Center parcs france

[KTB1234]

Has anyone got a review of the Lac D'Ailette (or other european) center parcs as we are about to book 2 wks in early summer. We have not been to any of the UK ones before but now have an active 2 yr old girl and think it may be our answer.
Thanks

I went to one in France in 1990 and it was brilliant - a fantastic outdoor water slide/river.

I guess, 20 years later, it might have changed though...

Thanks Janice.
The site appears so big I am unsure whether we want to be close to or miles away from the central centres. I guess we will just see how we get on. Does it have a holiday camp feel to it?

Yes we went in April 2008 with a 2yo and a 5yo. Lovely place, v. easy to get to from Calais. Would be nicer now as the gardens would have had a chance to grow in as it was a bit bare about the villas when we went (6mths after it opened). Indoor softplay was good although the separate toddler area is quite small, the swimming pool is fab though we spent every afternoon there. Its 30 mins from Reims so you can explore the Champagne area and all the vineyards and take a few tours in as well.

I would choose a villa closer to the lake shore as it slopes up away from the lake and you have to slog up a hill which is a bit of a bugger with a pushchair!

We've been to Lac d'Ailette.

The setting is lovely, with wooded lots and a sandy beach. The dome area has lovely decking onto the lake.

We didn't have babies or toddlers, but it looked really well equipped for them, with plenty of safe areas to park them in the pool, and their own indoor play area. The Wannabee/quand je serais grand activities went up to about age 12, which was good for us.

We had pretty rubbish weather, so spent a fair bit of time in the bowling alley/sports bar, where there was free wifi.

The accomodation was in pretty two storey cottages, but the one we had was not nearly as spacious as the same occupancy/standard as the one we stayed in at Kempervennen in the Netherlands. Kempervennen was also better for sports facilities.

The one thing going for Lac d'Ailette is that it is in France and I speak French. Other than that Kempervennen wins hands down. The language thing is really minor as everyone speaks English in both places.

When we went to Lac d'Ailette we spent a couple of days in Paris (prior to arrival), which was good, and similarly went to Amsterdam when we were in the NL.