A multi-generational holiday to Center Parcs

We recently went on our third multi-generational holiday to Center Parcs Longleat. My whole family went – 13 of us ranging in age from my 8 year old nephew to my 78 year old dad. If you can afford it (I know it’s really expensive), Center Parcs is a great place for the whole family to unwind, however young or old they are. I spend a lot of time with my family anyway, but it was lovely to have all that uninterrupted time with them and to see my kids really bonding with their little cousins.

We did a weekend (Friday to Monday) break in the summer holidays. You can also do a midweek (Monday to Friday) break. You can arrive as early as 10am on your arrival day and go straight to the swimming pool, but you can’t get into your accommodation until 4pm.

We stayed in two neighbouring Executive Lodges a two minute walk from the Plaza – where the Subtropical Swimming Paradise is. You have to pay extra to select the location of your accommodation, but we always select these lodges because the location is perfect. We had one three-bed lodge – where my sister’s family stayed with my parents – and a four-bed lodge where we stayed with my brother and his partner. The lodges are clean, spacious and well equipped. Every bedroom has its own ensuite. I’ve been lucky to go on three short holidays this year (I’ve also been to Amsterdam and Padstow) and the Center Parcs accommodation is by far the best. Although the mobile signal is generally bad at Center Parcs, the wifi in the lodge was about 100 times better than our wifi at home!

Everywhere at Center Parcs Longleat is clean and tidy. The staff are all really friendly and helpful, wherever you go.

The Subtropical Swimming Paradise

The Subtropical Swimming Paradise is what Center Parcs is all about. An indoor pool and an outdoor pool, lovely and warm, lots of things to do and lots of space to relax. You can spend hours in there  – and we did! The Subtropical Swimming Paradise is open from 10am-9pm every day.

My parents, especially my mum, don’t spend a huge amount of time in the water, but they’re happy sitting by the pool and just enjoying the atmosphere. We did manage to get all 13 of us on the lazy river, which just carries you along. It is very relaxing and then very funny when you try to leave, because the current is strong and it’s hard to get out. My daughter spent the whole time in absolute hysterics at trying to help my mum round and then out.

The Wild Water Rapids is my absolute favourite thing to do at Center Parcs. It’s a big outdoor water slide (or series of slides), which is a lot of fun. It is supposed to carry you all the way along without you walking or swimming yourself, but you usually have to do a bit. Sometimes the currents pull you backwards or stop you moving. Sometimes you crash into other people, including people you don’t know. I’m pleased to say that my dad still goes on the rapids and still enjoys it. We managed to get 12 of us on at once, which was great fun. My niece, who is only 10, is very protective of my dad and kept hanging back to see if he was OK, but he was fine. He loves it!

There are a couple of fun/ scary rides. Tropical Cyclone is for up to four people on one raft and it’s a proper thrill ride with a big drop. The queues can get quite long, but they do vary a bit. We queued for half an hour at one point, but at other times we only queued for five minutes. There seems to be a bit of a lunchtime lull in the queues, when the 10am swimmers have left and before the afternoon swimmers arrive. Typhoon is less scary and still a lot of fun. It’s for two people on a raft (although one person aged 16+ can go on alone). The queues are shorter, which is a very good thing. Tropical Cyclone and Typhoon are only open 11am-7pm. Center Parcs advise that they are quieter after 5pm, but when we went swimming in the evening the queues were pretty long.

Activities

There are SO MANY activities to do at Center Parcs, for all ages from toddlers upwards. There are sports, water activities, craft activities and nature activities. We didn’t actually do that many, as they’re pretty expensive and we’re all happy at the swimming pool.

My husband and sons played snooker, as well as tennis – both indoor and outdoors. My parents, sister and her family played crazy golf (called Adventure Golf). My brother and his partner hired bikes, which is both a nice activity and a good way to get around (you can take your own bikes instead, of course). My daughter and niece did the Aerial Adventure – a GoApe type course through the trees with a big zip wire at the end. My daughter has done it on every visit since she was about 7 (there is a height limit, but not an age limit). It was my niece’s first time and she wanted to do with her big cousin! For adults standing on the ground, it looks pretty terrifying. Some kids do get very scared and it’s horrible to see them upset.

Eating at Center Parcs

The kitchens at Center Parcs are well equipped, so it is easy to cook for yourself and eat in. My brother actually cooked a huge meal for all 13 of us on the first night. There is a small supermarket on site – ParcMarket – which stocks essentials and treats. We took a lot of food with us because ParcMarket doesn’t stock everything and has always been overpriced. This time, it wasn’t overpriced. It was like all the recent inflation had affected Sainsbury’s and Tesco, but not ParcMarket. The prices are now the same.

There are a few restaurants, including Cafe Rouge and Huck’s (an American diner, only open in the evenings). We all had a meal out at Bella Italia, which was very good. The food was really nice and we had an amazing, friendly waitress. The prices felt slightly higher than they would in the outside world, but maybe they were the same?! Four of us treated ourselves to lunch at The Pancake House, which is a lovely treat. They do sweet and savoury pancakes (or omelettes if you prefer). The setting is beautiful and the staff are fantastic. The Pancake House is open 9:30-17:00 and 9:00-15:00 on changeover days (Monday and Friday).

Center Parcs also does a good takeaway delivery service – Dining In – with a big takeaway menu, including Chinese and pizza. Deliveries are from 4pm. The on-site Indian restaurant, Rajinda Pradesh, also has a takeaway delivery menu, but you have to order it separately from the Dining In menu. Rajinda Pradesh delivers from 5pm. We had takeaway on our last night and it was very nice because everyone could eat what they wanted, rather than all having to have the same type of food.

Dog friendly?

We decided not to to take Hetty to Center Parcs, although there are a lot more dogs there than there used to be. It seems that dogs can walk anywhere on a lead. There are also a couple of dog exercise areas where they can run around off the lead. There are a limited number of dog friendly lodges available to book. Dogs aren’t allowed in restaurants, cafes or the Subtropical Swimming Paradise. We may look into taking Hetty in future, but it didn’t feel like Hetty (or ourselves) would have had enough freedom this time.

Electric car charging

Needless to say, we drove to Center Parcs in our electric car. Center Parcs has a decent number of chargers in the car park, which are supplied with zero carbon electricity. I don’t know if some of the chargers are faster than others, but we plugged into a Pod Point charger after unloading the car on Friday. That is the sort of charger we have at home and it is very slow, so we left it plugged in overnight and moved the car in the morning. Again, I don’t know if this is the case for all the chargers at Center Parcs, but the charger we used was FREE, although we did need to have the Pod Point app installed. You can book an EV charger in advance for peace of mind, but we didn’t need to do that.

 

However big or small your family is and however young or old your family members are, Center Parcs is a lovely place to relax and unwind. We are hoping to all go back again in two years.