Center Parcs?

Spendless

moneypooh wrote: »

Sherwood has changed a great deal in the past few years. They have upgraded many of the villas, not many if any bunk bed arrangements anymore. They have the new style lodges and executives.

The pool is better for older swimmers as Whinfell doesn't have a rapid ride just tunnels. It's always colder in their swimming plaza too.
Sherwood has a ride called cascade in the pool complex where you go down a flume in a big ring.

All the CPs have different appeals and we move around them all. Our favourite is Longleat for the swimming plaza, Elveden for the restaurants, Sherwood for the Aqua Sana and Whinfell for the squirrels and the outdoor activities like quad biking.

We adore the Whinfell lodges as they are so spacious, but it is very hilly. Longleat as the land train as the terrain is very steep.

If anyone want to celebrate Christmas and need the ideal villa, we can recommend the town houses @ Longleat. A huge lounge/dinner/kitchen even with a huge tree

We haven't stayed in the comfort or comfort plus accommodation for a few years as we prefer the executives.

We went March last year when I encountered the bunk bedrooms so not too long ago. When we went back in Aug last year (cos hubby had been ill on March visit). I purposelly went for the next grade up so I got twin bedrooms (these are 3 bed accom I am taking about).

I don't find Whinfell very hilly. This would be something that would very much put us off as we go with my elderly grandmother (in her 80s) who is not good at walking. We have come across the odd slight incline. This isn't cos we are used to steep areas so don't notice as we live in a part of the country that is flat. However we do stop as close as we are able to, to the centre, so it may be that it is hilly further out.

I think Whinfells pools are better as there are more of them. It took me several visits to realise this whereas Sherwood has the bit at the front and the upper bit where the plunge pool is. I am not one for slides and tunnels though,so would not have a preference based on this. I do like Sherwoods cascade ride.

Spendless

gadjah543 wrote: »

We have been to De Eemhof twice and stayed in the vip villa with sauna.It was MUCH cheaper than UK prices during school holidays.Staff were lovely esp the really cheap kids club and accommodation was clean.Queues were minimal and most things you could book on the day.Pool was also great .WE would definitely go back again.I would also look at Kemmpervennen as they have an all year round snow/ski dome which looks really good depending on the ages of your party.

How did you get on with the language difference? I've tried asking hubby to go to the European ones but he's put off as he thinks we'll not be able to take the kids to anything and leave them due to the language barrier.

gadjah543

Spendless wrote: »

How did you get on with the language difference? I've tried asking hubby to go to the European ones but he's put off as he thinks we'll not be able to take the kids to anything and leave them due to the language barrier.

Hi there,
All the staff we met were bi-lingual.Our daughter was 6 the first time we went and she was greeted in English by the staff and everything was explained to her clearly at the kids club .She made friends with some Dutch and German children who also spoke a bit of English which put us to shame !! We really enjoyed the fact that the kids had a chance to mix with other nationalities and we all liked shopping in the supermarket and trying the different meats and cheeses.

p.s.Forgot to add that all the menus at the restaurants had an English translation.

pinkmami

I've only ever been to Whinfell cos the drive is much more pleasant from north Wales (A55, M56 & M6 & I'm there!). I don't fancy the road to any of the others. I'd like to try Sherwood but I have friends who have been & they recommend we stay in Whinfell.....so I prefer to stick to what I know & like. I haven't been to Haven (does not appeal to me) & the Trip Advisor website gives some awful reviews.....and as for Butlins? Well I'd like to try it one day...but I'm in no rush.

I have been in a similar place to Haven & I loathed it....gangs of teens smoking outside doorways, slot machines everywhere, drunks, litter...I haven't seen any of those in CP....& that is what I love about the place.

JasonLVC

Spendless wrote: »

How did you get on with the language difference? I've tried asking hubby to go to the European ones but he's put off as he thinks we'll not be able to take the kids to anything and leave them due to the language barrier.

I've done several of the French CenterParcs and the language barrier isn't that great....no more than going to Spain or Turkey for a holiday and having to point at pictures of Burger & Chips or gesticulate with your hands to get your message across that you want to hire a bike.

