Center Parcs 2021 – Day One – Where the Kettle Makes no Difference to Your Holiday Enjoyment

I read a very sniffy article about Center Parcs recently where the author highlighted the fact that given you are paying upwards of £300 a night you are only supplied with a £10 kettle. Admittedly this particular author is used to reviewing high end hotels but I really think he was missing the point somewhat.

I say all this because today was the first day of our holiday in Center Parcs Longleat. This isn’t our first visit here but we haven’t been in a while but I don’t think that in all the times we have been here we have ever bothered about the amount of money that was spent on the kettle. I’d be surprised if the vast majority of visitors here give the white goods a second thought. You’re on holiday after all.

Center Parcs on the outside feels a little like an open prision. I’m basing this observation on what I have read about open prisions in the media rather than any firsthand knowledge to be clear. You arrive at a gate where you are checked in and beyond that everything is enclosed by wire fencing. Everything is here onsite and so there is no reason to leave during your stay, and why would you want to?

Center Parcs does have a reputation for being expensive. If you sign up for all the extracurricular activities on offer then the costs can mount up but it is also possible to have a fantastic holiday doing none of that. The holiday villas are set in woodlands and there are plenty of walks and cycle routes that you can do. For younger visitors there are adventure playgrounds. And, of course, there’s the centre piece, the swimming pool.

Calling it a swimming pool really is doing it an injustice as it it nothing like your local rectangular pool. This is on multiple levels with waves, flumes and an outside area that’s heated as warm as my baths at home. Normally, by which I mean pre-Covid, you had unfettered access to the pool and you could go all day every day if you wanted. However, currently there are restrictions on access and you can only visit twice for two hours per five day stay. This does make the package worse value but is only a short term measure.

I will pick out some highlights from our stay over the coming week and as long as it continues to boil water successfully for my tea I won’t bother about the price of the kettle!