Center Parcs costs...

[Russinating]

I have to go to Center Parcs (Longleat) in October, and with absolutely no concept of costs - since it's the last place that would be on my travel list - I have no idea if current prices are high, low or what.

£499 is the cheapest 2 bed lodge and I was hoping someone here might be able to gauge that price before I'm forced to visit Mumsnet...

 

[Uhtred]

How many nights? Is it in term time or not?

 

[Em3bbs]

Bear in mind if you want to do any activities once there (especially if you have kids), it adds greatly to the costs.

 

[Monkeynut]

I went to the Nottingham one about 6 weeks ago, bear in mind also that the on-site restaurants are designed to empty your pockets as fast as possible and voucher codes from, e.g VoucherCloud for Bella Italia don't work. The idea is to take as much food with you and eat it before you go home.

 

[peterwalkley]

Currently at centre parcs elvedon forest for 4 nights as it's half term in a 2 bedroom lodge and it cost £628.

 

[LabR@t]

How many nights? Is it in term time or not?

school holidays = Rip off

 

[wedrum]

No idea why folk pay all this money to holiday in the UK. It's so expensive and weather is crap, Just go abroad .

 

[tombrr]

No idea why folk pay all this money to holiday in the UK. It's so expensive and weather is crap, Just go abroad .

Because it's convenient and that's what you pay for with Center Parcs and other holiday parks in the UK. It's also a very safe environment for kids to run around and do outdoorsy and creative activities something which is becoming rarer. Yes you do have to pay for the activities on top if you want to do them, they'll usually range from well free to £20~ per person depending on the activity but there isn't nothing forcing you to do them. Kids can run around freely in the woods and cycle/scoot around, go swimming as much as they like, play in the "playground" areas, there's actually quite a lot you can do with without paying for anything on top if you don't want to.

We go as a family every year to the Woburn Forest site and it usually costs around the £500 mark for accomodation and usually do Mon-Fri option and we have sometimes felt that we don't need to book so many acitivties as we've found that the kids enjoy the swimming pool area the most and spend hours every day in there so we usually only end up booking 1 or 2 activities now. We do usually take some bits of food to cook most nights in the lodge but we do go out for 1 or 2 meals whilst there, as it's meant to be a holiday after all .

And you say just go abroad but that brings a host of other issues to deal with, not to mention longer travel times and with kids not always ideal dealing with getting to airports etc which adds lots of unneeded stress. Then you have issues with time differences and issues with the types of food available and issues finding your way around, hiring cars etc. The list could go on and on.

 

[Scrutinize]

I went to the Nottingham one about 6 weeks ago, bear in mind also that the on-site restaurants are designed to empty your pockets as fast as possible and voucher codes from, e.g VoucherCloud for Bella Italia don't work. The idea is to take as much food with you and eat it before you go home.

We take the opposite approach and eat out for all meals inc breakfast. Budget £100-£150 per day for that plus say £50-£100 per day for activities.

At least it feels like a proper holiday then and the food is good in the restaurants.

You can self catering and be pretty thrifty on activities but it never really feels like being on holiday to me.

However @Russinating October starts getting pretty cold and light / weather limited so not all activities are suitable or open. At that time of year you want to stay as close to the main plaza as possible.

Pay more for this luxury, it's well worth it and can make or break the holiday. 2-5 min walk from the Plaza is what you want. Between the Plaza and Jardin Des Sports on the main road is best. Pick the wrong and of the land train loop at Longleat on the other side of the lake / JDS and it's a 20-30 mins train ride to and from the swimming complex which in October can be miserable. It's bad enough in the summer.

You can also drive to the main local supermarkets in Warminster for a shop if space is limited.

 

[Edrof]

No idea why folk pay all this money to holiday in the UK. It's so expensive and weather is crap, Just go abroad .

I feel that this is a most unimaginative concept. The UK has a varied and (in places) stunning landscape, good beaches, fantastic food, world-class institutions and centres of culture - not to mention some of the most historically important sites in the world and other things of that stature. All you have to do is get out there and look. Sure, the weather is unpredictable but it still blazes away in the summer like it's supposed to. If it is just 'crap' then why is it one of the most visited countries on the planet?

 

[Delvis]

I've been twice now I think, longleat both times, enjoyed it.

As said if you just stay there (out of term time) and can spread the cost it's pretty cheap tbh. As for activities that will rack up the costs and the restaurants aren't ridiculously over priced but obviously aren't peanuts.

We just go there , stay in a cheap bubgalow and go swimming, love it. Yes itd be nice to go abroad but this is still fun for me

 

[Ayahuasca]

Go to Sherwood every year, have done since I was around 5. The pricing has definitely increased over the years and is a bit silly now on certain activities and food, but we take a good amount of our own stuff, usually go to the country club for a breakfast one morning and a dinner at one of the restaurants on the final evening.

Not going to pretend it's cheap but I enjoy it year in year out, something very calming about spending time in a forest for a few days.

 

[beachBOYken]

Used to go various Center Parcs every other Christmas as a child, was brilliant fun. The best part was the swimming pool rapids and renting a bike for the stay, just riding to various locations to do some activity or have a meal was great, not sure I would want to visit as an adult now though.
As above it has a relaxed feel about it and you can all just go off and do what you want.

