Calling all Center Parcs fans!

[Bunnykins]

OK so I know that some people in this forum are not Center Parcs fans, but I would like to use this thread for those who enjoy Center Parcs and would like to share their holiday experiences. I think the Butlins Memories website and forums are excellent and I?d love to get some good conversations going about Center Parcs, just as there are about Butlins.

So, if there is anybody out there who would like to share their mostly positive holiday experiences at Center Parcs, I?d love to hear from you in this thread!

I will start off by saying I have been going to Center Parcs regularly since 1990. I also enjoy the Butlins party weekends, if I am looking for a livelier holiday but as I've said before, the two places cannot fairly be compared because they both offer totally different holiday experiences.

My first encounter with Center Parcs was on my honeymoon at Elveden Forest. We had been given a week?s holiday there as a wedding present. At that time the Elveden holiday village had been open for a year and Sherwood was the only other Center Parcs in the UK. We stayed in the honeymoon suite in the Sheldrake Hotel (now renamed the Lakeview Hotel). We had a brass 4 poster bed with lace drapes and a sitting area and TV off the bedroom. There was a round whirlpool and a separate shower in the bathroom. It felt quite special and of course it was all relatively new. The room was situated near the revolving restaurant (and I still remember occasionally hearing the clanging of pots and pans from the kitchen). We really enjoyed ourselves there and still laugh now because we found hundreds and thousands and toenail clippings on the carpet!!

We enjoyed our stay so much that we returned within 6 months of our honeymoon to show friends. This time staying in a comfort villa at Elveden. Since then I have lost count of the number of times we have been to Center Parcs, but it is well over 20 times as we have often been more than once a year. After those first two visits we always stayed in the Executive villas.

When Longleat was built we started going there because it is a lot nearer to our home than Elveden and the journey is easier for us. At first we were a little disappointed in Longleat in comparison to Elveden because we love to feed the wildlife on our patio and were used to the Canada Geese at Elveden tapping on our patio door wanting something to eat. Because Longleat had only recently been constructed we found the wildlife all but non-existent, give or take a few small birds. I remember going around all the small lakes by the villas hunting for ducks but finding nothing. The sports lake only had about 4 in total and they weren't friendly. The other downside for us was that Longleat is hilly. However, I am pleased to say that now Longleat is well established the wildlife is just fantastic, and this, coupled with the setting and nice accommodation brings us back time and time again. We have had some great encounters with badgers on our patio (sometimes two at once) which we encouraged to stay for an hour at a time so we could film them. On our last visit we had 3 deer at once eating on our patio and a 4th was not far away. We?ve had squirrels indoors (OK I know we shouldn?t encourage them) and even had one indoors climbing on my hubby?s lap!

So as Longleat is the closest to us, we always go there. Have not been back to Elveden since the fire. Would like to return some day as we loved it there, but it is now a less attractive proposition because of the distance and the fact they do not have 1 bedroom villas (only the hotel rooms). Because the focus of our holiday has become feeding the wildlife on our patio, the hotel rooms are less attractive to us. We have stayed, on several occasions in the Executive Apartments in the Pinewoods and Redwoods at Longleat, and although they are nice, the downside is the limited cooking facilities, the lack of private patio and privacy in general, and they are less spacious. We have also tried one of the 3 bedroom, 2 storey Executive Villas at Longleat (No. 911 after it had just been built) which was lovely inside but we personally prefer the relative seclusion of the traditional villas ? they are also less imposing to look at as they blend in with the forest setting. Have been to Longleat for both Christmas and New Year breaks too.

Well I could go on for hours and hours but I think I had better stop here. Looking forward to hopefully hearing from some fellow CPs fans ? if there are any out there. Here?s hoping!!
:D

[louise]

Sounds like a fantastic place...Never been...price always put me off...what are they really like....??
Louise

[Bunnykins]

Hello Louise - nice to hear from you.

