With chic woodland lodges, a packed activity schedule and those famous rapids, a Center Parcs break is popular among Brits.
And with a new village set to open in Scotland, there’s even more choice for families.
But now a US rival dubbed ‘the American Center Parcs’ is set to open three resorts on UK soil.
It will all sound pretty familiar to those who’ve stayed at Center Parcs: there’s a high ropes obstacle course, dance parties for the kids, and it’s very own water-themed must-do: The Howlin’ Tornado.
The American resort company hopes to make its UK debut with branches proposed to open in three spots: Basingstoke, Derbyshire and Hampshire, which will cater to around 500 guests.
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Another branch was approved in Bicester Village, Oxfordshire, but the development has been temporarily paused.
If approved, each lodge will have an adventure park, hotel and what Great Wolf Lodge is known best for, an impressive indoor water park.
The aquatic playgrounds will be decked out with slides and splash pads, heated to 29°C.
If swimming doesn’t appeal, kids can play mini bowling, mini golf or try winning at arcade games which include virtual reality.
Like Center Parcs, there’s also a rope course with obstacles and cross bridges for adventurous kids. In the evening, there’s dancing, music and storytelling.
Great Wolf Lodge said the expansion into the UK will benefit the local economy by generating around £1 million in visitor expenditure, benefitting surrounding businesses, and creating up to 600 jobs per resort.
An opening date has not been set yet and it hasn’t been announced how much it will cost to stay.
In the US, costs at Great Wolf Lodge range from £150 to £440 per night. A night at Center Parcs in a one-bed apartment starts at around £100.
The UK’s best holiday parks
While Center Parcs might be a big name, consumer guide Which? recently rated Potters Resorts as the best holiday park in the country. It has two branches, in Essex and Norfolk.
At around £110 per person a night, this will get you an all-inclusive stay – including alcohol – and access to their boating lake and shooting range.
For those who want to be near the coast, Waterside Holiday Group offers four parks in a range of accommodation from caravans to safari lodges across Cornwall and Dorset.
Its Chesil Vista holiday park is family friendly with an indoor pool and slide, soft play and an arcade. The caravans have double glazing, kitchens and widescreen TVs.
Hoburne Holidays and Hoseasons were both rated by Which? As the best value for your money.
Both companies offer family-friendly stays with on-site pools, entertainment and sports. Prices start at around £46 per person per night.
‘I have been to every Center Parcs in the UK’
Metro’s Lifestyle Editor, Kristina Beanland, shares her memories of growing up going to the restorts.
I’ve been going to Center Parcs with my family since I was in primary school.
As a child, I signed up to some weird and wonderful activities: from street dance (picture the instructor as an older Raygun) to an oft-regretted two days making a music video to Madness’ Baggy Trousers (I was about nine at the time, and was more of an S Club fan).
There was also a few bizarre years when I was big into circus skills. I’m still yet to find a real-world use for my diablo practice.
As I got older, I was lucky enough to call Center Parcs my retreat amid GCSE and A-Level stress. A place to revise among the quiet, before throwing myself head first down the rapids for some light relief.
Mind you, whatever my age, cycling up the hills (particularly those in Longleat Forest) has become no easier – to the point where I’ve now ditched the two wheels for two feet instead.
I’ve celebrated some pretty important milestones in a Center Parcs village: the final episode of Friends, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, to name just a few.
I’ve visited the village up in Cumbria, the one down in Bedford, and all the others in between – meaning I’ve been to every single one in the UK (although I haven’t ticked the Irish site off my list).
The village in Woburn is small and compact, and less than an hour away from London, but my favourite is probably Elveden, with its huge lake (try cable water skiing) and award-winning water ride, the Tropical Cyclone.
I only have happy memories (apart from that one time my mum tore her Achilles during an ill-fated game of badminton, but that’s a story for another day), and now the visits are less frequent, but still just as fun. Circus skills have been swapped for spa days, and I’ve been drunk on a bike on more occasions that I care to admit here.
Now, we’re joined by my young niblings – a new generation of my family is becoming equally as obsessed with Treats (iykyk) as I am.
Center Parcs is far from a budget holiday, but it’s worth saving up for – I can’t wait to go back.
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