 

[BeeP]

I feel that this is a most unimaginative concept. The UK has a varied and (in places) stunning landscape, good beaches, fantastic food, world-class institutions and centres of culture - not to mention some of the most historically important sites in the world and other things of that stature. All you have to do is get out there and look. Sure, the weather is unpredictable but it still blazes away in the summer like it's supposed to. If it is just 'crap' then why is it one of the most visited countries on the planet?

Agreed.

We do go abroad every year but in all honesty my favourite breaks are when we just have a few days "here and there". We sometimes just book at hotel somewhere we find interesting and do a long weekend, yes this country isn't cheap but it is clean and safe compared to most I have visited.....most.

We did C.P. a while back, I really enjoyed it apart from a 2 mile Bike ride (it felt way more when my chain came off and then I couldn't shift gears lol) to the the football academy with the boys, they did the football but I was the one out of puff and cherry faced when we got back. They loved the pool, again it was clean and safe compared to most. We did Whinfell and I would go back, just maybe this time with an electric bike

 

[Deleted member 66701]

I feel that this is a most unimaginative concept. The UK has a varied and (in places) stunning landscape, good beaches, fantastic food, world-class institutions and centres of culture - not to mention some of the most historically important sites in the world and other things of that stature. All you have to do is get out there and look. Sure, the weather is unpredictable but it still blazes away in the summer like it's supposed to. If it is just 'crap' then why is it one of the most visited countries on the planet?

Exactly my thinking. Other thant snowboarding, I don't take 'foreign' holidays. Every year, we go away twice in the UK, get a log cabin somewhere and just explore the local area. Been doing it since our eldest was born 11 years ago and we've not run out of places to visit in the UK yet.

 

[UTmaniac]

We go to Longleat annually, we love the place to unwind in a lovely setting.

It does not have to cost a fortune, choose your reservation dates carefully to save costs, their housing cost work on a basic supply/demand system...
Weekends cost more than midweek stays
Prices shoot up during kids holidays
Costs soar from July to September

Unless you have very specific requirements in the group, don't reserve a villa in a specific area, leave it completely open and save ~£50 IIRC.

Take as much food for eating-in as you can manage, the on-site supermarket prices are steep. There is a Lidl just a "stones throw" from Warminster train station, so even if you are travelling by train, you can do a shop there before getting a taxi from the rank immediately outside the train station.

Most sports at the Jardin des Sports are not too badly priced, but they cost more during popular times. They sting you for consumables like balls/shuttlecocks so take your own, take your own raquets if you have them. Snooker cues are free, but they are nothing better than pool cues, useless for spin shots.

Avoid ten pin bowling to save money, the prices are crazy!

The pool/slides are free, the fancy drier costs ~£1 (never used it).

The bird (owls/falcons/eagles) shows are great, very interactive, the weight of an adult Russian/Golden Eagle hybrid on your outstretched hand is quite shocking!

If you take your own bikes, take excellent locks for when locking up around campus, but keep them indoors (in the utility cupboard) overnight. There's a nice cat4 hill on the entrance/exit to the Longleat Estate over the road from CenterParcs, but better still, there are some amazing cat3 hills like Cheddar Gorge just ~30 miles to the west (I did a ~75 mile round trip from Warminster (~1000) to Cheddar to Longleat (~1700) last November on the first day at a gentle pace on my mountain bike, amazing ride).
The hire bikes are OK for around campus, a bit heavy, but cost ~£30 for the midweek stay per bike.

£500 for a 2-bed villa in October sounds about right, we are booked in to a 2-bed in May for £419, it can be as cheap as ~£350 to go around March but the weather is more erratic there in early spring.

 

[cheesyboy]

Centre Parcs is pretty great for families with kids. We went to Longleat for a winter break for a couple of years when our eldest was pre-school age. Once limited to school holidays, we switched to going to a Parc in Belgium, as the prices there don't have the same holiday inflation as the UK ones. Started Ski holidays last year and this, so haven't been for a while, but would go back.

On-site, never really found prices a problem. We brought our own food to cook meals, but the activities were reasonably priced for what you get.

 

[Zatoichi.uK]

Been a few times with a large group, all with young kids. The woman who plans it all is pretty damn organised tbh and even gets a Tescos delivery arranged for day one, loads of booze etc. Split all the costs and seems to work well. Looking forward to going again as my little one was too small first time around to get the most out of it.

 

[Rifte]

When we lived in the UK we loved Center Parcs.

Ok it was expensive for what it was, but it was safe, self contained and it allowed us to bring the dogs with us as well.

 

[ttaskmaster]

No idea why folk pay all this money to holiday in the UK. It's so expensive and weather is crap, Just go abroad .

Have you seen The Long Way Round?
Ewan and Charley go all the way around the world, only to find that everywhere just looks like Scotland...

Besides, we find plenty of UK holidays for less money than a pair of plane tickets cost. We just don't use holiday parks or booking agents.
From the adverts, Centre Parcs always looked like some kind of utopian sci-fi movie installation, locked away from the outside dystopia under a biodome...