I agree it is expensive to go there but I love it and know I am not going to be disappointed. As to whether it is for you, I think it depends on what you enjoy and what you expect from a holiday.

When I was a child I grew up playing in woodland for hours on end and so really love the woodland setting ... the smell of pine trees etc bring back happy memories. As you have already seen, I love the wildlife too and there is nothing better in my opinion than waking up to watch wildlife feeding on the patio - I could spend hours just sitting in the comfort of my villa watching the animals through the patio door.

The other thing is activities. It is expensive if you are the type of person who likes to do lots of activities although the swimming is free. Luckily we don't do many activities - usually just archery and adventure golf (although we did go horse riding once and have tried various activities over the years). The rest of the time we like to go for walks, watch DVDs, read, etc.

Bike hire can also be expensive but you can take your own. We don't bother any more, preferring to walk as Longleat is very hilly so has a land train to get around on.

Finally, if you like non-stop evening entertainment, this probably isn't for you. Evenings are very low key, with maybe just a band playing in the background in the Plaza some evenings, although there is usually a party evening once during the break that you can pay to go to - personally I've never bothered. I think a lot of people find that they get quite tired after a day of activity. We like to treat ourself to meals out at our favourite restaurants on some evenings (usually later in the evening after the rush has died down). It's also very cosy in the villas, especially those which have log fires ... once you light a fire it can be difficult dragging yourself out of an evening!!

If you are ever there in winter, one of the best things is going in the outdoor spa pool in the dark on a cold winter evening with hot steam rising around you whilst you gaze at the stars. Not something one often gets to experience in this country and it makes the holiday extra special for me. Fantastic!

[mrs_butlins]

I went to Centre Parcs at the beginning of this year for the first time and I did a write-up then, here it is ...

CENTRE PARCS .. Been there, done that!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well ... we had our 4 days at CP, Longleat Mon-Fri and it was v.nice and the children had a wonderfu time. However, now I've been I feel I'll have a valid argument when I'm listening to people rave about it. Afterall, it is just a holiday camp and it reminded me so much of Butlins that I find it strange that it's full of people who "would never go to Butlins"! The plaza where the swimming pool, bars, cafes, shops are, is just like walking into the Skyline!

Our apartment was the most basic but was very clean and spacious. There were 4 adults and 4 children and we had plenty of room to all be seated or eat at the same time.

The place is much prettier than Butlins as it's all set in a forest but it's a major walk from one side to the other. I think that's all part of it for most people and that really it's a holiday park for outdoorsy/sporty people. My children are too young to manage the distances and the huge hills on their bikes, but they're too heavy or us to have in the trolleys on the back of the bikes, so we walked everywhere which was lovely as we were lucky with the weather. There is lots to do there if you have unlimited spending money! We loved the pools (which are free) and I would say that they were better than the Butlins pool.

There wasn't any evening entertainment apart from the bars and cafes/restaurants. It was a different kind of holiday for us as we're use to taking the girls out in the evening but at CP they were worn out and in bed by 8.30pm latest along with all the other kids ... us grown-ups had a few (!!) beers and watched films and chatted. That was nice as we were with other familes but to be honest my husband and I do that at home and when we go on holiday we like to get out in the evening for some cheesy show and for our girls to have a dance!

Yes we'd go again IF it was another cheapy break with our friends and their children. For us, we enjoyed it because our children did .. just running and playing with their mates in the woods, playgrounds and swimming pools. I'm not sure we'd have enjoyed it so much without the other families.

Our family holiday is usually southern France on a large commercial campsite with plenty of family entertainment ... We book a different site in different regions each time and do it all seperately and not through an agent and so it's really not that expensive. We get the mobile/static caravan from private owners and looking at the prices I can see that our usual holiday works out cheaper (with a ferry crossing) than going to CPs ... AND we're pretty much guaranteed amazing weather and we get to swim in the sea! I know where we'll be off to in July although I really should take the family to Butlins.

