What is centre parcs like?

[Josiefuzz]

We usually just hire a cottage and do our own thing but thinking of hiring a lodge during March. Got a 3yo and a baby who is 6m.
Would be Sherwood or Whinfell - which is best?
Where is good to stay?
Any activities you would recommend?
Thanks so much.

If you can go during term time it's reasonably priced. £4-600 rather than £2K.

Executive chalets are gorgeous.

With the age your children are I would bother with activities and just enjoy the pool and nice walks.

We go every second year to whinfell and have done so since my eldest was 3. He's now 12. Never been to sherwood.

Forest holidays we ended up driving places most days...including to a pool to swim. at c.p. you dont need to as enough to do on site with pool canoes badminton bowling crazy golf etc Also forest holidays on site shop was more limited.
Depends what you want.

My DC love it. Prices are high in school holidays but we usually get an 8 bed villa and go with another family so prices not as high. We self cater and go out for one meal. Swimming pool is brilliant, especially at night. So much to do but bikes are a must!

DD17 loves it so much that she went there with 5 friends for their first 'girls holiday', they all paid for it themselves so if 6 teenagers can afford a week with self catering during school holidays I'm sure that proves that a lot of posters on here are exaggerating...

Compare price of cottage and going out to pool etc . Older dc love the pool etc

We love it. We have been since the DCs were small, and are now teens. The only problem we've ever had with accommodation was the heating not working - we reported it and maintenance came and sorted it straight away.

We usually take our own bikes. when the DCs were small we either hired a bike trailer, or they took scooters.

We self cater most of the time, and take food with us.

We don't spend much - may be crazy golf, sometimes bowling or hire a badminton court. The rest of the time we use the pool or cycle/walk. Just watching the wildlife through the patio doors can while away an hour or two. Take bird food, nuts and veggies/salad and you can attract deer, rabbits, geese, ducks, squirrels right to your door.

You can leave if you want to - you just have to go to the car park rather than having the car by your lodge - it's not a prison camp!

I think centre parcs seems to be like marmite - you either love it or hate it. Personally I love it - because we do it with the grandparents and my brother and his family and there is something for everyone. My 5 yr old has been twice and is constantly begging to go back. Yes the activities can be expensive - but you can be selective. But the swimming pool (especially the updated longleat one) is amazing. Entertains a 5yr old and a 16yr old so perfect for my needs,

We had a 4 bed posh lodge with a games rooms and never had any issue with the accommodation and cleanliness, location wise we paid extra to be near the village square and plaza so didn’t feel that anything was a long way away. We never ate out - but went and collected a take away quite a few nights, and food was good.

My view is probably swayed as majority of the cost was covered by my parents as they wanted a holiday with the whole family, I don’t think I could warrant the school holiday price, but if you can go termtime I would go as often as I could afford,

We love the original ones in Europe rather than the ones that have been gentrified and made middle class appropriate in the U.K. (with a hideous price to match). We get the ferry froM Harwich to Hook of Holland and go to the ones in Holland or Belgium.

We went to Longleat CP in early December and mainly used it as a touring base , it was our first visit and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was . We used the pool a couple of times and it was very quiet. My daughter is coeliac and we found that the restaurants catered very well for GF . We had an executive 2 bed lodge and it was very clean well appointed. We’ve already booked to go back next year .

I'm a bit late to this thread but just in case you (or anyone else) is reading. I went to CP in my early/late teens with my parents and at the time, really enjoyed it. It wasn't as expensive in those days and was smaller (not as many lodges).

This week, we are away in the Lakes. There is me and DH plus our 6 year old. We have paid £450 for a full week in a lovely cottage just above Bowness. Close enough to walk down to the town but secluded, peaceful and straight out into beautiful countryside. The same week at Whinfell forest would have cost around £2200.

The only thing we would have had at CP that we don't have here is a pool however, we went to the council run fun pool in Keswick today which had a great waterslide, warm pool and wave machine. About £4 each so not a huge cost. Grizedale forest in the Lakes is great and free. Lots of things to do both free and otherwise. I don't know Nottingham so can't comment on that.

In short, imo, CP isn't worth the price they charge. Lots of reviews complain of dirty accommodation and expensive activities/restaurants. I would go for a cottage somewhere instead.

We are off to one in Germany tomorrow (as long as the ferry is going). Excited.

Been to both many times much prefer whinfell and will be booking again for this year - swimming, walks, parks and Starbucks are our go to places. Prefer to cook own food x

I have been to Sherwood twice, both times for a hen do so no kids. It was OK for a weekend but I would never go there for longer than that. People on here bang on about the "scenery" and "nature" - there is better scenery down the local park and it's free! And the nature is just squirrels and ducks. It felt a lot like going on holiday to a suburban housing estate.

