Centre Parks question...

[wilfandrowlf]

Not sure if this is the correct place but here goes....

My wife has just booked a 3 night stay at Centre Parks (Longleat) for just after Christmas, there will be 8 of us in total and they (wife and her friend) have chosen an option of having 3 fire logs included in the accomodation, I was checking the confirmation email and I noticed they are charging.......

Wait for it........

£9.99 for three fg fire logs!

Does anyone know whats special about them, are they hewn from the finest burr wallnut and delivered on a nice silk cushion, having been responsibly sourced from a non ancient woodland by someone wearing sandles?

Or are they just 3 bits of tree?

Lets face we'll be in a fg froest surrounded by bd logs!
I was thinking I could take my own wood to burn, am I allowed or are there rules on what you can burn?
Over to you guys.......

[gonzales]

For the love of God NOOOOooooooo.

How dare you query the cost of compressed wood fibre logs!!! They are not merely wood, they are eco friendly, burn for hours logs. You are forbidden to burn wood from the forest inside your wooden hut, no idea why but just don't...you have been warned.

[miniman]

They aren't wood, they are compressed wood chips and suchlike IIRC. You're not allowed to burn anything else.

[wilfandrowlf]

So, do they actually check?
I mean it'll be dark when we are using the fire in the evenings so the smoke won't be visible.
I don't intend burning scrap tyres or anything silly but I feel properly shafted spending a tenner on wood to burn.
Not only that but I bet they'll only last one evening and then I'll be sent to the site shop to buy more...... robbing bs, even Dick Turpin wore a bloody mask!
I know it sounds a bit petty but we'll be in a forest FFS, wood is plentiful.....It really does grow on trees.

[sixpot]

wilfandrowlf said:

we'll be in a forest FFS, wood is plentiful.....It really does grow on trees.

That's exactly why they DON'T allow you to burn 'real' wood!!! No they don't check, but the law abiding citizen that I am will not permit me to use anything else when I go.

Oh and one log will easily last an evening, they're really quite impressive. Your pack of 3 is plenty for a 3 night stay. After all the villas are centrally heated so heat is not the issue. It's purely for effect.

[mattmurdock]

You can buy pretty much the exact same thing at most supermarkets for around £1.50 a log - whenever we go to Centerparcs we just buy them ourselves and take them with us.

[wilfandrowlf]

Ok, thanks. I will look at buying a few spares just in case.
Can always use them in the chiminea in the garded if they are'nt needed.

You know, for when the wife has kicked me out in the garded for being a miserable sod!

[944fan]

Is this your first trip to Centreparcs? If so you had better get used to the idea of paying through over the odds for things. Snobbery comes at a price!

Oh and Longleat is hilly as fk and more spread out than the other 'parcs.

[Tim-D]

944fan said:

Is this your first trip to Centreparcs? If so you had better get used to the idea of paying through over the odds for things. Snobbery comes at a price!

Oh and Longleat is hilly as fk and more spread out than the other 'parcs.

And the map supplied is next to useless.......

[captainzep]

Don't go down the waterslide during busy times.

My wife suggested that I should try it to make her and the kids think I'm a bit alpha male.

It was like being gang raped underwater.

And no, I didn't have 15 more goes.

[Studio117]

isn't centreparcs for poor people?

Kids with the grand parents/nanny and a weekend in Rome with -er indoors new girlfirend sounds much better.

[MysteryLemon]

Who's at fault here? Centre Parcs for charging £10 for 3 logs or your Missus for being stupid enough to think that's good value and paying it anyway?

Regardless, Centre Parcs is a great place to visit. Been going most years since about the ages of 5 with Family and now take my own family.

Been to Longlet once and yes, it is hilly.

Pricing can be expensive but the holiday will be as expensive as you make it. We usually take out own bikes and do a lot of swimming and free activities. Yes, if you book activities, it will all add up, but then that's down to you.

The on site supermarket is no more expensive than doing a shop somewhere like Sainsburys and the restaurants are pretty much on par with any restaurant.

Think of the money you are saving by not having to pay per person for accommodation anyway. Starting from around £250 for a 3 bedroom villa, how can you complain it's expensive?

[schmalex]

Rather than questioning the sanity behind spending £9.99 for 3 logs to burn in the middle of a forest, shouldn't you be questioning the sanity of going to one of those god awful places in the first instance?

[MysteryLemon]

Whats awful about it? Have you ever been?

[schmalex]

Yes. Went to Sherwood Forest a few years ago for a long weekend :shudder:

Everything was hideously expensive for a quality that was seriously lacking. It is easily possible to stay somewhere much nicer for much, much less money, without hoards of pushy parents and screaming kids ruining your day (yes, I do have a child myself).

IMO, Centerparcs simply do not offer either superior quality or good value for money. Personally, if we go anywhere in the UK for a weekend, we just rent a cottage and do it ourselves. It's much more relaxing

[MysteryLemon]

I guess it depends when you go too.. Weekends and school holidays are best avoided as you can guarantee it will be packed, and you pay a fair bit more for the accommodation too. Go out of season and its quiet and cheap.

[Life Saab Itch]

If you are planning on taking any females of above the legal age of consent, be warned, The lifeguards will try and get their leg over.


yours, LSI

(ex-Lifeguard at Longleat)

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

I don't want to put you off your holiday...but if you think that's expensive, just wait till you see the prices of everything else that isn't included.

My summary: NEVER again. But that's just me - I'm sure you'll love it. Maybe.

[Studio117]

It just seems like a Jeremy Kyle after party.

Knobs in tracksuits and people too tight to go somewhere decent.

Sounds like a right laugh..

[richardxjr]

I'm done with the UK parcs. But the one in Holland which is no further away, half the price, chav free, and has an indoor real snow ski centre; much better

I don't recall those fake logs either over there. Can't see the dutch putting up with that nonsense.