When I went in Nov on the 80s weekend, I told the girls that it was only Mummys as no children were allowed .. which was true on that weekend anyway! However, a couple of weeks ago I got called into the room while they were watching kids TV and a Butlins advert was on (great!!) .... "See Mummy" said my youngest, "Kids CAN go to Butlins" .... "Yeah" said big sister .. "And if you book now, we can go free!" .... Bugger, I've been rumbled!

Thinking back now about that holiday I still feel the same. If we could get that holiday again for that price AND our friends wanted to go then we would. As the girls get older maybe we'd go without other families, we'll see what they get into.

x

[mikeeeeee]

We are going there in a few weeks for 5 days i think, to the Elvedon one,, We have just booked the kids activities online, cost a bloody fortune,, but it looks well organised,, Hopefully the weather is gonna pick up !!

[Bunnykins]

Thanks very much mrs b for your reivew. Interesting to hear about your stay.

Mikeeeee I hope you enjoy Elveden (wish I was going) and fingers crossed for the weather! If your family enjoy swimming I'm sure they'll enjoy that and at least it is free!! If you have any general CPs type questions I'll do my best to answer, although as already mentioned I have sadly not been to Elveden for a long time so cannot really comment on what it's like now.

One tip though is that on arrival day when they let the cars onto the village to unload at the accommodation, it can get quite busy in the car park around 3pm when they open the barrier to let all the cars through (some people start queuing from 2.30'ish). If I have arrived at CPs before they let the cars through at 3pm I either try to return to the car park early so I am near the front of the queue of cars, or better still come back later (say 3.45pm'ish) after the main rush has died down. You can still go and have a nosy around your accommodation before going back to get the car as they give you your keys when you check-in at the arrivals lodge in your car.

Really hope you enjoy it ... just don't expect anything on the scale of Butlins in the way of evening entertainment!

[mikeeeeee]

Centre Parcs was fantastic. No complaints at all. We had booked all the kids activities before we went so didn't have to worry about availibility etc. The cabin was lovely, very clean, new beds, carpet etc. Worth paying the extra for exclusive as it has dishwasher, 3 bathrooms, sauna and maid sevice every day. The maids were great, friendly and very good, mrs s was happy, and that alone gives me a happy life ! Wildlife, such as ducks etc come right up to your door and you can hand feed them.

The bar and shop prices were good, about the same as Butlins, and the shop had a very good range of bits. The bikes we hired were all new, although you still get a sore bum, and the ladies get... well you know..

The evenings were totally different to Butlins, not much going on, apart from eating, drinking and things such as bowling. But that was fine, we was up watching the kids do scuba diving at 7.30am, more fool us, so by the night we was knackered. We did pay for a pop in the parc show, which was ok, nothing brilliant but it served a purpose.

The swimming pool was great, open til 10pm, and to go in the dark outside was different, not many queues really even though it was Bank Holiday week, so that was good.

The kids activities were well organised and all three of mine loved them all, we also did a family treasure hunt on bikes and won ! Well when i say won, we won centre parcs t shirts, hardly an olympic gold, but the family fun doing it was great.

We have kids ranging from 6 to 14 and they all would go again, and so would we.. Anyone thinking of going, and have any questions, give me a shout.

Right thats it bored you enough,, im outta here !!!

[Bunnykins]

Great review Mikeeee. Have been wondering how you got on. I was getting very lonely in this thread with nobody to keep me company lately! Now you can probably see why I have been going for 18 years. We are going back for New Year and have been at Christmas too. It is a lovely time to visit.

We also take holidays abroad as well as other holiday parks in the UK including Butlins occasionally, but there is nowhere I have returned to so many times. I think that says it all. OK you pay a lot for the holiday but to me you get what you pay for and it is worth it because you know you will get an excellent holiday.

We always stay in the Executive villas and are trying one of the new Executive lodges next time.

