Center Parcs, Longleat

lawley1010

I have been to Center Parcs at Whinfell and would really like to stay at Center Parcs at Longleat. Center Parcs has an offer on for Mon-Fri in Oct 09 for £199 in a 2 bed comfort lodge in the Fir area. Can someone tell me what this area, park and comfort lodges are like? Also does the land train run all year and regularly throughout the day?

I would be very grateful for your opinions.

annie123

I've been to all of then except winfell bit far for me but it looks fab in the photos.

Longleat is lovely, the land train runs all day and evening stopping at set points, never far from the villas, there is a set timetable and is a nice ride.

If you imagine a bowl inset into a table....(best analogy I can think of at this time of night;) ) thats the topography.
At the bottom of the bowl is the lake/activities/pool etc, and the villas are on the table surface.
There are zigzag paths from top to bottom...quickest cycle route or there is a long gradual incline spiral going from bottom, slowly around the bowl and arriving at the table top, longer but much easier on the legs as no steep incline, if that makes sense.

The villas are fine, basic ones dont have a dishwasher from what I remember but they are no different in layout and facilities from comfort plus and woodland lodge except for decorating and choice of furniture.
We had no problem with them.

If you phone them they will send you a map with the villa numbers on and colour coded for each type, this would allow you to book one nearer the train or away from water etc if location has any importance to you,
Each area is pretty much the same, the fir area just has more fir trees.
We say deer there several times which was nice.
Landscape wise I would say this is the most interesting

The aqua sauna at longleat is one of the nicest:D ...well worth going.

An advantage if you are taking kids is that you can finish your break with a trip to longleat next door, also really worth it.

Hope that helps

J_Devon

I've been to the Centreparcs at Longleat 3 times and to be honest, don't ever get bored of it.

The land train is running from early morning to late at night and is every 20 minutes between the various stops. I can't comment on the Comfort Lodge as I've always stayed in the Redwood apartments.

Having a 5 min drive to the gate of Longleat House and Safari park makes the whole trip worth while.

Give it a go, I'm sure you wont be disappointed. If you need any more information, please let us know

forumfan_2

Center Parcs - Longleat is great but is very hilly on that side of the park so if you like to use the bikes, aren't really fit and like to use the pool (like me) it's probably better to be over the other side. The land trains do run every day but, from memory, don't start until about 18:00 on Fridays & Mondays.

I have attached a link to a fairly detailed map of the site that might help you decide where you are better off

http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/Images/Longleat%20map_tcm6-3453.pdf

As per the previous poster I would also recommend Longleat for a great day out and it is literally just across the road (in fact you can spend more than one day there if you buy their passports). If you have Tesco Deals Vouchers then you can use these to buy your passports which would make them even more of a bargain

http://www.longleat.co.uk/your-visit/prices-standard.html

http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/product.aspx?R=26&bci=4294967294|Days%20Out*4294967274|South%20of%20England%20%26%20East%20Anglia

bj-sailaway

Oh, do tell me where the £199 offer is - the Firs is a nice area of the parc, and I love Longleat the best of all the parcs!

angel13

where is this offer as I cannot find it on their website?

I have never stayed at a centre parcs but Im from the south west originally and longleat is glorious.

lukiesgirl

I have been to all the center parcs sites but have to say that Longleat is my favorite. We have been 4 times now! I was interested to hear of the offer because I plan to take my Mum this year. I am not worried about being too far out (firs) because I can arrange a minibus service for Mum because she is less able bodied than us! I love the atmosphere and the scenery and it is so much less commercialised than other holiday camps. Would highly recommend.

Spendless

I'm guessing it's this promotion. It might be that the particular week the OP has booked has now all sold out for the offer.
http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/makeabooking/specialoffers/longleat_jan.jsp

FairyElephant_2

Maybe we were really unlucky, given how many of you seem to like Longleat, but I took DH to CentreParks Longleat for his birthday (surprise treat) a couple of years back...it was our 1st Centreparks holiday and has put me off using them again....

Chalet was very nice, clean & comfortable.....but could not say the same for the rest of the park.....
Shortage of staff meant really long queue's for everything (had to Q for 30 mins to get served at the food/bar area, then waited over an hour for the food). Tables were not cleaned so we and the other customers had to clear our own and stack the dirty cups/plates & glasses on the bar ourselves.
The staff that were there were miserable and rude...the manager had to come out & serve as they were so short-handed, and he did nothing but moan about it not really being his job to do so.....I had to bite my tongue!
The pool & snooker tables had not enough balls, cues etc, and the cues they did have were mostly damaged, also many of the lights above the tables didn't work....ditto the lights on the badminton courts!
All the public areas were dirty - litter-bins not emptied so they were overflowing all weekend.
I had pre-booked a couple of classes, at one of which the instructor arrived 15 mins late and made no apology...and the class still finished on time! When several of us complained he said he had to finish so the next class could start, and we should complain to the customer services!
I know this is not the park's fault, but even though we went during the week during school term time, there were loads of kids running riot with no parents to be seen, especially in the pools and the outdoor jacuzzi/whirlpool area even late in the evening - our hopes of a relaxing soak whilst watching the stars were ruined by them jumping in, splashing around and generally being boisterous - I know this is the nature of kids, but we thought there should at least be a 'curfew time' so adults could enjoy the area.
Finally - to cap it all - they took a £20 deposit from me in advance before we went when I booked for a 'nice restaurant' meal on DH's birthday (BTW, the food was Ok but actually nothing to write home about). This should have been deducted from the food bill, but wasn't, so they told me I had to call customer services when I got home to get it refunded !?! - after about 10 calls & 3 letters it still wasn't!!!!!!

This was not a cheap break, and I thought we were going to get something special, but TBH we thought it was like a Butlins on bicycles!!!!!!!!!! Sorry to be a wet blanket.....

FE

lawley1010

After reading your great responses, I went to book and the offer was no longer available:mad: , was £199 for Mon-Fri on 12 Oct. Never mind, I will just keep looking. Has anyone stayed anywhere else near to Longleat, a holiday park, cottage etc they would recommend?

angel13

i had the same thing with it yesterday (the dec dates dont show at all) but if you carry on clicking on the options and put SAVECP in some of the cheap deals do come up.