Center Parcs
Two babyworld members share their experiences, tips and gripes
about holidays at Center Parcs.
Booking your holiday
We booked a 7-night stay at the Oasis Whinfell Forest Center Parcs in
the Lake District near Penrith. We had looked at Center Parcs previously
but had ruled it out as being far too expensive; however they were offering
25% off this particular week, probably because it was during term time.
Once booked, you are offered the opportunity to 'pre-register' your personal
details, to enable a speedy arrival process. This proves to be very useful
upon arrival, as it speeds the whole check-in process up.
Accommodation - what it's like
Our accommodation was their basic 2-bedroom forest lodge and it was airy
and spacious, well decorated, and had everything we needed in the way
of appliances and bedding. We even had two toilets - one which was directly
off the large entrance hall, presumably for muddy bikers! VERY handy!
The lodge was also equipped with a cot and high chair.
The grounds and buildings
The park itself is beautiful, with accommodation set in well maintained
forest and surrounding a large lake. If you like wildlife there is plenty
of it, and lots of information to hand, both on the in-house television
channels and from the park rangers. My son loved seeing the badgers on
the 'badger-cam' in the evening before bed. There are lovely walks and
cycle routes, and plenty of seating along the way! I found a gorgeous
bench with a willow sun shelter, opposite a bird feeding area.
The Village Center has a fairly large supermarket, which was well stocked.
We actually went to the local supermarket before arrival, as we figured
this would be cheaper than using the shop onsite, but we were surprised
at how large the shop was. They also delivered your shopping to your door
if your ordered over a certain amount! There is also a lovely gift shop,
a huge sweet shop, even bigger toy shop, a sports shop in the Sports Plaza
and a swimwear shop near the World of Water.
The facilities
The facilities that we used were excellent. The World of Water was absolutely
huge, and had so many different swimming and recreational areas, from
very shallow baby pools, toddler slides and fun areas, to great water
flumes and a separate lane swimming pool. The main pool area shallowed
to a 'beach', and there was a wave machine that came on periodically.
There was a lovely outdoor heated pool too. The changing area had plenty
of big family cubicles, and around the pools were plenty of seating, playpens
and a nice food and drink kiosk. It was perfect for young families.
Every restaurant or café that we used offered a children's menu as well
as half portions of everything on the adult menu, which REALLY impressed
me, as my son enjoys a varied diet! Almost every restaurant had an indoor
play area, and the Sports Café offered outside dining and an adventure
playground. There were also plenty of highchairs, a microwave and bottle
warming facilities at all places. Little things like this would make your
stay SO much easier when travelling with a baby or young child!
Child specific activities
The 'Time Out' club offered well supervised childcare sessions, and my
son went to one of the 3-hour sessions where they would be making treats
to take home. He absolutely loved it, and I was very impressed with the
space and facilities provided. I would definitely recommend a session
or two, to give you a break, however as with most things at Center Parcs,
these come at a price, so you need to work out your budget in advance!
Luckily, every kind of activity can be pre-booked or booked on site, so
you can work out costs and stuff before you go.
Health and leisure
The Sports Plaza and Aqua Sana Spa are separate to the main village.
The Sports Plaza was one of the best equipped sports centres I have been
to, although we weren't impressed with the price of booking courts, which
seemed excessive compared to some other activities.
The Aqua Sana Spa was fantastic - better than a recent trip to Champneys!
Whilst expensive, it is worth noting that although they don't advertise
this, if you are pregnant you can have a 3-hour session for just £5 instead
of £26, as you can't use some of the steam and sauna rooms. There's still
plenty to do though, and they will advise you on what treatment areas
are safe. I also booked an Elemis Mother-To-Be massage, which was heavenly,
and very comfortable thanks to the specially designed beanbag that you
lie on.
Although my husband and son took their own bikes, bike hire seemed to
be reasonably priced, and the bikes looked in good condition. You can
also hire bike trailers which is great for younger kids. There are lots
of well-lit bike parks around the park, and plenty of woodland trails
and roads to cycle around.
The gripes
Now for the gripes, although there aren't very many. Firstly, cars are
only allowed to drive to the accommodation areas at certain times. When
we arrived, we had to queue for ages as it seemed to take so long to let
people through, even though we were there at the right time.
Also, despite this vehicle restriction, we found that there was an awful
lot of Center Parcs traffic throughout the day - I counted 12 green vans
during one lunchtime alone!
We took our son bowling for the first time, which was very expensive,
and the facility seemed to be in very poor repair. We eventually got our
money back as our lane had broken down 4 times in 45 minutes!
For a centre that advertises how much they do for the environment and
local wildlife, Center Parcs only offers glass recycling! Everything else
goes into huge Biffa bins! We took home a huge sack of cardboard, tins
and plastic to recycle, and were very unimpressed with such a poor effort
on their part.
Overall opinion
Although most activities aren't included in the price of your trip at
Center Parcs, I still think this is one of the most child-friendly holidays
in the UK that I've been on. Everywhere is child and pram friendly. There
are plenty of 'free' things to do, like the cycling, swimming, playing
in the large adventure playgrounds, or just feeding the ducks. We had
a lovely time there, and I would be quite comfortable going back with
a small baby, as the facilities seemed to make life so much easier when
catering for children and babies.
Tips
My tips for keeping stress and cost to a minimum are:
- Go to a supermarket before you arrive - saves a bit of money and
time, and you'll have more choice.
- Buy a few disposable BBQs, because these are the only kind allowed,
and they are cheaper in the supermarket than in the CP shop.
- Take your own bikes. However, remember you can't hire a bike trailer
to put on your own bike - they can only be hired with their bikes, so
if you have a trailer, take your own.
- Take advantage of the early dining or early activity prices - they
offer deals for off-peak times of day.
- Buy toilet roll - they didn't provide any in our accommodation, despite
providing a tea towel, sponge, washing up liquid, tea, coffee and sugar!
- Take cot bedding and your own towels. And don't pay for the housemaid
service - the apartments have a hoover if you're that keen to keep clean!
Polly Mose
Another experience
We've been to Sherwood Forest & De Eemhof in Holland. Both were excellent,
but bizarrely almost identical. The best part is definitely the pool complex,
which caters for the whole family with slides and pools for the youngest
children; a large wave pool, rapids and slides for teenagers & adults;
swimming float vests for kids; a fast food outlet and lots of seating.
They've got various types of bikes to hire, but I noticed the bikes with
training wheels at both parks had seen better days (the tyres were bald
or split and the plastic on the training wheels had mostly rubbed away.
Most of the children's activities are for over 8's. Although he loves
kids' clubs, my (then) 6-year-old son didn't really enjoy the one in Sherwood
Forest but my (then) 2-year-old daughter loved the Teddy Bears' Tea Party.
My son did love the children's entertainment session with the juggler/magician
though.
Tips
- Check that you've got an oven before you do any grocery shopping (we
foolishly assumed that we had one when we went to Holland).
- Don't spend ALL day in the pool complex (try some activities or do
some sightseeing if you're staying in one of the foreign parks).
- Buy some logs for your fire (it makes the villa very cosy).
- Book the Aqua Sana & Spa 3 hour session - it was lovely!
Sammy
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