Which Centerparcs in Holland/Belgium for small children?

[KashaSarrasin]

We're considering going on a short (probably midweek) to centerparcs sometime in March and hoping to get a last minute deal. We're not fussy on exact dates or location, as long as it's a reasonable drive from Rotterdam or Zeebrugge.

We need somewhere with a nice, warm pool for DS1 3.9 and DS2 7.5 months. Has anyone been to any of the Dutch or Belgian CP and can recommend one that would be good for these ages?

we've been to eem hoff. Was very good. It's quite compact so not a huge treck to get about like say longleat where we are always in the back of beyond.

We didn't eat out, supermarket was well stocked and I cooked a basic meal every night.

We went VIP and had fresh bread delivered everyday which was nice.

Overall it was good and loads cheaper than uk. We flew to Amsterdam which was still cheaper than the UK. Mad

We have been to Kempervennen - one of the biggest CP parcs.

I would say that it is best for young children and for teens. The in-between stage is a bit more difficult.

Thanks - I'll check those ones out!

We went to De Vossemerren in Belgium, with DS 5.5 and DD, 16 weeks.

DS loved it. They had a pirate world with rigging and ropes and a galleon. There was also a beach and a river running through it with a rope ferry and stuff. Pretty funky. He dressed up as a pirate and we lost him for nearly the whole day.

The other facilities were pretty good as well and the accommodation was fine. Our cabin had its own sauna and bread rolls were delivered to us every morning. the restaurants were good on site and there was an all you can eat buffet whaich was very reasonable priced iirc. the shop was much better than anything in the UK and was supermarket prices as well.

It was about a two hour drive from Rotterdamm and about the same from Zebrugge.

The local village was quite nice as well, and had a really good toy/sweet shop and was withing cycling distance.

We went in the October hols and our accommodation, bike hire, plus the outward and return ferry journeys were cheaper than the cost of the accommodation for the same week in the UK . The overnight ferry just added to the adventure for DS as well.

We live in Belgium and have been a couple of times to Eperheide. Pool and facilities excellent and they have a children's farm and indoor play area. I had the the impression that De Vosserem was better for older kids and Eperheide better for the littler ones.

Oh a nd agree with LoveADaisy. We booked the in chalet breakfasts. They deliver a shed load of coffee, tea, ham, jam, butter and stuff and then deliver fresh bread and rolls each morning. We took loads home with us!

Agree with Erperheide as little ones will love the Baluba.

Het Heidjebos would be quite good too, as they have a jungle dome, with animals and a clay area, and huge instruments to bang, running river to explore.

To be honest we went 5 years running from when the dcs were 3 and 5 and they were happy in every CP we went to (Het Meerdal, Het Heidjebos, De Huttenheugte and Erperheide)

It's worth buying one of the meal packages in advance as it usually works out good value and they sometimes have children eat free offers.

Ok - looking at all of these now. The cheapest midweek deals are around 300 euros at the moment so not super-cheap but still cheaper than the UK Centerparcs! I have itchy feet though, we haven't had a holiday for what seems like forever...

DS2's new passport arrived yesterday, I'm just waiting until mine arrives back from the passport office now until we can book something. (I hope it hasn't got lost, I was expecting it back before DS2's one got issued as I'm sure it arrived back several days before when we got DS1's passport! [slightly worried])

Don't know your DC's ages but there's a ski slope attached to De Kempervennen - you can book a week's lessons there which takes up the mornings nicely.

And when we went, they had the daily otter feeding which was sweet for any age.

We played family football, pool, and crazy golf, and the pool was lovely I'm told, although I can't stand swimming pools generally.

The shop is well stocked but there's no spa like in the UK - fine with me.

Well, we had a great stay at Het Meerdal last week - both DS's had fun and we seemed to spend most of the time in the water! We'd definitely go again.

Thanks for all the suggestions!