Centerparcs - anyone been recently?

[fairy]

Hi,

Just looking for some advice/recommendations on Centerparcs.

We are thinking about going late September early October with PIL and our two ds, one will be almost four and the other almost one.

Really what I'm looking from all of you (!) is;
which one is best?
what type of villa to get?
what are the best activities to book?

So please let me know, as I'm trying to be organised and be booking soon.

Thanks in advance

[Joe1]

Thanks ames, really looking forward to it. Yes have been before about 10yrs+ ago but I think it was more summer months so probably wouldnt have noticed the dark as much. Ds will love it, especially with a torch. I have requested a chalet about midway, so not too far to walk to the centre, about 5-7 mins so everyone gets lots of exercise for a good nights sleep If weather not too good I think I will just snuggle up in front of tele with new baby and chill, still might be able to see some of the fireworks from where we are.

[ames]

We went to Sherwood for the fireworks last year. They were good. You all meet in the village center and then they carry the torch thing and all the kids follow them round to light the bonfire and the fireworks are to music (like most now) you watch them across the river (well you did when we went) so everybody can see them. Dont know if you've been before buts its pretty dark at night they dont have many lights probably to try to maintain a natural habitat a much as poss. so ecommend you take a torch.

[Joe1]

I have just booked us a midweek break at Sherwood for November to coincide with their fireworks. Has anybody been at this time and what are the fireworks like? I have been to Sherwood before but a long time ago about 10yrs+. I am looking forward to a real chill out with new baby while dh is off with ds riding bikes and swimming etc.

[Fionn]

sis - many thanks for your tips!

[sis]

Fionn, the only other activity we booked ds in for was the time out club which he loved.

As well as bikes and their trailers, they also hire out little cars that we hired for about £11 for the full week (you can hire them for shorter periods) which ds absolutely adored and the car got lots of admiring looks from adults and other children!

Hope you have a great time and don't forget the blackout sheet for the curtains if either of your children are light sleepers.

[sis]

Fionn, I will try and think about what we did with ds and get back to you in the next few days. If your children love swimming then you don't need to do anything other than go to the pool all day everyday (you can get food and drink there), but ds is a bit wary of swimming so we took him to some other activities.

[Fionn]

sis - we've just booked Sherwood for a few days in mid-September. Our children will be 2 and 4. Anything apart from the picnic it's worth booking up for in advance? Thanks!

[Rhiannon]

We only ever have Comfort villas, they're fine.

The babysitters come to you, you can pre-book them for a time to suit you. They tend to be older ladies. I stipulate on the form that we want female only babysitters. I have nothing but praise for them, ours brought toys and story books and my little girl asked her "when can we come to your house Julie?". R

[sis]

Fionn, we went to sherwood earlier this year and had a great time with ds who is 3.5yrs old. We did not try the babysitting service - but i understand that it is a a real person in the villa as opposed to a listening service. You may find that with all the activities your dss may fall asleep earlier than 9pm.

we found that the teddy bears picnic got booked up really early and there were some disappointed little people - so book early if you want to secure a place.

[Fionn]

Is the babysitting service a listening service or a person babysitting? I know mine wouldn't feel happy with a stranger there if they were still awake. I suppose we could get them to do so many activities they'd be tired enough to be asleep at a reasonable time.
Is it worth paying extra for the Comfort plus villas or is Comfort adequate? I'm not bothered about having to make the beds myself. Is the welcome pack worth the extra, considering it's easy to bring your own wine/tea bags anyway?
I need to read the brochure properly before I book so will probably be coming back with more questions Rhiannon, I know you're a Centerparcs expert!

[Rhiannon]

Don't worry about the intercom, they have a brilliant, reasonable priced babysitting service. Remember to pre-book b4 you go.

We ended up with £250 in vouchers from our lost holiday. £100 of them can only be used at Elveden when it reopens though. R

[chinchilla]

We went to Sherwood in April, and they were still in the middle of the renovations. It was a bit noisy, but OK. We also got some Gueylian (?) chocolates and a bottle of vinegar.. sorry, wine to apologise for any inconvenience.

