holiday I’ve left early. (Known as HMP Penrith in our house).

Dirtiest place I’ve ever stayed. Found popcorn and a used sanitary towel under the bed. Cleaner returned for a desultory tidy, but the cabin was shabby.

Plasters in the pool, which was basically human soup 24/7 because it was free, not enough changing rooms and when we finally got a space, we were swilling around in other peoples filth because the floor was constantly wet.

Not surprisingly DS got the shits but even leaving early and packing the car was an ordeal. I nearly wept with happiness when I saw Tebay services and finally got a decent coffee and meal.

I think that sums it up well.

My idea of hell .Other peoples kids.

It’s great off season with preschool children. You can get a bargain!

You really can.

I think it depends why you go on holiday. I assume people who like CP for holiday want convenience, a contained area where there's lots to do for children, aren't price sensitive, are fairly outdoorsy or active, and want a predictable experience where they know what they're going to get. No shame in that.

But if you're the kind of person who likes a DIY holiday where you have the freedom to go wherever, do stuff like museums/tours/galleries, are more price sensitive, don't want/need the holiday camp feel, etc, then it's going to be your worst nightmare isn't it? I'm the latter - the idea of spending that much money to have limited food and activity options stresses me out. My sister absolutely loves it for the ease of it all. It's just different personalities and needs!

We've been once a year for 12 years (since DD was born).

It was really cheap in term time (£250 midweek in September) and then about £900 for February half term. It was something to look forward to in January.

However, they keep building more lodges and inflating the prices and it now feels overcrowded and massively overpriced.

It definitely fulfilled a need for a simple safe hol with young dc, but we went to book for next February and decided to go to Stockholm instead for not much more really.

Happy memories, but I haven't really enjoyed the last few times and will go for European city breaks for half terms now the kids are older.

We went many times when our DC were younger (about 10 years ago), including several Xmases. We loved it and a big part of the attraction was fairly compact and simple to book/do activities, safe to cycle round, kids loved the pool, everywhere was child friendly and we didn't need to use the car once we arrived. Xmas was especially good- not everyone's thing clearly but an easy way to have some really nice family time after a particularly busy time at work and we loved being able to spend Xmas day cycling round the woods/swimming etc. Down sides were the fact that in busy periods it was impossible to eat out without booking, food/drink/activities were fairly expensive for what they were.

We looked at going again a few years ago and couldn't believe the prices. It was always more expensive that other self catering holidays but as pp have said, now in he school holidays we found it was truly cheaper to go for a week AI somewhere warm than a mid week break at CP. It still seems to get booked up though, so can't imagine they will change.

It's shit and expensive.

I am starting with why I like it… I think for me it’s the memories, our babies had their first swim there, the cosy fire when tired little kids are in bed after a day of adventures, the fact we’ve taken family and friends there.
I love that you leave your car and it’s safe for kids to cycle and scoot or walk.
Looking at the stars from the outside pool.
I love it and also I’m glad it’s not for everyone, which is fine.

I do think it’s one of those places that is quite trendy to moan about.
The pool can be busy, like anywhere.
The restaurant chains kind of spoil it. I would think they could organise some pop up food events with local businesses - I think that would go down well.
It’s expensive, and lately really hiked up since Covid.
But if it was cheaper (and I do wish it was really) it would probably be more like Butlins, and that’s not my cup of tea. Which is also fine too.

I agree, I think it's become trendy to moan about on MN.

Like Dubai

I've only been once and it's over 20 years ago so maybe things have changed but I thought it was ok but overpriced. The one we went to then wasn't shabby at that point and we all really enjoyed the pool. But it was a lot of money for what you got. The base price is not cheap and by the time you add even a couple of activities it adds up to a substantial amount of money for a short break.
My DC were very young when we went and they did enjoy it but I don't think it would have kept them entertained for long when they got older. We live in the country anyway so there was no novelty to having rabbits and squirrels outside the window and there are better and less expensive facilities for most of the offered activities near where we live. It is a sanitised version of nature I guess but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. It's a safe environment in which to get a taster of a variety of outdoor activities. Nobody who is seriously interested in any of those things would go there but that's not their target audience is it?
I can see that if you live in a big town or city and it's a very dfferent to your normal environment it could be fun, a bit like the first time I took my boys to London and things that are mundane for people who live there, such as going on the tube or a double decker bus, were really exciting for them.

Full disclosure I haven’t been as it’s too pricey for us - but one thing that really bugs me about CP is how it’s sold as a getting back to nature holiday - as far as I’m aware it’s awful pine plantations (not native woodland) which doesn’t scream nature to
me. Squirrels and deer don’t count (unless red squirrels in the Lakes one!) They also were facing opposition for a new proposed CP where they were planning to cut down lots of trees. They did pull out to be fair to them but again doesn’t scream great for wildlife - sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/campaign/center-parcs-and-oldhouse-warren

It’s so expensive for what is quite a basic lodge, the activities are extortionate and the food is average at best however we go as we can all be together in one cabin plus bring the dogs, everything is under ‘one roof’ and the grown up dc ( and their partners) love it. We use it as family bonding time and I don’t particularly care where we are.