Secrets Of Center Parcs
Discussion
Trevor555 said:
I bet they'll be doing very well now that many won't be wanting to fly abroad.
We went to the Dutch ones before they came over here.
Fishing off the verander, very cheap Grolsh for my dad, very friendly Dutch people...
Speaking with my neighbour a few weeks ago (they both work at Longleat CP) it was back then almost booked out for next year!We went to the Dutch ones before they came over here.
Fishing off the verander, very cheap Grolsh for my dad, very friendly Dutch people...
Saleen836 said:
Trevor555 said:
I bet they'll be doing very well now that many won't be wanting to fly abroad.
We went to the Dutch ones before they came over here.
Fishing off the verander, very cheap Grolsh for my dad, very friendly Dutch people...
Speaking with my neighbour a few weeks ago (they both work at Longleat CP) it was back then almost booked out for next year!We went to the Dutch ones before they came over here.
Fishing off the verander, very cheap Grolsh for my dad, very friendly Dutch people...
I can see why they're booked up.
Despite Covid, and the high cost, it really is a nice one stop holiday for families.
LeadFarmer said:
Never been, as Im not interested in any of the activities and it seems expensive to go yet not get involved in any. Would it still be a nice holiday even without taking part in the activities? I'm thinking wooden cabin and hot tub, but not much else?
https://www.forestholidays.co.uk/ are probably better if that’s all you want. We did a couple when the kids were very small - good for just relaxing, walking through the woods and using as a base for day trips elsewhere. Center Parcs is all about keeping you on site doing stuff that costs money. LeadFarmer said:
Never been, as Im not interested in any of the activities and it seems expensive to go yet not get involved in any. Would it still be a nice holiday even without taking part in the activities? I'm thinking wooden cabin and hot tub, but not much else?
Take a look at https://www.landal.com/ — we use it as centerparcs-light Exactly as you describe and it’s great for that. North Cornwall, Derbyshire.... All good We went to the one at Penrith in 1998 when it first opened ( it was called Oasis then).
We returned in 2014 and apart from a new carpet fitted 30 secs before we arrived, the place looked like it hadn’t been touched. Very run down even the show piece swimming pool looked tired with cracked and missing tiles.
There are newer cabins as they have expanded so much there is little woodland left within the site, I reckoned 700+, it’s more of a small town than getting away from it all.
Nearly every activity is extra on top of very high price for the accommodation and on site prices fir food etc are a joke.
Despite advertising cycling as an activity , it’s mainly on tarmac tracks between cabins , no mountain biking at all.
Not my idea of a great holiday or value for money.
We returned in 2014 and apart from a new carpet fitted 30 secs before we arrived, the place looked like it hadn’t been touched. Very run down even the show piece swimming pool looked tired with cracked and missing tiles.
There are newer cabins as they have expanded so much there is little woodland left within the site, I reckoned 700+, it’s more of a small town than getting away from it all.
Nearly every activity is extra on top of very high price for the accommodation and on site prices fir food etc are a joke.
Despite advertising cycling as an activity , it’s mainly on tarmac tracks between cabins , no mountain biking at all.
Not my idea of a great holiday or value for money.
Falconer said:
We went to the one at Penrith in 1998 when it first opened ( it was called Oasis then).
We returned in 2014 and apart from a new carpet fitted 30 secs before we arrived, the place looked like it hadn’t been touched. Very run down even the show piece swimming pool looked tired with cracked and missing tiles.
There are newer cabins as they have expanded so much there is little woodland left within the site, I reckoned 700+, it’s more of a small town than getting away from it all.
Nearly every activity is extra on top of very high price for the accommodation and on site prices fir food etc are a joke.
Despite advertising cycling as an activity , it’s mainly on tarmac tracks between cabins , no mountain biking at all.
Not my idea of a great holiday or value for money.
I went to one in France, it was... okay. As you say, very run down accommodation, the whole dome / pool area was a bit grubby. I think the worst part though was the park had obviously expanded over the years, the further you got away from the centre the newer the lodges looked and they had plans for even more expansion, but Dome remained the same. When we went the pool was heaving, you'd never be able to find somewhere to sit outside the pool. Everywhere you went was crowded.We returned in 2014 and apart from a new carpet fitted 30 secs before we arrived, the place looked like it hadn’t been touched. Very run down even the show piece swimming pool looked tired with cracked and missing tiles.
There are newer cabins as they have expanded so much there is little woodland left within the site, I reckoned 700+, it’s more of a small town than getting away from it all.
Nearly every activity is extra on top of very high price for the accommodation and on site prices fir food etc are a joke.
Despite advertising cycling as an activity , it’s mainly on tarmac tracks between cabins , no mountain biking at all.
Not my idea of a great holiday or value for money.
