Are ANY Center Parcs any good at all?

[Dalesgirl16]

I really wanted to visit Center Parcs for a long weekend with my husband and toddler this year. However, I have so far read reviews on Woburn, Longleat and Elvedon and am very put off by bad reviews of dirty and tired looking accommodation, dirty changing rooms and that the big pool is too cold everywhere. I know that it's expensive but we are not looking to do many activities, more exploring the walks, cycling, pool and I thought I'd treat myself to a visit to the spa (noisy and too busy at weekends?). I would love to hear reviews about your stays, in particular the accommodation. I have gathered it's expensive.

For those who love it, which is your favourite? We started off thinking about Woburn as it's nearest to us but read that it wasn't very green and so small people felt hemmed in but maybe better with just a toddler? Longleat has a premium to pay for a refurbished room.

With a toddler, and it being nearest to you, I would say Woburn. It feels small compared to Longleat, but not in a hemmed in way, and Longleat is really very vast! And it really is a lovely lovely holiday.

Woburn isn't small... it's still a long walk to the centres but it's walkable . Some of the others aren't . I always extra for A room nearest the pool .

I second bunbunny's suggestion - try the European ones - cheaper, no chain restaurants, more laid back vibe (fewer performance parents around!) We've been to Erperheide, Port Zelande and Het Meerdal and really enjoyed all of them, though the basic cottages are a bit more basic than the UK ones ime (no oven, so limited to cooking stuff with hob/ microwave or eating out!)

I love Whinfell.
Yes, chain restaurants etc but the accommodation is great and pool fab. It is on the expensive side but DD had a ball.

A short journey is worth a lot... beds and rooms and bathrooms are nice . A caravan has tiny narrow beds it doesn't compare.
Woburn is fine pool is nice .. you not going there to do 50 metre lengths...it s wave pool plus toddler areas lazy river etc.
You can walk round lake go to playgrounds. Boats.

There is A good long walk or cycle round the outside of Woburn thru the woods. Take the track near the entrance where the cars come in. Some challenging bike bits.

Another thought - we went to a lovely hotel up north in COunty Durham called Redworth Hall for a few days last year as we were going up there for a reunion.

It can be quite expensive but we got it pretty cheaply - that's why we chose it over others in the area.

It had a lovely pool and health club, crazy golf, tennis courts, a small indoor softplay, lots of bunnies on the lawns, the food was nice or there was a little shop in the next village that we bought a room picnic in a couple of days when we didn't want to eat full on restaurant food each night, an outdoor play park, and more. Locally there were plenty of nice things to do for grown up and toddlers, plus beautiful countryside to explore and have nice walks. Can't remember if they had bikes to hire.

The family room we had was nice and spacious - our bed wasn't the most comfortable despite being a four poster (or maybe because of being a 4 poster!) but the single beds the dc had were good, and it was a kind of two rooms knocked together up in the attic setup so there was enough seating space as well as all the beds, and if the dc had gone to sleep much before us, we would have been able to watch the tv quietly and had the lights on low without disturbing them too much. They're not all like this though...

www.thecairncollection.co.uk/hotels/the-redworth-hall/
And they seem to have 10% off if you book directly with them using the code TEN. We booked it through hotels.com or booking.com, and if you signed up for their email or something similar (they prompted you at the time) then another 10-15% was knocked off the price too, so worth checking. Breakfast was a big hotel breakfast so worth seeing if you could get it at a reasonable rate through your booking; was expensive to take separately and not much around that you could pop out to get something locally!

I suspect it is the sort of hotel that has a wedding booked most weekends - but the upside of that is that the pool is pretty empty on Saturday afternoons!

Thank you, very kind of you to share. I wouldn't have thought of a hotel like that having soft play! Will look into it.

We are in Elveden at the moment and although the kids are having a great time, you couldn't pay me enough to ever come back here again... totally overpriced for substandard accommodation. Changing areas at the pool are overcrowded and filthy. Supermarket is ridiculously expensive (we knew this beforehand and brought pretty much everything we needed with us). Expected better and regretting that I didn't pay more attention to negative reviews.

Oh no! There are lots of bad reviews on Tripadvisor. Is the accommodation you're in a lodge? What is it like?

We've been to Woburn and Elveden multiple times and love it. Look at the overall picture with reviews - if majority are positive then they are doing something right. Some people are unfortunately unlucky (I dont doubt that they get things wrong at times) and others like to complain about anything.

Once kids reach school age, we will stop going - school holiday prices are ludicrous and poor value for money. However, whilst they are toddlers, we are paying £350 for a 3 bed villa in Woburn in a month which is going to be split between 2 families with one toddler each. Only additional cost is cycle hire and we will spend the rest of the time in the pool - to us that's a brilliant price for 4 days away.

