Centre Parcs Europe (Erperheide in particular) - have you been? Anything you wished you'd known?

[beckym8678]

We've just booked a last-minute Centre Parcs holiday at Erperheide (Belgium) for half-term, and have no experience of that sort of holiday at all. If you have, can you help with any general advice, or answers to more specific questions? We're hoping for a cheap as possible affair, so are taking most stuff with us, but have limited car space, hence slightly OTT level of detail required to help with successful packing... So here goes...

• We've hired grown-ups bikes, are prob taking kids' ones, and would like to get one of those trailer things, but it wasn't an option at time of booking. Has anyone done this, and if so do you get them once there, or did lack of option whilst booking mean they're all booked up? I understand they're called Burleys, so what are the 'carts' also mentioned, are they buggy-ish things?

• Are there REALLY no kids' duvets supplied, as website suggests?

• I know the kitchens are basic, but do they have a) a freezer bit in the fridge, b) cafetieres c) all the other stuff you'd expect for nothing-fancy-can't-really-be-arsed-cos-it's-holidays cooking?

• what are the curtains like? May sound a stupid question, but we had a holiday ruined once by poncey voile light-diffusing dawn-welcoming baby-wakers before.. We have three DS under 7, and they love nothing better than a 5.30am party. Am considering getting a length of blackout liner, but having read that some UK centre parcs have blackout curtains as standard, don't want to waste money/boot space if I don't have to.

Any answers to the above, or other handy hints HUGELY appreciated.
Ta.

Ps DH getting nowhere with Trip Advisor day trip suggestions for that area, so if anyone knows any good stuff to do in the Limburg province, in case we feel the need to GET OUT of the compound....

I went to eperheide about 5 yrs ago so I'm afraid I am a bit hazy on some of the detail so can't answer all your questions. We had a fantastic holiday and our kids loved it. We did hire bikes and a trailer type cart but I'm sorry I can't remember how we ordered it. We definitely ordered it before we went though. Also can't remember about kids duvets - although it was hot when we went and only remember using sheets to sleep under. The curtains were fine - not sure if they were blackout but definitely not voile. We went out of the site a few times - Maastricht is about an hour away and it is beautiful! Also went into the nearest town which had an aldi or lidl and another supermarket. It also had a few restaurants/cafés which we found very child friendly. Hope this helps - happy to answer any other questions if I can.

We went a few years ago and there was definitely a freezer compartment and a coffee maker. I think when they say kids duvets - they mean for cots, rather than the beds - which are definitely supplied. We went to De Kempervennen at Easter and once you had paid, you could go onto the My Centerparcs page and order extras like bikes/trailiers/activity passes etc. The curtains at DK were fine.

My advice is that if you want to book any of the activities, do so the first day. They book up quickly. Also - the breakfast delivery is excellent - shed loads of ham and cheese and butter/jam etc etc delilvered before you arrive then fresh bread/croissants/rolls left hanging on your door handle in the mornings. There was plenty enough to make sandwiches for lunch. I also thought the dine around option was quite good value - you can have pretty much anyhting from the menu in each of the restaurants.

As Clarey said, Maastricht is lovely. Also Valkenburg. There is [[http://www.plopsa.be/plopsa-indoor-hasselt/en Plopsa Indoor park]] near Hasselt. Maasmechelen Shopping outlet. Bokrijk open air museum and park. Kasteel Hoensbroeck is fun.

Can't help but watching with interest because we're going there too! Can't get into the website to print out my e-ticket at the moment so getting very frustrated. We haven't pre-booked any activities as yet.

Also watching with interest....I routinely pack metres of blackout fabric on holidays at this time of year!
We are going to De Kempervennan (?sp) next week. Does anyone know if my husband & boys will need 'special' (ie speedo type) swimming trunks or are normal ones ok?

Brillant thanks Clarey/Portofino.. DH thinks I'm nuts bothering strangers with questions like this, but when the packing decisions are cafetiere OR baby bottle, this stuff matters! I usually console myself with the thought that there are actually shops in other countries, but when the holiday is both brief and supposedly thrifty, a bit of prior knowledge is a valuable thing.

Portofino I recognise your name from other CP threads, it may well have been on your recommendation that we booked breakfast delivery. It sounds a relative bargain, and the kids will get a kick out of it (I read that there might even be kinder eggs - they'll explode with happiness!!).

Maastricht def on our list, shall check out other recommendations too. Thanks.

Hilarious thought that the boys might all have to wear speedos (can you get swim-nappy speedos for babys?!?). Would rather they didn't but given the amount of grief most women go through to get themselves fit for public viewing in their swimming togs, part of me quite likes the idea...

I don't think De Kempervennen had any speedo rules.

I'm afraid I really didn't like it when we went. Found it very cramped and grotty.

Kids beds were bedded as normal - but the cot was bare and the small bedroom door didn't shut with the cot assembled .

Can't remember the curtains - but I was awed by the mental-asylum plastic covered mattresses.

The kitchen had a coffee thing - but no oven (so can't do jacket potatoes or pizza or oven chips - all the easy meals to fix when you have a crawling baby ). It was also right next to the bathroom with the kitchen bin actually in the bathroom , so tbh we ate sandwiches all the time.

The food court wasn't great - and was very much geared toward people who'd bought the meals package. (E.g. I went out with DC one morning at 8/9 am - thinking I'd grab a croissant and a coffee while they played - the only thing that was open was the 'full breakfast' restaurant - the coffee shop opened at 10.00 .

I'll stop moaning now - because I'm being a party pooper - but I felt it compared poorly to the home-grown continental altrernatives like Landal Parks.

No worries Kif, I've been mentally preparing myself for mega-basic/slightly grotty accommodation since booking, am thinking of it as a solid non-glamped-up tent, with bonus loo + freezer and access to pool. We're planning to spend a fair bit of our non-pool time off site.

Those mattresses sound like the ones we had decades ago in uni halls, awesome for sledging, rubbish when hot (fnarr etc).

Have just had definitive answer to speedos question from customer service
'You don't have to wear tight swimming trunks. You can choose what you wear.' That's Erperheide anyway.. Phew.

Did anyone with Erperheide experience find mosquitoes a problem? I've read they can be, am hoping that's just with the lakeside accommodation..

We had a fab holiday in the area though.

iirc - the tulip land place was very pretty - and efteling was awesome (though a bit of a trek - we toured around a bit).

Ooh thanks for clarifying speedo rules Becky.....was not sure I could keep myself from giggling at DH in them!
Have a good trip!

Ok one last question then promise to shut up and go on bloody holiday - am packing up kitchen things and wondering if it's a completely bare-cupboard affair, no salt no oil etc..? Anyone remember?

Oh and GoAndAskDaddy you might be interested to know that I did spot one pool regulation that I wasn't prepared for, which is that all under 12 non-swimmers must have arm-bands and/float jackets to be allowed in. Bloody annoying as I prefer to let them get used to their own buoyancy while learning to swim, but there you go. TFF next day delivery...

At De Kempervennen the cupboards were indeed bare. No oil, no salt etc. They had float jackets available at the entrance to the pool and and sold inflatable things the pool cafe.

So a 7 year old who can swim wouldn't need armbands? Have got jackets for younger ones already but not him. A bit confused now....

If they can swim and you are with them - that is fine.

And they weren't policing it too much either. There were a couple of life guards watching over the main indoor pool. No one outside or on the water slides. A question of exercising common sense I guess re. watching the kids.