Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Centreparcs Holland, going in September, any top tips before we go?

5 replies

WindUpBird · 13/08/2009 11:00

Hi,

Title says it all, really. Off to De Kempervennen at the beginning of September with a 3 y-o and 1 y-o. Is there anything you'd recommend we take with us, do when we get there etc? I don't think we'll be booking any extra activities other than a bike for DH and I. I presume they have baby seats or trailers for the children, but there is no info on the website. And I can't seem to book the bikes online, even though it says we can!
Any info would be great.
Thanks

OP posts:
bruffin · 13/08/2009 14:51

Haven't been to Kempervennen but have been to a few of the others. The bike shop usually does have lots of diffent trailers/baby seats to hire.
The only thing we ever seemed to be missing was a can opener, but normally the appartments are really well equipped. The food shop is quite expensive but has a good selection, with an onsite bakery so fresh bread everyday.

If you want to eat in the restaurants I would book a time slot, which is easy to do when you get there. The little ones will eat for free anyway.
There is plenty of entertainment for the dc's. My 2 loved the PepeTv characters. The shows are on every 2 or 3 days and although they are in dutch my dc's never seemed to worry about not understanding.

I'm off to Eemhof next Friday, we didn't go for the last 2 years and the DC's have missed it.

vinblanc · 13/08/2009 16:15

We were in Kempervennen a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Our youngest was three and we had a toddler seat fitted to the back of both adult bikes for her.

ISTR that we added bike hire to our package when we booked online, and this resulted in vouchers when we checked in. We took them to the hire place, selected our bikes and were good to go. They have a wide selection of of trailers and toddler seats, and plentiful numbers. The whole process is very relaxed so you need to get into a continental mindset.

I did sign my littlest up for the Wannabee/When I am older sessions and she enjoyed them. Again, I added these to the shopping cart when booking, and was given vouchers at check-in. We also paid for several activities, which we finally booked in person when we arrived.

On the food front, we booked a package of four meals - a breakfast buffet, dinner buffet, pancake lunch and cottage meal. There was a discount with this package but the best thing was that the cottage meal (fondue/raclette) lasted us about three meals with all the leftover meat and salad. We had 2 or 3 more meals out, and the rest we self-catered. I thought the market place was very reasonably priced considering there was no reasonable competition.

We had a 'deluxe' cottage (the middle of the three classes) and we found that it was child-friendly. The KV cottages are all on one level so you don't have to worry about stairs. There was a travel cot and high-chair in the hall cupboard. A lot of the plots at KV are on the side of small streams, so you may need to be extra vigilant about the water and the super-friendly ducks. If you were take anything extra, I would say plastic dishes and utensils for the children. I think they provide cleaning supplies, but a roll of paper towels wouldn't go amiss.

There are plenty of free things to do with little ones. There is a petting zoo, a small beach, a lovely playground as well as the swimming. If your cottage is anywhere near the sports centre, you will be right in the centre of these activities.

For yourselves, the really special thing about KV is that snowskiing and waterskiing. If you are inclined to do either, then do give them a go. Unfortunately they have no creche, so it would be a case of one doing and the other watching.

WindUpBird · 15/08/2009 20:16

Thanks so much for the info, that's really helpful! Gives me much more of an idea of what to expect and what to take with us.

OP posts:
DadInsteadofMum · 30/08/2009 19:18

Just got back from De Kempervennen after two excellent weeks - what do you need to know?

They have both seat and trailers - when mine were that each we went with a trailer - they have plenty so don't worry about booking on line.

There is a lovely area just off the main pool for toddlers and babies and the entry to the main pool is a very gentle gradient to sit in when the waves are on.

What else do you need to know?

DadInsteadofMum · 01/09/2009 15:44

Shopping use the supermarket in Valkenwaard (5 mins drive from site) for a big shop (much cheaper than on site supermarket) and the on site just to top up.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page