Centre Parcs/Oasis

[Debs Hill]

Has anyone out there stayed at either of these? If so, which one, what type of accommodation and what were the good and bad points? I've heard that it's expensive once you get there, is that true? Do any of the accommodations have open fires or jacuzzi baths?! Or did I dream that?!!!

 

[Elaine Guidi]

I have stayed at all 3 Centre Parcs in Britain and also Oasis, over a 5 year period (stayed at Elveden twice). We have always shared a villa with another couple and their children. My personal opinion of the accomodation is great. You get a good living/dining space which also incorporates the kitchen - so you don't feel like you are stuck away in the kitchen. You have your own patio with table and chairs. Our kids have been young when we went and we didn't use all the sporting facilities so I don't know costs. The lagoons are excellent and free, each park has numerous play areas and some soft play areas in some pubs. Prices in the shop are slightly higher than your local supermarket, but we just did a grocery shop prior to arrival and used the on-site shop for milk, daily papers etc. The restaurants are all nice and clean, kid friendly and average prices really. If you want to know somethings specifically let me know how many of you are going as this makes a difference to the size of accomodation, we have stayed in a 4, 6 and 8 villa. The 8 people villa has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms which is handy. I'd recommend it for a good British holiday as there are activities indoors so you don't depend solely on the weather, and its much cleaner and roomy than Butlins for example

 

[Hilary]

We've stayed in CP Longleat (three or four times) and Sherwood (twice) and I really love them. I'd be happy to go back again and again.

We've had a variety of 'villa' types including a standard two-bedroomed, a two-bedroomed 'executive', a three-bedroomed 'dog-allowed', and a four-bedroomed. All are very similar - even the 'executive' - in layout which, as Elaine says, is very family-friendly. Check the floor layouts of the individual villa types in the CP brochure as some of them (I think the exec.) have the bedrooms separated by the living area, which isn't so ideal if your children are very small and need you close at hand. I think all the villas have fireplaces (not sure about the apartments) although you can only use special briquettes in them which you must buy there. The executive villas have jacuzzi baths.

Our family hasn't made extensive use of the extra activities on offer, but I can imagine how costly it would be if you had sports-mad teenagers in tow who wanted to try out anything and everything! I don't think the charges are much out of line with what you might pay elsewhere for similar activities and you can be confident that the facilities will be good quality. We've managed to survive quite happily with the cycling, walking and swimming which don't cost extra (apart from bike hire if you need it) as our main activities with maybe just one or two extra things for each of us during the trip.

Negatives? I don't appreciate having to make our own beds on arrival (not sure whether they've addressed this now), or stripping them down ourselves at the end of the trip!
I wish there were towels included in all the villas (they are in the exec. villas - that's one of the reasons we tried one) as we need a whole bag full of towels for the villa and the pool between us.
I know that a lot of the activites take place under cover, but if it's raining you can get very wet walking or cycling to the activites! And then you've got to find somewhere to put all your wet outer clothes once you get there.

 

[Debs Hill]

It will be just my husband and I with our 2 yr old son, but we'd like him to have a separate bedroom so we can have some privacy! Are the executive villas for adults only?

Which was your favourite resort and why? Are there any that you have heard not such favourable reports about?

Do they offer babysitting or creche? What is there to do at night?

Are the villas secluded or close together?

Thanks in advance for your help!!!! If anyone has any pictures I'd love to see them!

 

[Hilary]

Are the executive villas for adults only?

No, not at all. If I'd stayed in the exec. villa when my two DDs were very young I might have been concerned that we weren't right next door to their bedroom, but maybe that's just my over-cautious nature

Which was your favourite resort and why

We preferred Longleat over Sherwood, but mainly because it's a much shorter journey for us. We also liked the 'woodsy' feel. I don't know when Elveden is scheduled to re-open after their fire, but presumably there will have been a lot of renovation work done to give it a new feel.

Are the villas secluded or close together

They are actually very close together, but so cleverly arranged that you don't really notice your neighbours. There are groups of villas in blocks, but even the patios have been designed so that none are overlooked by the neighbouring patios.

