Last week we stayed for four nights (Monday to Friday) at Center Parcs Elveden Forest in Suffolk. To be honest I was unsure whether I was going to enjoy it as I am more a city break person but with twin 2 1/2 year old daughters we thought it would be ideal... And it was!
When you arrive at the main gate you are checked in, given a sticker to affix to your rear view mirror and the keys to your lodge. You then drive for what seems an age through the huge car park and then on a one way route through a forest of trees until you eventually reach your lodge (No. 824 in our case). We paid £50 extra to be close to the “Village Square” as we didn't want to undertake a long walk all the time with the girls.
Of course most people get around by bicycle which can be pain in the arse if you are a pedestrian because you seem to be dodging bikes all the time.
The the water park is situated in the Sports Plaza in the Village Square and is very impressive. There is the main pool which is themed like a tropical beach and has a wave machine that kicks in every half an hour, a lagoon which is pleasantly heated to 30 Celsius and a toddler/children's section called Venture Cove which has a variety of slides and water fountains. All of it is very well done and is free to use (all other activities cost extra).
There is an expensive supermarket which exploits it's advantage of having a captive audience and a collection of restaurants which are similarly priced more than their equivalents on the outside. We dined at Cafe Rouge and Hucks (American style diner) both of which were quite reasonable. The remainder of our stay we ate at our lodge including a barbecue (the disposable variety).
The quality and decor of our lodge was very good and we were pleased to discover the kitchenette was equipped with a dishwasher (we do not have one at home). The rooms were large and there was a bathroom with WC and also a separate WC. The only trivial issue we had was that we only had one proper cot instead of two (even though we had requested two) but this was easily remedied after a call to guest services.
The girls enjoyed the fun zone and also a teddy bears picnic which culminated with an appearance from Rupert Bear.
Unfortunately the holiday passed all too quickly but I reckon we will definitely go again. The main downside is that it is a very expensive to stay there... especially when restricted to school holiday times.
Rating: 9/10
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