centre parcs Whinfell (Center Parcs)

Member Name: Trinitypark

Product:	Center Parcs
Date:	18/07/06 (1400 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very secure environment, wildlife on doorstep, quick check in, pool open until 9pm, quiet

Disadvantages: food generally unhealthy, not a lot for under 8s, no sunbathing places

The check in process at Whinfell was very smooth and quick, although we did not arrive at a busy time of day(12.30).
We found our cabin relatively easily, but discovered that the 2nd toilet had a severe case of mildew and smelt very badly. Although cleaning standards were ok in the other bathroom, the pans and utensils were not too clean.
The shower had a label warning that using other taps on the premises could cause the temperature to fluctuate, but we found it did this when no other taps were on and presented a serious scalding risk.
Having rabbits literally on the doorstep, along with Red Squirrels and hedgehogs was brilliant and loved by kids and adults alike. The kids also loved the pool, which is open from 10am to 9pm and the eldest(5)would happily have spent the whole day in there, although from an adult perspective there was not much for the 2 year old to do other than just splash about and as there is no outdoor aspect that the kids can access, this got quite boring for us. In fact there is no outdoor pool at all as such, simply a slide and small track(lane) that runs around the exterior for strong swimmers only, so no kids allowed.
Our favorite things were the Pedalos(£6 for 1/2 hour,)adventure playground(free),swimming pool from the kids, wildlife, relative quiet and closeness to the main attractions of the Lake District.
The worst things were the poor and sometimes quite strange choice of food on the menus, the encouragement to put on as much weight as possible whilst there - chocolate fountains in which you could dip fudge(!), a large sweet shop overly stocked with everything, lack of healthy choices, early closing times of supermarket - 4pm on a Sunday(not a lot of choice in there), and the complete lack of anywhere outside to simply relax - no sunloungers, or anywhere to sunbathe at all really apart from on a Pedalo.
To sum up I would say it may be good for older kids(8 plus as a lot of activities are restricted to 8 and over), not so great for younger ones, and certainly no good for more than a weekend, if you are an adult who may want to relax for 1/2 an hour in the sun, eat good quality relatively healthy food- that you haven't had to cook yourself- and not have to fend off requests for sweets every 5 minutes.
Ultimately as adults we actually found it the least relaxing and most stressful of our holidays, mainly because there were so many things you had to watch out for with the kids(water, trips, slips, falls, colllisions with bikes etc.), it certainly was less relaxing than our usual hotels or cottages.

Summary: Not a relaxing holiday, but if a sports/sweets fanatic it may be for you