Do they offer babysitting or creche? What is there to do at night

I don't know about b/sitting. The swimming pool stays open until 10:00pm I think, and there are quite a few restaurants to choose from. I'm sure there are some activities that continue in the evening (e.g. badminton, ten-pin bowling, etc.).

 

[Elaine Guidi]

Our first visit was when my son was 20 months, and we had a really good holiday. Entertainment didn't cost much as we pretty much stuck to the pool - which is great for all ages - and the play parks, of which there are many spaced all around the park. We did eat out but had breakfast in villa everyday and some other meals too as everything you need to prepare food is available. We stayed in a villa for 4 people the first time, this had 2 bedrooms. so we had one and he had the other (it had 2 single beds, and a cot available (already in the villa). I haven't stayed in an executive villa so I can't help you there. In future years we went on to share larger villas with friends and even though the families have expanded over the years, we have always felt we had lots of space and never felt cramped.
My personal favourite was Elveden CP or Oasis, it came very close. One of the reasons Sherwood Forest wasn't favourite is that lots of the shops etc are outside, whereas the others parks have them inside the bubble, just in the event of bad weather!! Longleat was newer and I enjoyed it very much. I would go back without hesitation but it is good to be aware that it is more hilly and you walk from your villa to the centre in a Z, gradually going downhill, this takes longer, and makes for lots extra walking which some people may not like.
There is a babysitting service, not sure of chanrge where they use registered babysitters from the local area - I'm sure it is all done with Child Protection etc but I'd ask each individual centre to confirm before use.
To look at the villas appear close but they are built in a staggered formation so that the next villa door front starts half to three quarters back from your front so you have your own space in front and behind the villa, but you walk passed them all when you leave your villa to go anywhere.
Any more questions please ask.

 

[WDWfan uk]

We've also stayed at all three Center Parcs ( Elveden twice partly due to it only being an hour's drive from here) and once at Oasis.

My favourite was Longleat - it is set in lovely countryside and is so spacious, you can still get that feeling of solitude which you cannot get in the others - particularly Elveden has more villas in less space. There are also plenty of places of interest outside the parc to visit.

I would not go back to Oasis again ( taken over by Center Parcs now aren't they?) although I thought their villas were very good I prefer the overall style of Center Parcs - I would go back to Longleat.

I don't cycle at home at all but I enjoy it at Center Parcs as it is a car free environment except on change over days. Longleat is more challenging as it has some very hilly places but there are still plenty of places where you can cycle that are flat or manageable. We have taken the boys bikes with us and hired bikes for ourselves - you can save money by bringing your own bikes.

You can spend quite a bit extra if you eat in the restaurants all the time and you pat for each activity apart from the swimmimg paradise, but you do get a reasonably equipped kitchen if you want to do your own cooking.

Also, we did have a jacuzzi in the Eleveden villas even though they weren't executive.

Do you have their brochure as it lists all the facilities an accommodation at each site? Just in case you don't, their website is at www.centerparcs.co.uk and that may have their brochure line or you could call 08705 200 300 which is their reservation line.

Hilary, I seem to remember that at Longleat which was our most recent visit to a CP, the beds were already made up! I agree with you , that it's is usually a major hassle but we were pleased to find that it had been done for us.

You can hire towels at an extra cost but we usuall take our own...... there's never enough!! ( I also take extra tea-towels as the one they give for a week is not enough.)

Another thing I just remembered - I found the beds very hard at Oasis and I found it too challenging to bike there!!

 

[dizzydeb100]

Having 2 boys 12 and 9, we have stayed at CP extensively...by far the best park is Longleat...BUT be warned with smaller kids you do need to be on the plaza side of the park as its a long way to the other side ...even though they run the land train to get guests around, we dont like to be hanging about waiting so always make a preference for our villa...they charge £12 for the privilidge. Its a fair comment to make about the expense of activities...some are very reasonable for 4 of us...others wat too expensive in my oppinion...but all in all for the more up market feel of the place I dont consider it to be expensive if you manage to pace yourself and your kids. We tend to eat out only a couple of times and have been pleased in recent years to see the arrival of microwaves in the villas for quick and easy suppers after leaving the pool at 10pm. As my kids have got older I have to say that the pool area is the biggest attraction anyway they are both strong swimmers and are allowed a little freedom.