The French ones certainly have signs in English as well as French and many of the staff spoke English to some degree. My daughter is still learning languages but when you're 7 talking comes second to slides, chutes and sandpits and somehow they cope much better than us grown ups!.

Euro Centerparcs are hugely cheaper than the UK and usually better accom/specification and is a bit of an adventure. I did Port Zelande in Holland a few years back, nice place, clean and friendly, etc

Lifeisbutadream

pinkmami wrote: »

I've only ever been to Whinfell cos the drive is much more pleasant from north Wales (A55, M56 & M6 & I'm there!). I don't fancy the road to any of the others. I'd like to try Sherwood but I have friends who have been & they recommend we stay in Whinfell.....so I prefer to stick to what I know & like. I haven't been to Haven (does not appeal to me) & the Trip Advisor website gives some awful reviews.....and as for Butlins? Well I'd like to try it one day...but I'm in no rush.

I have been in a similar place to Haven & I loathed it....gangs of teens smoking outside doorways, slot machines everywhere, drunks, litter...I haven't seen any of those in CP....& that is what I love about the place.

Whatever you do, dont go to HAVEN !!!

JasonLVC

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

Whatever you do, dont go to HAVEN !!!

or BUTLINS (Skegness).....shakes head slowly.....I never truly believed in class divisions and never bought into the media's interest in 'chavs', but Butlins re-wrote everything I knew about the subject.

We arrived, we had a wee in the toilets, stretch of the legs and a quick gander at the beach (which you had to access via a small gate in a 30ft razor wired topped fence that surrounded the entire site) before getting back into the car and driving back home again. Must be a record for the shortest stay at a holiday camp ever.

pickledonionspaceraider

What did you encounter Jason, to make you leave after so short a time? How bad was it?

Ebe_Scrooge

I know what Jason means. We've stayed at CenterParcs several times, and had the dubious pleasure of a Butlins break, the first time I've ever been there, just a few weeks ago. You certainly do get a different class of person at CenterParcs :-)

Anyhow, snobbishness aside, CenterParcs is pretty expensive. What we've usually done is go with another couple / family, as an 8-person villa, splitting the cost between the two parties, works out quite a bit cheaper than getting a 4-person villa each - if you see what I mean.

Also, take plenty of supplies with you. Eating out at the resort is pretty expensive ( though nice for a treat ), and even the onsite supermarket is fairly pricey. We tend to take most of what we need with us now, and cook ourselves. It's especially nice if the weather is nice and you can BBQ outside, the kids love that :-)

If you can, take your own bikes with you, that saves hiring them.

Whilst there are loads of paid activities that are great fun, we've always found that our kids have plenty to entertain themselves what with the pool complex, cycling around on their own ( a nice thing to be able to do these days ) and exploring the woods and play areas. And going with another family means the kids have always got someone to play with.

JasonLVC

Just posting here about it brings back the sweats and shivers.

It was basically everything you see in the newspapers.....teenagers pushing twin buggies around, fag on, tats all over the place. The entire output of India's "England Top" production in the last 5 years:D on display (I thought it may have been mandatory to wear one), blokes with half length shorts with England tats on their calf muscles, everyone was smoking (except the staff and under 10's) and it was all drinking in the bars and burger and chip menus.

In case you think I'm just being snooty, we enquired about checking in, we were sent to a big hall which stank of beer and fags and we had to wait until 3.00pm and wait for our name to be called out....like we were at school or something.

During our expedition of the site we also clocked the accommodation, very basic and where they were occupied there was a constant sound of bass everywhere as everyone seemed to not have heard of Ipods and instead all had big 'ghettoblasters'.

The final straw for me (I am from a tough, working class family so can tolerate most things) was the fence around the whole park. To get to the beach was one single gate which was security guarded to stop non-residents entering the park but it just felt like a prison and judging by the look of some of the punters, they may have felt right at home:D

This was about 4 years ago, but still very real in my mind.:eek:;)