Expensive but fun (Center Parcs)

Member Name: Daisy

Product:	Center Parcs
Date:	22/10/00 (898 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice friendly atmosphere, plenty to do

Disadvantages: Expensive to get there and activities can be costly

There are 3 Center Parcs locations in the UK but we visited the Sherwood Forest complex near Nottingham.

The whole place is very environmentally friendly – cars have to stay in a central car park other than during arrival and departure times. As a result everyone walks or uses bikes (take your own if you can as it works out quite pricey to hire bikes for the whole family). As the name suggests the place is set within a forest and it has been very well designed. There is also plenty of wildlife to be seen. I thought the photos in the brochure showing ducks, rabbits and squirrels playing on the patio were a one off but, no I can assure you that everyday the kids and myself spent some time enjoying the antics of the animals playing on the patio furniture!

The accommodation was quite spacious and clean. Even the basic villas include satellite TV, open fire (with an optional cover in case of young children) and barbecue.

Of course Center Parcs are known for their excellent swimming pools and believe me no visit wold be complete without a couple of visits to the ‘sub tropical paradise’. I personally am a poor swimmer but still loved the place and the atmosphere (and the heated flooring!)

There are a range of varied restaurants, our favorites were the Italian (Lucianos) and the family restaurant – Huckleberrys. This was meant to be an American restaurant but actually had a very varied menu – we ate there twice and were not disappointed. This place is also the favourite if you have children as they have an excellent play area which is supervised and also has close circuit TV’s should you wish to eat in peace while watching the kids.

The range of activities on offer are vast from archery, clay pigeon shooting to roller skating ( we tried the roller skating but not the others). They advise that you book in advance but we didn’t find a problem when we just turned up although this was early
June things may obviously be different in the height of the season.

Overall the whole family enjoyed Center Parcs but I felt that our 4 night stay was long enough for us – I may have felt claustrophobic if we had been there for a week. If you haven’t been before I’d certainly recommend it, whether or not you have children.

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