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?

Yes it's (generally) expensive - although out of school holidays I've had weeks there cheaper than hiring an airbnb.

Yes it's slightly sanitised compared to "real" holidays, whatever that means.

But the key thing about it, is that it's just an incredibly easy holiday for families.

You rock up, park the car and forget about driving for a week. It means you can get out with the bikes or for a walk or for a run without having to plan routes or worry about traffic.

The lodges are generally clean, tidy and well provisioned.

Within 5-10 minutes of that lodge will be a decent swimming pool, shops and loads of activities that usually would require a day trip out to attend. It basically frees people from the mental load of meal planning, working out things to do, working out travel plans and everything that goes with day to day life. You disappear into a bubble and just detach.

That's why it's fucking amazing.

I haven't been for about 10 years ... our kids are adults now. We enjoyed it at the time but school hol prices were ridiculous.

I've just had a look at their website for 3 nights over the August bank hols and it's a couple of grand!! We've booked a beautiful flat overlooking the sea in Dorset for half of that for six people!

Amused me to see 'wine cooler' listed as a key feature if you went for the smarter lodges 😁

It's over-priced and a bit shit. The cabins are dated, the amenities aren't that brilliant, and you're paying shitloads to cycle in some woods which you can do for free if you have a bike and live relatively near some woods.

I love Whinfell Centre Parcs but we go out of season now that we are able to. My daughter asked to go for her 18th and it was lovely spending time together as a family now that my children are older. One of the restaurants we went to were so lovely with her when they found out it was her birthday.

We love the lake district but would never go to Centre Parcs as a way to explore the area - we go camping in the summer months for that.

I will add that when my children were younger we did go abroad for a week because it was much.

We go most years because the pool is great, the kids love it and it a really easy holiday. It's great for the teen, he can bring a friends, they go off and play tennis or swim and I don't have to worry about them.

I don't love it. I dont really feel like im in nature. It's not in any way an adventurous holiday. You feel a bit trapped. You can't go for long hikes or bike rides.

When you’ve been to a better holiday activity village, you realise how grotesquely overpriced it is at Center Parcs UK.

We went to a badly-rated, middle of nowhere Centerparcs in Europe and it was brilliant, less than half the price even taking into account the journey.

There are so many better places to go if that’s the kind of holiday you want.

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've heard bad things about other sites - and our last year at Skegness was too busy and shows were't as good and customer service was poorer - and kids bit older - that was a fair few years ago so could have imporved or gone downhill.

However I think it was great for the ages our kids were when we went. We had family telling us we'd hate it before first time going as tehy heard all the negativity but we had a great time.

Don't think we did the kids disco but rain or shine we found plenty to do there.

I think we'd have found it very hard if all the extra fun stuff was more money to pay out for - so bultins worked for us.

I went once as a 16 yo guest of my mates family. It was really really boring. Nothing to do but ride rickety bikes or go in the water flume thing which was rubbish. There was a disco one night with 70s music and the only food they seemed to sell was tuna baguettes and chips? And one fake Italian restaurant. My mate ended up with some debilitating gastric illness that required a week long hospital stay on return! But this was ages ago.

Because it’s hugely expensive for what is it.

The issue is the cost, but whilst people are willing to pay they’ll continue to charge it.

Never been, but friends who have say that they could have gone somewhere really nice for the cost and the extras were so much that they practically had to sell a kidney to cover the ££.
that’s put us off!

As someone who has been to CP yearly for the last 10 years, it took me less than 5 mins in a Butlins (we’d bought day tickets to try out the pool) to know that CP is nothing like Butlins, and we are most defo CP people.

I haven’t had any of the issues with lodges that some on here have had, and we’ve stayed at a few different ones, from standard to tree house.
the staff have always been great, and the food have always been good too. We only tend to eat out for dinner once whilst there though, and lunch is normally something from the sports bar which I don’t expect anything great from anyway.

saying all that though, I do think we have been priced out now - the costs are going up and up, and there’s nothing going on at the park to reflect that..the pool is getting colder and colder every year. Last time we went it was something like £200 more than the year before which isn’t make or break, but when the only free activity to do is a lower standard than ever it’s a bit of a piss take.

We tried it twice, and found that all our (autistic) son could access was swimming and walking round all day.

We take him to Haven instead every year now. It’s smaller, more accessible, the playgrounds and swimming are good enough for what he needs, and there’s a beach down the road. Plus it’s 1/3 of the price.

It's definitely like Dubai for me in that both are places I have never been and I don't see the attraction of at all. Maybe there is a big overlap between people who like or loath both.

I've never been but always read these threads with interest!

The thing is, they run at 95%+ capacity pretty much all year round. They know exactly how much they can get away with charging throughout the year and still be busy.

Whatever you may think of the parks, it is a money-generating machine that is run incredibly well.

It's more expensive than booking a nice self catering place, going out to your choice of non-chain restaurants and paying for a wider choice of activities.

What you are paying for is convenience. I think of it as a holiday version of things like "Hello Fresh". If you are happy to shop for and cook your own variety of meals, Hello Fresh is a rip off. But it clearly suits some people's lifestyles.

I think people tend to be extreme about Dubai - as in it's the best place ever or the worst place ever.

In October half term it ticked a lot of boxes for us when kids were younger.

On the negative side, it has no culture, no history, is pretty soulless, and there isn't a great deal going on.

On the plus side it's guaranteed October hot weather for a short ish flight, big clean family friendly', decent food, and good service.

It was great out of season with two under-4s. Now they are bigger, there is just so much better value elsewhere, We're oop north, but I really can't understand if you're within a good striking distance of the Eurotunnel, why you would go to CP in the UK.

Having said that, if they built a coastal one in the UK, I would go.

Really expensive. I did think the swimming pool was great, but then my child got a vicious sickness bug from it so that spoiled the joy. Personally for me it's the cabins and the decor that's poor. I don't get a cosy vibe from them at all. They were dusty under the couches and spiderwebs round bedroom window sills. Just didn't feel like a cosy cabin in the woods for me.

It’s very expensive. The price hikes during school holidays are ludicrous. Everything costs extra. You can go abroad for a week for less money and have better weather and activities included.
We have been and enjoyed ourselves but it’s just a rip off. Even if you want to stay in the uk there are alternatives that are better and cheaper

Genuinely, where else in the UK is there that offers an alternative to CP that offers an equivalent range of facilities onsite?

Yes, you can do it yourself with an air bnb but then you don't have the facilities. You have to drive and plan and not doing that is half the appeal of CP.

Yes, there are other holiday parks but which ones offer as much as a typical center parcs does?

People clearly don't dislike it, as you say it can charge anything it likes and be fully booked most of the year.

I enjoyed it when DC were very small and we could go in term time, spend most of the time in the pool, soft play or walking/cycling.

As they got older I really begrudged paying extra for all the activities, and a lot exra at that. E.g. booking a badminton court is a lot more than I pay at home.

For primary age DC I honestly think Butlins is better. We'd use it as a base, for a normal touristy holiday outsode the camp, let DC do whatever activities they wanted, all included. free fairground rides in the evenings, saw some of the shows.

Afai can see, the main benefit of CP over Butlins is the fact that it's so expensive keeps the riff raff out.

I’ve heard good things about Bluestone (I think!) in Wales

We've had great times at Centre Parcs, agree it's got expensive but we share the cost with good friends (appreciate not everyone wants to share with another family). We actually don't spend a huge amount whilst there, we tend to go in the Winter & do 1 activity & badminton, we walk, stop for a coffee, go swimming & light a fire in the cabin, play board games & cook ourselves. My son is 18 & he's coming with us again later on this year & has great memories of CP.