Center Parcs Longleat

We were introduced to Center Parcs one New Year by some close friends, when we were at a loss when our traditional huge family Christmas/New Year fell apart.

Spending that first New Year week under the pine trees at Centrer Parcs Longleat with the family, good friends, doing as much or as little of the activities as we felt inclined, was wonderful. Being out in the fresh air, either walking or on two wheels, was amazingly liberating.

If you’ve not sampled the delights of Center Parcs, it is basically a huge park, and for Longleat that’s a huge forest.
Dotted around this forest are lots of villas, all neatly arranged under the trees so that you don’t over-look anyone, or get over-looked yourself.

One end of Longleat forest has a huge glass dome housing the Tropical Swimming pool, some nice shops and a clutch of restaurants.
While at the opposite end of the forest there’s a massive sports complex housing all of your regular sports, another couple of restaurants and a couple more shops too.
Nestled beneath the trees, mid-way between these two venues, are yet another couple of restaurants, a take-away and a venue for painting pottery.

It is very difficult to articulate the feeling of peace we get as soon as we enter the park.
The trees, the landscaping and the tranquillity of being in a forest all add up to a very peaceful place to be. Rain or shine. Add to this peacefulness the ‘bonus’ of limited or non-existent mobile phone access, dependant on your provider, and you feel a million miles away from the World outside.

For us, when the kids were younger, it was a safe place for them to explore on their own while we knew that they couldn’t get in to too much trouble while we enjoyed some well earned downtime, sports or a coffee in peace.

Now the girls are much older and have moved away with Universities etc, it is a  place for all of us to meet up and be a family and to enjoy some family time together.

One gripe we hear constantly is that it is too expensive, and OK, it is on the high side of ‘normal’. But you can make your stay cheaper by taking your own provisions and dining in and taking your own bikes, avoiding the need to rent one. You can also forgo the bike altogether and walk or even use the free land train that circles the park.
Of course, you can pimp your stay to the other extreme of the market by going totally VIP and upgrading to an executive villa and dining out for every meal.
Prices in the park shops and restaurants are now pretty comparable with regular ‘outside’ shops and restaurants leaving the choice to you as to whether you go DIY or not.
Personally, I have to admit that we have always booked the most basic villa and chosen to eat in to save money and it is only in very recent years that have we ventured out to use the restaurants, veering towards economy and to invest in the whole ‘experience‘ rather than in what you can buy.

Over the years we have seen a lot of changes.
Checking in has got a lot easier. Venues, shops and restaurants have come and gone. Branded coffee shops and restaurants have appeared.
More villas have popped up here and there. Sports have changed with the current fashion.
On-line booking has made things a lot easier.
Evolution I guess you’d call it.
An organisation moving with the times and the ever changing tastes of the public, but at the same time keeping it’s core values of great customer service and great value for money.

Taking the plunge all those years ago, we couldn’t have predicted we would get the bug and be returning again and again.

See you on the park soon !!!