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23 Jul 2007: Centre Parcs - be very scared!

Usually I am reviewing independent hotels, but last week we decided to "grit" our teeth and take the kids to Centre Parcs Elveden Forest in Suffolk. From check-in we received attitude,
bad service, poor quality accommodation and hot water and heating problems. We discovered later that our apartment was to be pulled down in August. These guys should be disgusted and simply should not rent apartments in that condition. Shabby, chewing gum on the carpets, dirty furnishings, just horrible. Other guests also made similar comments. It also took 5 calls to get towels, 2 engineer visits over 2 days to fix the hot water and 3 requests to be seated at a half empty Huck's Diner - amongst lots of other really irritatiing situations including not being able to be served food outside in the sunshine. They have all the faciltiies but no-one seems to be able to think outside the box. Maybe they assume because you travel with kids that bad service and shabby accommodation is OK. Maybe we were expecting too much - however for £700 for four nights + £££ for activities, I don't think we were.

I was scared before I even went to Centre Parcs, and my fears were justified. These guys need to train their staff properly and someone needs to show some leadership. We did book the accommodation at short notice, however at no time was the shabby condition explained and their website is full of happy smiling, almost luxurious images.

The idea is quite good and the kids loved it. I even did some scuba diving. But Centre Parcs, never again. Next time I'll rent my own cabin in another forest and do our own thing. This really reinforces the beauty of the Internet, allowing you to piece together your own idea of the perfect holiday. Back to Blog