centerparcs - you've got to be joking - what's all the fuss about????

[lisalisa]

Just returned from a bloody freezing and nightmare break in centerparcs. Having been looking forward to it for ages i visualised cycling lazily through the sunlit ( albeit cold) forest with 5 rosy cheeked kids in tow en route to some activcity or other and returning refreshed and tired but happy in the evenings , How wrong can a person be????

Cue the first evening - there are no bloody road names nor precious little signs so how are you supposed to know where the heck you are going? We went round and round in circles from 8.00- 9.30pm at night until some poor bloke took pity on us and dumped us in the mobility bus and took us back to our villa. 3 out of 5 kids crying and they're aged 4,6,8,10 and 13. me about to start too.

next morning bright and cheery up we get for tea and - - no power. Cue a long wait for power to be restored so we can have a cuppa and get going. Set out and hailstorm starts. We are all however suitably dressed so should be ok. But no - lost again and this time kids are sopping wet, freezing and really naffed off. Back home for clean clothes. Set off again now sky is brighter. Leave bikes at pool complex. Had a nice day only ruined by the literally 100s of people in the changing rooms meaning we had to wait ages for changing cubicle and on our return the locker key did not work and we stood sopping wait awaiting a staff member who had to break the lock.....

Left complex to find there are at least 2 bike parks and we didn't note which one. Cue half hour wasted identifiying bikes and discovered that son aged 10 didn't lock his properly and it was gone. He goes off to cycle returns to explain and get another one. We all cycle slowly home - its raining again and we are half an hour from villa and kids gloves soaked through and they are miserable.

Arrive home and another power cut. No hot water and no heating. This is really miserable now as we are all cold and wet an dlooking forward to hot shower and hot drinks. Staff come reasonably quickly and sort it out.

There were some nice periods interspersed with this and some good activities but on the whole overpriced and not a patch on going to a farm for a break with a swimming pool and animals.

My main bugbears were the distances - we had to trek half hour to get to the centre - very offputting in the weather conditions - and the fact that nothing is signposted properly or enough so aimless wandering ruined a good protion of the break. On balance I would not go back.

I have sympathy OP, we went to sherwood forest one, in school hols as DH is a teacher, and spent a very long time trying to find our villa. Plus the site was very hilly so middle of the DS' couldn't cycle anywhere. We had a lot of foul rain (well it was august) and walking everywhere (40 mins from main area on foot) was miserable. We were wearing flip flops and kept skidding, so much so that DS3 who spent most of his time on DH's shoulders, came home saying 'jesus christ bloody flip flops!' . Still it was our first attempt at that type of holiday and would happily give it a go with more experience (and a belated discovery of the little bus thing!) Oh and the most anoying thing was we were on the road to the spa and day visitors to it were allowed to drive there, so the road outside our villa was very busy so DS's couldn't even play out safely.

Glad to hear that cornsilk as I've booked a short week in May. This is only our second time but went because it is cheaper than hiring a cottage elsewhere, dd is 3 so we only do the free stuff and like ambling about. Last time we went was a wet week in April but we dressed for the weather and had a nice time. We usually camp so this is a major step up for us!

we always end up on the outskirts and it's fine

Does anyone happen to know if the dog exercise areas are enclosed?

Lostinwales, Elveden is not at all hilly - it is very flat!

anyone got a code?

After Xmas I priced up a 4 night break over May half term and the most basic 2 bed accommodation was £930.. are they having a laugh!!!!

So instead I booked four nights on a small cottage complex with an indoor pool in Devon for £397!!

Way overpriced in school holidays.

Yes Ruth,the PRICE!!!![SHOCK]

We love centre parcs, we went twice last yr, April and September and have actually just booked again today for May this yr. I agree though that finding your way about on your first visit is tricky. We spent a good few days walking round in cirles. We know now to take a torch and a map when out walking, especially after dark when its easy to get lost.We did have to complain once regarding the accomadation and they moved us to an exec lodge with private sauna, delivered a bottle of champaign and chocolates and gave us a £50 restraunt voucher. Can't really argue with that!

champaign?

we usually go at the end of january and except from getting caught in snow on the way there and back it's never been a problem.

they give you map to your chalet at the entrance and you HAVE to keep hold of it till you've got your bearings.

swimming changing can get crowded at peak times (mid-morning) but if you go at lunchtime or early it's fine.

and the park is only actually 3miles round the absolute perimeter.. i know this as had to circle four times when we went there during my half marathon training!

I've got sympathy with op too. My friend has dc same age and goes every year and loves it. I had been told all the things to remember to enjoy it.. but no we could'nt get the hand of enjoying it. Tried again last year and hated it.

You either love it and cant understand why people hate it or hate it and just csnt understand how anyone relaxes there.

Cottages are much better.

Think CP is the BEST place to go in lousy weather as you can stay all day in the "Tropical Paradise". Agree that keeping map on you is essential. Elveden is one main loop so you can follow numbers to villa but some villas are on side streets which makes it complicated.

If anyone is going for first time suggest paying extra to be near centre (unless you have older, fit children), will get more out of it if you all have bikes (some in our group walked and we had to keep waiting) and don't take your own bikes if any good as there is a theft problem (friend had her £500 bike stolen).

We love it, have been 3 times at end of August with 4 other families. Kids love the archery/fencing/rock climbing, mums love the spa and dads love the BBQ. If going with other families pay to have villas near each other.