Despite the work, it was a fab break, and we would definitely go back. I don't think the chalets would be near enough the restaurants to use the monitor intercom. We had lunches out, and bought dinner from the supermarket each day. They had a good range of things to choose from. like fresh curries, pizzas, deli foods etc.

[ames]

We went to sherwood last Nov for bonfire night which was great. I dont think any of the chalets would be close enough but I might be wrong. Best to ask them. They put us in a chalet close to the center free of charge when dh told them I would be 7mth pregnant. We've just had a flyer from them saying they've spent 14million on improving Sherwood. I thought it was great anyway but reading it, it doesnt look like its gonna be finishes until the end of year so not quite sure what extra facilities they've got now.

[Fionn]

We want to go to Centerparcs (first time) in September, with 2 ds age 2 and 4. Just received the brochure, Elveden is still being rebuilt so it's between Longleat and Sherwood. This thread has given me some useful information, but wondered if anyone knew if any of the villas marked as "central" are near enough to a restaurant for the 100m range baby monitor range to work? Our boys wouldn't be happy going to sleep with a stranger babysitting and generally don't fall asleep until after 9pm anyway.
Also any other tips from those who've been recently to either site would be appreciated - thanks!

[sis]

Rhianon, I agree that you should write to complain and point out how much worse you feel because you holiday was booked to a date so close to the fire that you couldn't possible find a suitable alternative and then you found out how others got goodies like flowers and vouchers whilst you just got the refund! Lay it on and see what happens!

[Rhiannon]

got a cheque for the full amount yesterday, no accompanying letter, no flowers, no vouchers. They better be ready for my stroppy letter!

[Rhiannon]

Ems, no flowers here!!!! You lucky thing, I've still heard nothing, will get on the phone next week. If my blooms arrive, will let you know. R

[Ems]

We found a last minute break to take instead of CenterParcs, and have got back today to a huge bunch of flowers from CenterParcs and the standard letter from MD of CenterParcs, saying they will refund the money and also send us £100 vouchers to use at CenterParcs.

I have been very impressed. I dont believe myself to have been high on their list of priorities. I know my holiday was due 4 days after the fire, but I didnt expect a phone call that quick, as they have had huge things to sort out, it was a devastating thing that happened to Elveden, the park and its staff.

[sis]

Rhiannon, it may be worth giving them another call as they seem more organised now. I called the 08705 200 300 number and picked option 1 and got through without too much waiting (less than a minute). I suggest that you don't mention the letter and ask them what is going on - they didn't volunteer the voucher info until I asked about some rumour of spending vouchers.

They should give you extra vouchers for all the promotion you've given them on mumsnet!

Hope you sort something out, good luck!

[Rhiannon]

Hi sis, we had a letter from them this morning about the activites we had booked and they said they hadn't taken payment yet but nothing about the original booking and our £550. R

[sis]

Rhiannon, we were meant to go(and still are going, except it is at Sherwood Forest instead od Elvedon)for a week from 14th June.

[Rhiannon]

sis, when were you meant to be going? R

[Mooma]

Wanted to tell Mumsnetters about a recent discovery of a group of centerparcs-style holiday villages in Holland and Germany, called Grandorado. We've just returned from a week in Zandvoort, near Amsterdam, Haarlem, and the bulbfields. It was a wonderful break, and of course the glorious weather didn't hurt!
A friend told us about the group, and we were very impressed. With the ferry, it cost just over half what we were quoted to stay at center parcs over Easter.
You can book direct on the website here but your paperwork will be in Dutch.
We used Bridge Travel (0870 727 5973) so that we didn't have to mess about finding a compatible ferry, and our booking details were in English.
We went Dover-Ostend, so were able to have lunch in Bruges on the way home.
We were very impressed by the friendly service and everyone spoke English.

[sis]

Thanks Kia - reassuring to know, also, thanks Rhiannon for letting me know what happened.

[Kia]

We've been to all of them and rate Sherwood the highest for customer service and sheer friendliness of the staff. Apparently they had unemployment much worse than alot of UK areas and so people tend to try to keep a good job, if you know what I mean.