Sherwood - Power Failures (Center Parcs)

Member Name: lynn truss

Product:	Center Parcs
Date:	24/10/08 (374 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: all on one site

Disadvantages: cost cutting putting sfatey at risk

We've just come back from Sherwood after a mid-week break. Yesterday at 5.00pm there was a power cut across the majority of the site - accommodation, shops, restaurants, and lesiure facilities.

We happened to be in the swimming pool and were appalled by the thoroughly disorganised attitiude of the 'lifeguards' on duty at the time. They got everyone out of the water straightaway but we were then kept waiting until a decision was made about what to do next - with no attempt to explain what was going on to the guests. The changing rooms have no natural light (or emergency backup lighting) so it wasn't a simple matter of just getting changed and leaving. After about 30 minutes it became clear that visitors were being directed by the ligeguards towards the changing area entrance and then let through in groups of about 20 to find their clothes, get changed and exit. By the time we got to the head of the queue we discovered that the staff on duty had just one torch between them and were handing out novelty 'glow in the dark' toys to guests for us to use when finding our lockers and getting changed in the pitch black. It was utter chaos!

When we finally managed to get drassed in the dark and make our exit we initially put this all down to 'bad luck' - after all power cuts do happen unexpectedly (or so we thought).

The next couple of hours were spend in darkness and cold back at our accommodation. When power was finally restored we returned to the shops to buy some food for the evening (we had planned to eat out but the restaurants were unlikley to be in service for some time).

It was at this point we saw a pre-prepared laminated notice in one of the shop windows informing guests that the shop had had to close due to the power cut. We thought this was strange - how had they managed to type the notice up AND laminate it without any power? On closer inspection the 'footer' in small print on the notice indicated that it had been originally prepared several years ago - and its apprearance indicated that it had been put to regular user in the years since. So much for a one off power failure - it looks like this is a fairly regular occurrance at Sherwood. This was confirmed when we got back to our accommodation and found that the hot water still wasn't working - om looking at the boiler we found a small notice near it explaining how to switch the boiler back on after a power cut.

So if power cuts are a regular occurrance - why aren't gests warned? And why were to staff so disorganised at the pool when public safety is surely paramount? Given the costs of staying at Centerparcs - surely they could at least invest in a few torches for their staff? Or better still a reliable mains supply?

Summary: Sherwood - Power Failures