All in all we LOVE Centre Parcs and even though we are close to Elveden we would always go to Longleat...we have a regular holiday in January...although will be in Disney this year on our first visit instead.

 

[Nick The Cat]

We have stayed at both CP and Oasis and by far the best location was Oasis but we went not long after they had opened and found the staff rude and the general maintenance of the site very poor. It may be better now that CP have taken them over. We normally go to Longleat and love it. With a young child I would recommend requesting a particular villa even if it costs extra, the walk or cycle uphill from the other end of the park could be wearing after a couple of days .
The executive villas are nice and you have maid service every day but as our children have got older we have just gone for an ordinary villa and taken their cousins with them so they can have some extra freedom. We usually allow them one or two extra activities over a weekend so the costs don't mount up and DH and I go to the Aqua Sana for an afternoon. Other than that there is plenty of things to do that don't cost extra - swimming, cycling, play parks.

 

[Wexford]

Hi

Just to let you know Eleveden is sheduled to reopen in June/July

2003. We were booked to go this year but due to the fire we had to cancelle so we are now booked for Novnext year.

Ive been to Oasis last year stayed in a 4 bed villa and had a brilliant time.

 

[WDWfan uk]

Welcome to the DIS Dizzydeb Look forward to more of your posts
Yes, we always pay the extra to request that we are close to the main area........ not TOO close that is! I have always found the reservation clerks most obliging.

Thank you for the update on Elveden - they had not long given it a complete refurb before that devastating fire, hadn't they? Did they offer you some priority for booking next year or weren't they able to?

 

[Wexford]

Hi

Yes we did have priority booking we had the opporutnity to book 14 days before the booking lines were opne to the general public.

Centre Parcs also sent us £150.00 of vouchers to use for this booking as we had to cancel our last holiday due to the fire.

Nov 03 seems such a long way off though.

We managed to get villas fairly close to the main complex if we wanted to be any closer they were charging £30.00 extra per villa.

I think im right in saying that elveden also have a hotel there as well for people who dont want to stay in a villa.

 

[lenny l]

deleted

 

[BevS97]

I've stayed at Sherwood Forest, and also at one in Holland (Kempervennen), SF was ok, but we preferred Kempervennen. The main drawback agt SF was that it rained, and the village area is outside, so you can't really escape from it. Also the water main burst, so we had no water for 1 morning. I guess that was an unusual scenario though!

We had a group of 8 and booked 2 two-bed villas next door to each other, and that worked very well. I love my mum and dad to bits, but sometimes too much togetherness can be a bad thing! the bedrooms are at opposite ends of the villa, but I didn't think that was a big problem. In Kempervennen we had a 3 bedroom and the bedrooms were all together, so they must have a variety of floor plans.

We used the creche at SF for my dd, she went for a couple of hours one afternoon while I had a massage (Fantastic! I definitely recommend the massage!). I've no idea what happened in the creche but Katie seemed happy enough when I picked her up. They have to be 3 to use the creche and they are strict about it, 2 children were turned away becauase they were a week away from 3.

Bev

 

[dizzydeb100]

Thanks for the welcome to the board, I have been rading for some time but only just registered as a member.

We are off for our first Disney visit on 28th Dec and I have been reading the posts for valuable information. It has come in handy immediatele...I wanted to PS R&Crown at Epcot for NYE meal, yep I know its going to be busy for our first visit, but we plan to have NYE as our first day in the parks...then pretty much stay out till 2/3rd Jan giving us a further 10 days vacation when crowds may be less...in your experience is this a good idea??? Anyway got throug to CM who informed me that couldnt PS untill 3rd October so I hung up. Then rememberd a post a little while ago from someone trying to PS for another event and was given incorrect info from CM, their advice was to call back and speak to someone else. As I knew that I had the 120 days correct I did just that and got the PS for exactly when I wanted

Not sure what the motto of the story is...my advice...call back if you are sure your are correct.