But really though, I don't understand the attraction. They really push the 'Dome' thing, but really, in the one we went to anyway, it's just an indoor pool with a high roof, a very, very busy one at that.
The rest of the activities come with a pretty high additional cost, and they'd really rather you didn't leave. The shops, bars and restaurants have that 'captive audience' level of service (poor)_ quality (very poor) and price (very high). I found myself turning into my Dad, moaning about the kids wanting drinks and stuff, just because we were burning though huge piles of money every day just keeping them fed.
Oh, and very definitely NO Mountain Biking! I upgraded my Dutch bike for a "Mountain Bike" and was given some tired old BSO, used it to hop some roots around the side of one of the main cycleways and a member of staff politely asked me to not abuse the equipment!
A mate of mine used to go to Centre Parks every year. He would boast about how they have free bike rental, with bikes scattered all around the site for you to pick up and drop off as you please. He thought it was a brilliant idea.
Then, another pal told him that actually, those were bikes that others had paid to rent out, and they had left them outside an activity to return to later. He went a little red in the face
Then, another pal told him that actually, those were bikes that others had paid to rent out, and they had left them outside an activity to return to later. He went a little red in the face
LeadFarmer said:
A mate of mine used to go to Centre Parks every year. He would boast about how they have free bike rental, with bikes scattered all around the site for you to pick up and drop off as you please. He thought it was a brilliant idea.
Then, another pal told him that actually, those were bikes that others had paid to rent out, and they had left them outside an activity to return to later. He went a little red in the face
Then, another pal told him that actually, those were bikes that others had paid to rent out, and they had left them outside an activity to return to later. He went a little red in the face
LeadFarmer said:
Never been, as Im not interested in any of the activities and it seems expensive to go yet not get involved in any. Would it still be a nice holiday even without taking part in the activities? I'm thinking wooden cabin and hot tub, but not much else?
Part of the attraction is that its nice and expensive.
..worth the money even if you only go for the swimming IMHOLeadFarmer said:
Never been, as Im not interested in any of the activities and it seems expensive to go yet not get involved in any. Would it still be a nice holiday even without taking part in the activities? I'm thinking wooden cabin and hot tub, but not much else?
Not really, there are loads of other smaller places you can rent cabins, there's a lovely one in the Forest of Dean for example. Also, if anyone without kids ever told me they'd booked Centre Parc I'd do my best to have them sectioned under the mental heath act.
Mr Pointy said:
Whatever you do, don't search for Center Parcs on Mumsnet.
And for those of you that do search for Centre Parts on Mumsnet don't read this thread 
LeadFarmer said:
Never been, as Im not interested in any of the activities and it seems expensive to go yet not get involved in any. Would it still be a nice holiday even without taking part in the activities? I'm thinking wooden cabin and hot tub, but not much else?
If you don't have kids, personally I wouldn't bother. There are far better ways to spend the same money on a nice relaxing break.We've been every year at least once for the last 6yrs. We have 2 boys (5 and 8) and they love it. The pool is a massive draw, and they've both been able to ride bikes (no stabilisers) since aged 3 which is the second biggest draw.
Until a couple of years ago we didn't do much/anything in the way of activities there (most of them cost extra), though recently have done the bowling and a couple of other things. I suspect my eldest will be wanting to do the tree walk/rope stuff next time.
We cancelled a break this year as the pool was out of action. In theory we're going over NYE this year (FiL's 70th), but if the current restrictions continue we may have to rethink.
We tend(ed) to hire quite a few ex-centre parts staff in one of my businesses, the stories you would hear 
Can't see them telling most of the secrets I heard but one of the few less libellous ones I could repeat is it's rat infested and the team devoted to trying to rectify the situation is quite large.
Can't see them telling most of the secrets I heard but one of the few less libellous ones I could repeat is it's rat infested and the team devoted to trying to rectify the situation is quite large.CoupeKid said:
And for those of you that do search for Centre Parts on Mumsnet don't read this thread
That place never ceases to amaze me with how cringy it is.I'm currently at centre parks for the first ever time.
I was sceptical, but can see the attraction. The main one being we are sharing with friends who also have a young kid so we can sit outside have a beer and BBQ with no one driving home.
Kids enjoyed the pool and it's not busy as you have to book a slot etc with covid. I'd hate it to be busy.
As a comparison, the last couple of holidays we went on with our young daughter were Romania (village in transalvania) and Brazil, so usually quite adventurous.
I was sceptical, but can see the attraction. The main one being we are sharing with friends who also have a young kid so we can sit outside have a beer and BBQ with no one driving home.
Kids enjoyed the pool and it's not busy as you have to book a slot etc with covid. I'd hate it to be busy.
As a comparison, the last couple of holidays we went on with our young daughter were Romania (village in transalvania) and Brazil, so usually quite adventurous.
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