As I think I mentioned earlier, I could talk about Center Parcs all day. Welcome to the club - lol. :-)

[shadej]

We have been to Center Parc now 3 times. I love it.
The only downside is it cost a lot more the Butlins and not much is included accept accommodation. and swimming. Lovely lodges and well kept woods make it a great break. Activities are plenty but all need to be paid extra for, saying that to get a better choice of activity's. Quad Biking, Horse Riding, Diving and Paint balling to name a few. Im sure you all know this already though.
Once this credit crunch is over I am sure to book another break. We tried camping this year and it was a washout so wee will stick to caravans and butlins for now. Center Parc have much better restaurants than butlins and the staff are much nicer. They also do babysitting, so my hubby and I can have a night out in the bar.

[luckyleggings]

Hi people, I've only just joined the forums but this caught my eye. I used to work as a beauty therapist at cp at longleat. The perks were great, free use of the spa etc. Plus, holidays at other parks were so cheap! I wold never pay full price though as the park was always overcrowded and if you don't book early you will be disappointed.
Long time ago now though, I hear the aqua sana has been expanded, would love to back and see my old amigos at some point, but time is short now I have little'uns!

[Bunnykins]

Hi people, I've only just joined the forums but this caught my eye. I used to work as a beauty therapist at cp at longleat. The perks were great, free use of the spa etc. Plus, holidays at other parks were so cheap! I wold never pay full price though as the park was always overcrowded and if you don't book early you will be disappointed.
Long time ago now though, I hear the aqua sana has been expanded, would love to back and see my old amigos at some point, but time is short now I have little'uns!

Hi luckyleggins, and welcome to the forums.

I would have loved to have worked at CPs but alas they are all too far away from me to commute to! Yes, I hear Aqua Sana has been improved but I rarely use the facilities so have not seen what it's like now.

Do you have any other stories to tell of when you worked at Longleat? Were they a good company to work for? I've always assumed so but have never met anyone who works there.

[Maria_David]

hi

nice to know about the great event...

thanks for update


cheers
:)

[Bunnykins]

I was at CPs again for New Year and had another excellent holiday. If I could afford it (and had enough holiday) it would be the ultimate treat to spend Xmas and New Year there. I’ve been for either Xmas or New Year for the past few years now.

This time I stayed in one of the new Executive Lodges and loved it. Thought the woodland mural on the wall looked great. Only complaint was that our lodge only had a tiny two seater settee, whereas others of exactly the same specification and number of rooms had large corner settees. This turned out to be because my lodge was one of the first to be refurbished and they had since changed to larger corner settees. I found the bedroom comfy and warm though the lighting could have been improved as the cupboards were made of dark wood and if you had dark clothes on the shelves inside you had to pull out the whole pile to find what you were looking for at night (but only a minor point)! I had bedside reading lamps but our friends, staying in an identical lodge, did not and had to improvise with a Xmas Santa light-up decoration as a bedside light for reading!!

In the kitchen we had the usual oven, microwave, dishwasher, fridge, plus a bottle chiller, coffee machine and smoothie maker (the latter two we did not use). The bathroom was kitted out with a walk-in shower and a whirlpool bath and had underfloor heating.

If anyone is interested, at some stage I could try and post a few of my CPs photos on here. Maybe in a new “photos” thread.

[Angel84]

It was a completely different holiday to Butlins, but I have to say it was fantastic. It wasn't actually a holiday exactly that I was there for- I work in a Children's Home now and took three of the kids there for four days when things were a bit difficult; but we had an amazing time. The pool was like something I had never seen before, and I didn't expect to be in outdoor rapids in February (!) but the water was so warm it didin't matter- people were still swimming in them at 9 and 10 o'clock at night!

[Bunnykins]

Hi Angel84. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Which CPs did you go to?

Yes, I love the fact you can be outside in a hot whirlpool on a cold, dark winter's evening. I've never experienced anything like it elsewhere in the UK - it feels very special sitting outside in the pool staring up at the stars.

