What to take to Center Parcs ?

[wed99]

Hello . We are going to Le Lac d'Ailette for the weekend shortly. What household type stuff do people recommend we take?
I have dishcloths and tea towels on my list so far but just wondered if anyone was a Center Parcs expert and could give me any advice. Thank you

Hi Wed99

I go to CP a few times a year and may have been to the one you are going to.

They do supply washing up liquid but not a massive amount, so if you can take a small bottle with some decanted into then that should see you through.

What accommodation do you have? Sometimes whats in it can vary..

Had you thought of calling CP and asking them if they could tell you what is there?

They have a hoover and if you have a dishwasher then they supply you with a few tablets, not many though so it might be worth taking some extras with you.

Some of the villas have little wash bags with shower gel, shampoo/conditioner etc in..

You dont need to clean the loos or anything like that before checking out so just the basics should see you through.

Not sure if that is of any help to you...

Thank you for your reply April Meadow.
We are in an Eden lakeside villa -think it is one of the newer type of villas.I think we get bed linen and towels provided.
Will add dishwasher tablets and washing up liquid to my list.

Hi, we stayed there last summer.
I would suggest if you have a very big car, that you take as much bottles/cans/cartons of juice as you can and also dried goods like cereals etc as it is VERY expensive there. From memory it was something stupid like 2.50 euros for a can of coke.
The bakery there is lovely for fresh baguettes, pain au chocolat in the morning but again expensive.

I'd also take extra towels as the ones supplied were very small and not enough for us (6 of us)

Also take a credit card as it is very very expensive there, not just CP but surrounding towns. We went out for a meal in a nothing special cafe/restuarant in an nearby town and it was 120 euros and that was just for 2 adults, 2 teenagers a toddler and a baby who didn't eat their food. Main courses and deserts and just a few drinks.

I don't mean to put you off but just wish we'd planned ahead and I'd have taken a lot more basic supplies with us.

Hope you have a lovely time

It depends whether you wish to eat in or out and whether cost is an issue. Also how old your children are.
You usually find the on site supermarkets are well stocked and will deliver if you order enough.
However if you don't mind the cost you can also usually have breakfast delivered and takeaways in the evening.
When our children were very small we used to feed them and put them to bed at their usual bedtime and I would "cook" a conveniance meal of some kind.

Now they are older we eat out and I just take coffee, soft drinks and snacks.

As thephoenix said prices are high and if you are on a budget I would cram as much into the car as possible!

We have just returned from a week at a Center Parcs and my advice is take as much as possible!

We were in a VIP villa, so were provided with a 'kitchen welcome pack', but it didn't contain a great deal and we ended up buying dish washer tablets, washing up liquid, hand soap etc. I would take kitchen and loo roll, additional tea towels and bath towels, tin foil and rubbish bags. The supermarket was well stocked but of course you pay for the conveniance of not leaving the site.

We found the food in the restaurants pretty rubbish (we were at a site in Belgium) so tended to BBQ or leqve the site and find somewhere better to eat.

We have just had four days at Les Bois Francs. I ordered a kitchen pack, which consisted of 2 cloths and one dishwasher tablet! I would say don't bother with this and take your own. Include wash up liquid, surface spray and paper towels. Zip Lock bags are good for bringing home open packets that you were not able to use up.

We were at Lac d'Ailette two years ago. I would recommend that you take a sharp knife or two with you, as the ones they provide are rubbish. You also need size 4 coffee filters for the machine.

There is a nice beach at Lac d'Ailette, so if you have buckets and spades and other beach gear, you might want to take that.

For France, in general, you need to take your own shopping bags. It is easy to buy whatever you need, and the onsite store is good. You can also go to the hypermarket in Laon, but it probably isn't worth it for a four day stay. The car park is a bit of a trek at Lac d'Ailette, even if you park your bike by the sports centre. If you are shopping at a hypermarket, do it before you arrive so that you can unload right into your cottage.

Thank you for all the great advice. Have made a long list of extras now.