We love it too have been many times usually in winter as there is so much to do there in bad weather. I cant understand really what people do in farms, cottages etc in awful weather whereas as center parcs my 2 will happily spend all day in the pool

Paying a bit more to stay centrally is a good idea, Im afraid they dont do codes any more but the prices do go up so best to book a long way in advance. we are going in October and the price has risen from £379 to £699 already !

We have just come back and we loved it. Has anyone ever re-booked for the following year using their price guarantee promotion?

Did you not have a map of the Park?

It's kind of your own fault about forgetting where you parked your bikes.

Nothing you can do about the weather.

I love walking through Centre Parks in bad weather, but then we always have suitable clothing and may people don't.

Agree though about the annouyance of no electricity and waiting for a changing room.

I love the fact that there is an advert for CenterParcs right next to this thread at the moment.

I enjoyed CP when we went. We have been twice now, both times to Whinfell - once for a week in December, and once for a long weekend in early April. We did fall lucky with weather and only had a bit of rain despite the time of year.

We were on the edge of the forest but enjoyed this as we enjoyed the cycle back each time. We had a map and IIRR there were some signposting/maps around the site. After the furst journey to and from the centre we found it much quicker the other times, and enjoyed a few cycles round the whole site. We were about 20 minutes walk or 10 min cycle from the centre, which was good.

But it is expensive, and I would never go in school holidays - unless with a very good special offer or I stop working - which probably means we won't go again unfortunately - as we did like it, esp DD.

Does anyone know exactly why you can't use mobile phones in the villas? I'd always assumed it was just my signal - have always got one fine outside. Are they actually blocked in some way?

Apart from that, we have always had a good time at CP. Got a stomach-bug the first year, but that obviously didn't put us off as we have been back 4 times since, and I'd say it's jointly with the Lake District the best holiday (enjoyed by both us and the children) we've had in the UK.

You do have to "buy into the culture" a bit. And I mean buy. The first big shock, I think, is that everything is paid for separately. I think part of me, before my first visit, kind of vaguely assumed it was a bit like Alton Towers, and that you paid on entrance and everything was included. But once you get used to that (after all, if you were staying in a guest-house or holiday villa you'd have to pay for all your activities) you actually relax and start enjoying it.

It does make a difference to go at a time of year when the weather won't be grim - we usually go at Easter. And it does help to have a villa near the Market Square - we've always had one 5 minutes' walk away.

It's a really strange, stylised world where you are enclosed in a sort of bubble for five days - after all there is very little need to venture outside the square mile or whatever it is in which the complex is situated. But as a non-car-fan, I've always liked the civilised way everyone goes round on bikes. And the sheer amount of activities available in one small space is quite amazing. The supermarket is expensive but you can always offset that by bringing provisions from home - people rarely stay longer than a long weekend (4 days) or a week (5 days).

(As an aside, one has to marvel at the business model through which CP have squeezed nine days out of a week. It makes your head spin when you try to think about it. Mondays and Fridays are "overlap" days so it always seems incredibly busy when you arrive and leave, and then settles down a bit.)

Yes, the restaurants are quite overpriced, but you're on HOLIDAY, FGS, just relax and enjoy it...

As far as I can see, the problem is that you have FIVE CHILDREN

this is at least three too many for any sort of enjoyable event, I would imagine

I used my mobile in the villas at Whinfell, although the reception was a bit hit and miss - but was available albeit weakly. I assumed reception due to the trees, etc. And I got the wifi working well int he villas too.

OP centerparcs is like I imagine East Germany once was- except, possibly, with worse food

the big fence round the edge is a bit offputting too

Try the foreign ones- loads cheaper and although the facilities aren't so great at least they're not full of English middle class twats getting up at crack of dawn to bags one of the three Guardians in the fecking Parc Market and hassling the attendants about their squash court booking

...mind you to be fair that outdoor slide thingy and hot pool at elvedon forest is the nuts

I wouldn't say it was quite so Marmite as you either love it or hate it. We went once and it was OK, I didn't hate it, but I don't think we would go again.

We didn't really get lost and I didn't really mind the distances to cycle (and this from someone who is not terribly fit!) But I did object a bit to the cost of everything. For the price we paid for the villa we could rent a decent cottage or gite elsewhere. OK so there was then free use of the pool but with the best will in the world I don't think we could have stood more than a couple of hoors a day in there.

There were lots of other activities but they all had to be paid for as extras so it soon mounts up. We also paid extra for a lakeside location and then discovered that we were overlooking this scummy bit of backwater, not at all what we expected.

I think the worst bit for us was the pony rides. DD was about 8 at the time and, although she doesn't ride, she was keen to try this. According to the brochure these were suitable for young children with no experience. Anyway we booked one of these for her. There was a set route around the lake and parents were expected to lead the ponies. Fair enough, but after we had set off we discovered the brute she was on was totally unsuitable for inexperienced riders as it kept lunging off the path to eat the undergrowth. At one point it shot away some distance from the path in to some trees with me desperately hanging on and trying to stop the thing. Thankfully DD didn't come off but DH was furious and wanted to get her off and take it back. In the end we persevered and managed to keep it under control. This was at a French park so unfortunately our command of the language wasn't good enough to complain properly. The next day, however, we saw an angry looking father marching back to the stables with the same pony and a little girl weeping behind him. So, not just us then.

overpriced and feel like you are locked in,
I am planning easter in cornwall on a park and have found a great web with helpful staff and some good offers i used it at half term week
the site seems to cover most of the uk so i will report back if 2nd break is a good as the 1st
www.michaelpaulholidays.com