Centre Parcs- Anyone Been?

[pixie373]

Hi,

We are considering Centre Parcs for a week in half-term or next summer- preferably one with horse-riding. We have had a google, but would appreciate some real experience.

There will be our family- 2 adults, kids 18, 16, 15 and 11 and my sister's family- her, kids- 15 and 9 year old twins.

We are not sure about whether the dogs are better off coming with us, or staying home with a friend and also which activities to book passes ahead for, etc.

Has anyone been? Would you recommend it, or not?

Thank you xxx

[elgreco]

Dont eat in the restaurants. Very expensive and no better that fast food outlets. Best to go off site. Nice pub close to the Sherwood Forest place. Or cook for yourselves. That's my advice.

[pixie373]

Thanks elgreco. I'm aware it won't be a cheap holiday :-\

[Grandma_Yiddo]

What elgreco says is quite correct. Restaurants are very expensive,the accommodation was clean and comfy. We went to the Sherwood Forest one also. Enjoy your break.

[pixie373]

Thank you, grandma y. We'll probably give it a go x

[EcclesCake]

I was underwhelmed by Penrith. Terrible customer service and don't even think about booking spa treatments.

I felt similar about the Longleat one but I saw a young deer hiding in the shrubbery so I kind of softened towards the place.

[sherrardk]

I've looked at centre parcs but it seemed to me that you had to book a lot of stuff in advance so we didn't go.

[mikey4444]

It looks nice but it is terribly expensive. Most of the attractions have to be paid for in addition to the extortionate cost of the accommodation. Some friends went once with their two boys to the one in Longleat and they said that if they had known how expensive it was going to be, they wouldn't have bothered. Afterwards they went to a place near Newquay in Cornwall and found it much more affordable.

[pixie373]

Ok, thank you. We did look into it a few years ago, but were also put off by working out what we would want to book in advance. We had a fairly expensive place this year for 2 weeks, so I'm hoping one week there should be about the same. Accommodation for 10 people in the summer holidays is always a bit painful...:-)

[mikey4444]

Pixie.....have you thought renting a large cottage somewhere in the country instead ? I and a group of friends did that for a week over New Year, for 25 years, and we always had fun. And its quite inexpensive if you all chip in. The kids will love it !

[pixie373]

We have, Mikey. We've done that a few years- including this year. Had it's own cinema, swimming pool and games room. We were just looking for something a bit different. We did Haven lots of times when the children were smaller. A relative of one of our clients has come back from Elvedon Forest and is raving about it, so we wondered.