[Janeybird]

I know this is supposed to be about UK camps but my daughter, her husband and my three grandchildren have gone for a long weekend to a Center Parcs camp at Soulange about an hour from Paris and I'm dying to know what they think of it being a very long-time Butlin fan. When I get a report on Monday, I'll post it here and see if France compares well with the English camps.

[Bunnykins]

Thanks Janeybird

Would be interested to know as I've only been to the UK CP's.

[Janeybird]

Just had a phone call from my daughter who is home after a long weekend at Soulange near Paris. She said they enjoyed it, the only thing that spoiled it a bit was that there was a group of about thirty youngsters who were rowdy and did the sort of thing that that age group do such as dive-bombing in the swimming pool and riding bikes very fast through people walking on the paths. She had a 6 and 4 year-old and an 8 month baby so she was being very protective! The children loved the swimming pool and spent nearly the whole time in it and it was free. The other activities had to be paid for and there wasn't much for her two boys to do apart from cycling which they did - a lot. She thought that there was a bit of a gap in the provision of entertainment for the 4 -7 year age group. The chalet was comfortable, not luxurious, with all the basic necessities in it. She had got a freebie for the accommodation so only had to pay for food and entertainment but reckoned that it would work out very expensive if you had to pay for the whole lot. She liked the walking and cycle paths and the fact that there were no cars and I think, like everything else, you learn by experience. For example the diningroom that she wanted to go to on Saturday night was closed for a function but she only found that in the VERY small print afterwards. She said that she felt the long weekend was long enough (she's not a bit like her mother who would have wanted to stay til next September!) She said that she was glad it had stayed fine because it was a good ten minute walk to the diningroom and they would have got very wet on the way. All in all though they had a very good time and she was certainly in the best of spirits when she phoned.

[Bunnykins]

Thanks for the report Janeybird. It was great to hear how they got on. I have thought of going to one abroad before (possibly Holland) but to be honest am too lazy as our nearest UK one is under 2 hours drive (so it's easier for me to jump in the car ... what a cop out)! Therefore it was great to hear how it compares to the UK ones. Sounds similar in many ways. I'm glad your daughter and family had a good time. I'm off again to CPs very shortly so am getting very excited as it's my favourite UK holiday.

[Janeybird]

Hope you have a lovely time Bunnykins and I look forward to hearing about what you do and also which one you go to. The Sherwood Forest one interests me because my gt gt gt grandmother came from Edinwinstowe and I've never been there.

[the senor]

My friend has just returned from Elvedon. In the night their lodge was broken into and jewelrey and money were taken while they were in bed. I dont think he will be returning for a hurry.

[Bunnykins]

No I don't blame your friend for not wanting to return having experienced that. Mind you, there will be plenty of other holiday parks and resorts that will also sadly become victims of thieving b******s, not that it will be of any comfort to your friend! I don't suppose your friend got offered anything from CPs to go some way to compensate for the ruined holiday (not that it was their fault)?

[the senor]

No I don't blame your friend for not wanting to return having experienced that. Mind you, there will be plenty of other holiday parks and resorts that will also sadly become victims of thieving b******s, not that it will be of any comfort to your friend! I don't suppose your friend got offered anything from CPs to go some way to compensate for the ruined holiday (not that it was their fault)?

I dont know to be honest if I hear I will let you all know. I know Haven dont compensate,after all, and as you point out its not their fault.It leaves a very nasty taste though and a nice gesture would not go amiss. CP had some bad press on the Anglia news but declined to comment.

[Bunnykins]

I used to go to Elveden a lot before they built the Longleat CPs. Now you come to mention bad press, I do seem to recall some time ago reading a report that Brandon in Suffolk (near Elveden) had the highest rate of car theft in the country and was very surprised. However I seem to recall the report also said there is an American military base there as if to suggest this had some bearing on it. Now I'm not pointing any fingers or suggesting for one minute this has anything to do with your friend's unfortunate incident, nor am I agreeing with the report ... all I'm saying is I was surprised that Brandon was allegedly named the worst place for car theft in the country (I certainly would not have guessed).