Centre Parcs but cheaper!

Io07

Thanks kingfisher blue! Ive called the Manor House up and made enquiries; but its still a bit more than I budgeted for (its in school hols)
Will they drop prices for last minute bookings??
Also wondering if center parcs drop their prices for last minute bookings in august?

lindens

Alye16 wrote: »

In the past I have also tried to find a Centre Parcs alternative as I'm not willing to pay their school holiday prices.
If its a lodge with cycling and outdoor activities you want then look at http://www.forestholidays.co.uk/ or Hoseasons lodges.
If you are looking for mostly indoor activities look at http://www.manorhousehotel.co.uk/ full board and all activities included. (a family favourite, we go every year, but in Feb).
However wherever you look the prices for school summer holidays are always very expensive. If you find somewhere suitable please share.

I was also going to post about manor house hotel, been there twice and love it.

Lara

Are there many activities available for 3-4 year olds?

claire21

http://www.csmaclubretreats.co.uk/holidayparks/whitemead/index.php

Not been but whitemead forest park looks like it does quite a bit of kids stuff in the holidays

I think membership is only £18 a year to get you the cheaper prices

kingfisherblue

Io07 wrote: »

Thanks kingfisher blue! Ive called the Manor House up and made enquiries; but its still a bit more than I budgeted for (its in school hols)
Will they drop prices for last minute bookings??
Also wondering if center parcs drop their prices for last minute bookings in august?

If you sign up for their email, they send out offers. I'm not sure how much they drop the price though. Although it wasn't the cheapest holiday I could find, I saved quite a bit because we didn't have days out to other places, and all food was included. That way it actually worked out cheaper for us, but we were a party of three adults and two teenagers.

Lara, there is a play area for little ones at the Manor, and they could have a play on the mini golf, paint bisque pottery, etc. personally though, I would wait until they are older as there is so much more to do when they are that bit bigger. A couple of years will make all the difference.

Nagme

vikingaero wrote: »

Center Parcs is The Middle Classes queuing to do activities.

Butlins/Pontins/Haven are the Working Classes and poorer Middle Classes queuing to do activities with more swear words.

Oh no, is Haven really that bad? We're taking our 5yr old there for our first holiday in 6 years next month, I've been really looking forward to it until I read this thread!

newgirly

We have taken our 3 to haven twice and they have enjoyed it, I am sure you wll have a great time and it is very geared up for little ones with character shows , we have also been to butlins and centre parcs on numerous occasions. All three offer something different, but in our experience they are all well run, clean and have enough to keep the kids busy, enjoy

Idiophreak

kingfisherblue wrote: »

If you sign up for their email, they send out offers. I'm not sure how much they drop the price though. Although it wasn't the cheapest holiday I could find, I saved quite a bit because we didn't have days out to other places, and all food was included. That way it actually worked out cheaper for us, but we were a party of three adults and two teenagers.

They normally drop the prices 10-15% in the last couple of weeks before each holiday and so on if there are rooms left.

We used to go to the Ashbury quite a lot (probably 10 times between me and my parents), but the place seems to be going downhill lately...things that have been strange:

The free wine's getting less frequent - that will never do.

Calculating the price has become a dark science...it used to be that you looked on the tariff and found the price for the day of the week you wanted to arrive, found the date and that was the price you paid. Not anymore. Last time we went, our dates overlapped a couple of date bands and the price was calculated as 60% of one price, 40% of another, 10% off this bit, but not off that bit...it was all horribly voodoo and opaque.

They've started holding rooms back - I've no idea why, but they won't sell all their rooms in advance...So they sent us an email a few weeks before half term and we thought "ok, let's book up" - but were told there weren't three rooms available at either Ashbury or the Manor...and yet a couple of weeks later they were still advertising...we wrote asking how come there were still rooms available and were told that basically they'd decided to sell some more rooms they didn't want to sell before..I've no idea what that's all about.

They're mixing Ashbury and the Manor too much - as the Ashbury has always been predominantly a golf hotel, it's always served quite a different market to the manor - the manor is families with kids, the Ashbury is golf societies and (gentle) stag parties.

Last time we went, there were a lot of "Manor people" in the Ashbury and the whole thing was just weird. All of the families were sat there going "there's not much to do here...all the activities are at the other hotel" and all the golfers were going "what's with all these kids running about!?" - it just didn't seem to work well for anyone...

That said, we always have a great time there and still think it's pretty good value for money.

(although, as we couldn't just book there at half term, we were forced to look for other things to do - and found a 4 night cruise to Belgium and Guernsey with P&O for less money than the same time at the Ashbury - worked out much better value )

gingerdad

https://www.ribbyhall.co.uk/win is another option

Rachie_B

Any ideas in the Worcestershire / Gloucestershire / Herefordshire areas please ?