Stayed in a basic comfort villa, which was a bit dated in it's decor and not squeaky clean, but a quick sweep round and a bit of Kitchen Spray and it was fine...bit disappointed in the appearance of the villas, naively expected them to be log cabin style but they were more on the breeze block look, but the heating was excellent along with the cooking facilities.

All crockery and cutlery provided (Inc Corkscrew) you will need to take things like salt& pepper (we forgot) and all cleaning stuff and tea towels

Patio doors opening out onto Patio complete with ducks, squirrels, rabbits and pheasants (usually waiting for breakfast in the morning!)And surrounded by trees ours was is a very quiet location, think the ones nearer the centre may get a bit of noise especially from the swimming pool.......

I have stayed at Center Parcs yearly, sometimes twice a year, since Sherwood opened. We are into our 21+ stay to date.

All Parcs are great, nothing like Haven/Butlins, and (we did try these once!). CP is very quiet, calm and restful, with great villas in beautiful locations. Always get a map from them before booking and pay the extra charge to specify villa you want. Keep away from roadways/paths so you are not overlooked/bothered by people walking home late at night.

Chose to overlook forest/waterways/closeness to centre [extra charge].

Arrive early -10am, park in car park and unload late, 4pm, so miss the traffic rush at 3pm access time to villas. Use pool [swim evenings always to 10pm], take a long walk, let kids use playground [huge], play ball [take own], or cycle in the forest.

We have booked all villa types, basics are fine for families, kids won

We have just returned last night from sherwood, we last visited two and a half years ago, they have made some great improvements, the aqua sana, extension to children's pool, huge extension to jardin de sport.
It's a fantastic place to visit you can do as much or as little as you want, you can make it is cheap or as expensive as you want by either eating in or out.
We stayed in a basic comfort villa which we felt were very dated, next time we plan to splash out a bit and book an executive villa. Staff are very friendly and helpful ( much nicer than those at Oasis whinfell!)
Center parcs are excellent places for a hol, next time were going to try Elveden.

Center Parcs - Oasis - Cumbria - their 4th park.

Why is it not listed under the UK Hotels as are CP other 3 parks?, how do you get it added? there are no Contact Us links for this website!

We stayed at above in Oct 03 and am happy to supply a report if wanted.

In brief

Oasis has only been bought by Center Parcs [from Rank] in last two years, around 2002.

Oasis is not as nice as the original CP parks, but they appear to be making a lot of changes.
The staff, or some of them, need some more 'happy dust'.
The park needs lots more trees and forestry.

They are building loads more apts, a big mistake.

The dome is great but closes very early, so no late swims. The Rapids [not] - really a big flume, closes even earlier, around 5pm !!!

Worth giving them a try, but be aware the park was not built by them, so they are adapting what they have, though why the strange continuation of the querky rules; later access, no dogs etc etc, I do not understand. Oasis should fall into line with all CP standard practice.

Oasis has some nice stage shows, and kids shows. The Xmas and Easter offerings are excellent. Not done in other CP parks. They also have a BurgerKing !

A 5th park is due to be announced this year, 2004, how does one get it added to this site. It will be in the South West I guess.

See my Sherwood/Longleat reports for more info on CP, we have been 21 times, and continue to do so.

Another die hard centerparcs fan here!

The first occasion we went was on my son's first birthday and he's nearly 15 now. We go once or twice a year.

New Year at Sherwood is simply the best. It may seem expensive but when considering it is for 6 (as it is in our case) I don't consider it any more expensive than other places.

There are ways and means of getting the most out of your holiday at Centerparcs. If anything is bookable in advance (eg at New Year) then book at the earliest opportunity). If you can't book in advance get there early as we do.

We generally arrive at about 10ish in the morning and go straight to the Leisure Bowl to book all the activities we wish to do in advance. This is not possible for activities which require a court such as squash or badminton. These may only be booked the day before (get up early as they may be booked up by 10).
I would also recommend getting back to the car by 2.30 and either starting or joining the queue to go through the barrier. This has many advantages including getting a decent parking area right outside your villa and also a parking space back in the carpark which isn't miles away (providing you unpack quickly as we do).
If you enjoy cycling take your own if possible. We hired bicycles on our first visit but have not bothered since. Everywhere is easily within walking distance and the lovely walks just add to the pleasure of the holiday (imho).

The Aqua Sana is just soooooo luxurious. A 3 hour spa session last year cost

We've gone practically every year since it opened-and so we have a great fondness for the place.

I do think the owners could spruce up the outside of the villas a bit as they are showing their age-but it's a lovely place to get away from it all-especially if you have kids.

We arrived at 3pm, and were told there would be really long queues to get to our villa. However, once we cleared the main entrance it was all plain sailing and in we went.
There were 12 of us, so we had booked 2 adjoining 3 bedroom villas. These were in the Maple area, and the most basic. However they were very well stocked with all the kitchen equipment, a toaster, a microwave, and most importantly a kettle for pot noodles and a corkscrew and bottle opener! The bathroom and toilet were separate and clean, although the loo had a continental shape with the water at the front and a shelf at the back, much to the boys hilarity!!. The villa was very warm, sometimes too warm, with underfloor heating and radiators. Each villa had its own mini patio with table and chairs, but it was too cold for us to take advantage of this.
We didn't do too may activities, partially due to the high cost of anything interesting, and partially due to activities which were not on the prebooking form, such as a massage, being fully booked already on the Friday night. We had great fun playing crazy golf (think that had as much to do with the amount of beer consumed as the golf itself ) and made good use of the free swimming pool. The "outside bit" shouldn't be missed - it's a pool which goes from inside the greenhouse to outside it, and its heated so you won't die out there. It felt amazing on a cold wet windy March night to be in an outside swimming pool. The slides and rapids are good fun, but be warned, do not go on the rapids unless you are a very good swimmer as the last plunge pool really sucks you down - I am a fairly strong swimmer, but I had to be hauled out by 2 of my friends as I couldn't surface. Also not to be missed in the tropical paradise are the 35C whirlpools - lovely!
We also attempted rollerskating, but found the room too small to get going properly, and far too hot. The floor was also not best suited either, it was rubbery, so the wheels did not turn as much as they should have which combined with the temperature made it very hard going. The other thing we attempted to do was hire bikes. However I am very small, and when they gave me an adult bike it was blatantly too big for me, so I asked for a teenage frame - they had plenty - to be told in no uncertain terms that as I am over 14 I had to have an adult bike. As it would have not been safe for me to do so we all asked for our money back - and 12 times