Don't rate it at all
Been twice and find it a faff

My eldest is 18 and we’ve been going to CP for 14 yrs. we’re going again this summer. You an book all the activities you want to and eat out each night and complain its expensive . Well don’t do them! We swim, we walk, i run, take own food and booze.

We have 3 kids and they all love the relaxed way of life there. People complain about the expense but that’s all down to you,

Does anyone think it’s good value in term time? would that change your opinion on staying there?

It’s very good value in term time , we booked Longleat basically as a touring base for things we were doing in the area and it was cheaper to book a 2 bed exec lodge than for 3 of us to stay in a decent premier inn / hotel for the same period ( mon - fri) . We went offsite every day but having the restaurants onsite for the evening was excellent as aside from breakfast I don’t self cater .

richele4, teenagers with weekend jobs/ allowances/ Christmas and birthday money saved up (one or all of those) and no other financial responsibilities or outgoings might well find a week at CP in the hols much more affordable than a family with dependent children and mortgage/ rent to pay might find it.

And even when it is affordable, you could still get a much better value holiday in much nicer (cleaner) accommodation, anywhere else at anytime of year.

The swimming pool is rammed at busy times and everything else is extortionate. The shop is ridiculous, the restaurants are expensive and you have very limited choice.

I enjoyed being able to ride a bike around without too many cars about but I could do that in other woodland for free.

A self catering holiday cottage somewhere like the Lake District would give you access to nicer restaurants, nicer outdoor activities, loads more to do and somewhere bigger and cleaner to stay for far less money. You’d leave without feeling you’d been set free from a spell in prison you’d had to pay for yourself.

Greenbutterlfy566, it’s cheaper in term time but still bit value for what you get compared to staying elsewhere.It is basically confined self-catering with limited options for food and activities.

We enjoy it. Get an executive lodge. Go swimming everyday for hours and ride bikes and walk. Don't pay for activities. Take nice food with us and stay in for a couple of nights and eat our for th others. We have always stayed in the new style executive lodges that are cleaned every day so don't recognise descriptions of unclean damp lodges. It's not the kind of place we would have gone pre children but we live it

Anytime we have had an issue, it has nene sorted out very quickly. One time our fridge wasn't working and it was replaced in 20 minutes - that was at 8pm at night

I think it depends what type of person you are. We went years ago and didn't realise that you really have to book pretty much all the activities on offer well in advance so we didn't get to do that much. If that's the way it works then fair enough but it's not for me. I like to go with the wind as it were when on holiday and the idea of planning every day out well in advance just sucks all the fun out of it.

Vodka - thanks.

How does it compare to bluestone?

I don’t see how the food options are remotely limited you have , at Longleat anyway, Cafe Rouge , las iguanas, Bella Italia and Hucks just in the plaza plus a take away burger place . I suppose if you want Michelin stars then yes it would be limited but for normal families it’s got a reasonable choice . My dd is coeliac and we had lots of options . E also stayed in an exec lodge and it was very clean and I had taken cleaning supplies just in case .

I absolutely hated it when I went with my three small children. I have no idea why it’s considered on here to be “middle class” or “luxury”.

Our lodge was dirty. The pool (low season) was absolutely stuffed with people, many of whom were behaving completely anti-socially (eating home made picnics literally poolside, leaving crumbs and litter). Huge pub in the middle of the forest with a massive screen, that seemed to have attracted big groups of young men who were pissed and spouting foul language right next to the kids play area in the middle of the day.

The food is awful, and the activities are eye wateringly expensive. On top of that everything has to be scheduled, and there’s almost nothing to do that’s free. In high season you could go for a fortnight to a a villa in Europe for the same price.

You could not pay me enough to go back.

Four - that sounds awful

We've just been at half term.

Our half term was ouy of sync with the rest of the UK so it wasn't half term as far as Center Parcs was concerned. It was £399 (recently renovated 3 bedroom lodge) for 4 nights (Mon - Fri). Grandparents came too. Think thats very good value (although for the week after, usual helf term, it was £1200 and I wouldnt pay that in a million years).

It depends how you approach it - luxury holiday accommodation with good culinary offers? Erm, no. Decent accommodation with lots to do? Yes. The swimming conplex is fab for primary school aged children - its usually quiet at lunch time and pretty much deserted after 7pm.

Also dont get the "prison camp" mentality. We drove to the local village (10mins) twice to eat out in a pub - highly rated on trip advisor.

With younger children / toddlers, there are probably better placed. If you have primary school age children / tweens and have an out of sync week of school hols, its good.