I used to go to Elveden with my parents when dc1 was young enough to go in term time. I always thought it was fine. Pool is fun, accommodation fine. However, at least one of us caught something every year. It's the pool. Hot, hundreds of people. Usually noro.

We went again 3 weeks ago for a big family long weekend ( FIL turned 60 and retired). SIL, BIL and - once home - MIL caught a sickness bug. SIL stopped being sick on the Sunday morning and that evening was determined to enjoy the rest of her holiday so was in the pool. I suspect that happens every single day. People are well enough to leave their accommodation and have paid to enjoy themselves so ignore public health advice.

I’ve been to them all over the years. Went to longleat in 2016 with a 2.11 year old and a 15 month old and loved it. Pool wasn’t too cold for them, accommodation clean and comfortable etc.
Went to Woburn last October with DC then 3.11 and 2.3 and really weren’t as keen. Yes the accommodation was brand new and lovely, but overall I found it small and dull; not enough green spaces and wildlife etc. Pool was also a bit small and disappointing.

Oh and none of us caught any bugs either time!

Get a good term time deal and go for a 3 night break if you "always wanted to". It s good value out of holidays when you consider the pool .
Make your own opinion.
Spa is great just book a 3 hr session.
Shop is no more expensive than a holiday park spar.
Just bring essentials like shampoo. Buteg Woburn there is a huge Tesco ten minutes away.

Love Elveden and Sherwood. Lots of wooded areas and wildlife right up to your door. Never had a problem with cleanliness either in lodges or pool areas. Sites are always very clean and tidy.
Both have large supermarkets nearby so we stock up before arrival. On site restaurants are nothing special.
We take our own bikes which reduces costs.

We stayed at Whinfell (Lake District) in 2012, cost £600 for two people for three days. That was just accommodation, use of pool and a spa day for me. It felt really expensive as the apartment was really old and shabby, and the pool felt old too. But we had fun!

Dalesgirl16, we're in a disability friendly lodge as my MIL is awaiting hip replacement. The disabled bathroom is grim, needs a new chair in the shower - all rusted, paint flaked off, awful really.. I think the price for a term time break is about as much as it's worth, certainly not the c.£1100 we paid for 4 nights. The kitchenware hadn't been cleaned properly - I put it all through the dishwasher the first evening we were here. It's not all negative though! The kids are enjoying themselves (4 and 6yrs), they love the kiddie water play area at the pool, and exploring the forest around the lodge, feeding the animals/ducks etc. It's also undoubtedly great for those keen on cycling, no cars on site 👍🏻

We did the cheapest accommodation at longleat in December - out of season though. Accommodation was lovely, not tired at all. The pool wasn’t cold - the slides are brilliant! We loved it and thought £349 for 2 adults and 4 children midweek was bloody good value! The restaurants we went to were lovely and reasonably priced too.

No lube was required.

I had heard people rave about the peace and quiet and was massively disappointed by how crowded and noisy it was everywhere. Not just the incredibly over crowded pool complex, but the "forest" was teaming with so many people - the only time it was peaceful was before 6am (I had early rising toddlers so we got up and went to a playground at 5:30am - even then we saw at least 8 joggers on a short walk to a playground, and it was the only time the playground didn't feel too busy to relax on my own with two to watch).

It was a bit shit really mainly because it was far too crowded - I am surprised anyone pays those prices knowing they will be sharing the space with so very many people, and one of my least favourite holidays with small kids. Eurocamp holidays cost similar and are vastly better. Not dirty though. Accommodation itself was fine.

Thanks for so many replies. So it seems the pool is what makes people sick and that was a big draw for us as we only have a toddler . There doesn't seem that much else for a 18 Mo to do. The price I found in term time wasn't even cheap, more like £800 I think. I wouldn't want to go anywhere where any of us would come back and be sick. Really good to hear all your experiences.

Mon- fri term time for us cost us £350 for a 2 bed and longleat and £450 for a 3 bed (my mum came along) at Woburn. £800 seems a lot.
Honestly I’ve been over 10 times in my life and it has never made me ill. Didn’t make my children ill, or my DH, or my mum.

Ha, thanks chienrouge! I will show my husband this thread and see what he thinks as I'm the most germphobic person ever and quite fussy!

I imagine going on a plane and breathing recycled, germy air is far worse! I always get ill after flying.

Been few times never got ill. Not anyone we been there with.kids loved cycling around and pool and slides etc.

Do you go to other public pools ? Or public spaces? No different really. Cleaner and nicer than caravan park pools I 've been to.

Just don't go if you don't want to ! Or wait for a really cheap deal.