Centre Parcs

When mum 1st told me she was going to be away for 3 Friday in October I decided that one of those weeks we go away. We wanted somewhere or under £500 where we could walk to various resturants for dinner, so after debating for months and talking to various people I finally decided we'd go to Centre Parcs Longleat for a 4 night stay as it pretty much catered for all our needs.

Accomadation wise I decided on a 2 bed new style executive lodge. I went for a 2 bed so J could have his own room like he does at home . The executive lodges have pretty much all you could need for your stay, centre Parcs even provide a cot (though not a cot sheet) and a high chair meaning we only had to pack clothes and j's toys. Next time through I will remember to take extra dishwasher tablets and some washing up liquid! The only thing that let the lodge down for me was the gas oven. Though it wasn't a massive issue just made cooking slightly interesting. I'd was able to hand pick our lodge and I have to say I 'd done a pretty grand job! Our lodge was quite central in the pine area with only a 15 minute walk to the plaza.

We arrived the Monday about 11:30 am so we didn’t have to queue very long at all at the main gate. After arrival we parked our car and made our way down to the main plaza for a look around. Here we ate lunch in Hawtons before purchasing some supplies in the supermarket. As I was warned the prices in the supermarket were a tad higher than any waitrose prices but for us it was more about the ease of it than anything. After this me and J walked to the lodge while hubby went and retrieved the car from the car park. If you don't know about centre Parcs it's a car free zone bar arrival and departure days oh and of course the maintaince staff have vans they drive around in.

One of the things I loved about the lodges is there is a great big notice board in the kitchen! Once unpacked I decided it make a note on it of what we had planned for our stay.

The other lovely thing is there is quite a big hall way where you can leave your shoes and coats meaning you don't have to bring any of the outside woodland into the lodge and then in the lodge there was plenty of room.

The 1st night I'd already booked us into Strada. As expected this was the same as any you would find on the high street and very similar prices. A note on the resturants, I had pre-booked Strada and another one a couple of weeks before arriving as it had been suggested to me, we never found any resturant on our stay to be mega busy but I have heard and read things to the contry so it best to pre book. They do of course offer a take away service which was similar price to any normal one. We didn't use it so I don't know if they deliver. 

One of my worries always when going away is how will I sleep, will the bed be all hard and lumpy? I have to say the Longleat beds are very comfy indeed.

Tuesday morning I had to set the alarm to make sure we were up and ready for our 8am swim lesson I had booked for J. The sing along swim was very similar to any waterbabies, Swim kidz lesson and  for us it was perfect and you as you get 2 x 30 mins sessions for the price. 

Later that day we ventured out to the village near by to get some food in Waitrose, oh and an umbrella for the hubby to keep him dry. That night we just stayed in.

Wednesday morning as the weather looked nice we took a walk around Center Parcs to the sports complex, there we found the best soft play, there are a couple others but no where near as good and not as accessible. What was great about it was it was all accessible to J, sometimes when I take him to a local one I have to help him climb up to the slide but not at this one. 

Along side the activities you have to pay for there are also quite a few good out door play areas. 

After lunch we decided to go and have a proper look around the swimming pool. It's very nice and is split up into 6 areas, a big out door pool leading to the Rapids, a big wave pool, 4 slides, a small baby area , a toddler area and a somewhat underused cafe. 

That night we eat in Hucks American diner which I had pre-booked. Think TGI's, I have to say it did what it said on the tin, nothing special not sure I would go to it again.

Thursday after our 2nd swimming lesson we made our way to Longleat Safari Park. I'd booked the tickets through longleats website instead of Centre Parcs one as with centre Parcs it only gave me the option of going Monday or Friday and we didn’t want to do there with a car full. I have to say I wasn’t overly impressed with it, it was quite expensive for what it was, so I won't be rushing back there. 

Hubby did have fun showing J how train signals worked

Mummy enjoyed looking at the giriffe with J and  J liked helping Daddy drive the car around the park. 

After spending the day at Longleat we decided just to stay in.

Finally our last day arrived. You have to be packed and out of your lodge by 10. After packing up the car and returning it to the car park we decided to spend our last morning swimming. As you can imagine the pool was somewhat busier that day. Was more noticeable when we got out we struggled to find a family changing room. We had a final lunch in Hawtons before leaving at about 1:30 at which point the queue to book in was almost back to the front gate! So It’s differently worth arriving early, unless Friday is just a very busy day?

Overall we had a great 4 day break away and I will differently be going back.