Center Parcs

Who has the time or patience to read instruction manuals? Not me. But it pays to read the Plan Your Break guide that Center Parcs sends out from cover to cover. Twice. Otherwise terrible things can happen.

Each of Center Parcs’ four woodland villages in the UK can hold about 4,000 guests. So if you want to take part in one of the staggering number of activities on offer you have to book in advance, and quickly, or risk junior meltdown when you tell your children that raft building is full.

Before our trip to Elveden Forest we booked pony trekking and ten-pin bowling, Mini Crossbows (don’t try this at home), and Mini Soccer Academy, a spa session for me and a dinner in the posh French restaurant, plus bikes for the three days. This seemed enough because, having been before, we knew we had to factor in long sessions in the Subtropical Swimming Paradise.

Even so, from the moment we checked into our two-bedroom lakeside Executive Villa (the “Executive” tag meant we didn’t have to bring our own towels), it felt as if we were on a schedule, and racing to fit everything in – not easy given the maze of woodland paths, which meant we got lost at least half a dozen times a day.

Holly, 7, and Rory, 4, enjoyed all their activities, especially the pony trekking, but were just as happy when they had the chance to potter around the woods looking for rabbits, play in the adventure playground, on the beach next to the man-made lake, and in Holly’s case, hurtle endlessly down the waterslide. It made me think that for younger children, paying for more than a few activities is a bit of a waste.

I’d also be wary of booking a lengthy spa session if I was on my own. Aqua Sana has hydrotherapy pools and saunas and steam rooms (as well as a full range of treatments from Elemis, Decléor and Carita) but it was full of garrulous girlies in big, gossipy groups.

What I would do again is dine in La Sapinière, on top of the Lakeview Hotel, the only revolving restaurant left in the UK. Some of the restaurant food in Center Parcs is pretty dire (step forward Huck’s Diner), but here it’s perfectly pleasant, there’s a family evening twice a week and the gently revolving floor provides endless entertainment for all ages – who knew where your table would have got to when you came back from the loo?

Verdict For full-on action-packed family bonding, Center Parcs is great. But it is more expensive than you might expect. Villa, meals and activities, virtually all of which, apart from the subtropical pool, are extra, can easily rack up a bill of £1,000 for three nights for a family of four.

Need to know: A two-bed-room executive villa sleeping up to four people starts at £419 for a weekend break. Details: 08705 200 300, www.centerparcs.co.uk.

Ickworth Hotel

For much the same price as a weekend break at Center Parcs you can roll up the gravel drive for three nights in the east wing of Ickworth, one of the most gorgeous 18th-century stately homes in the UK, the flagship of the Luxury Family Hotels group. I scribbled my name in the visitors’ book and slumped down at a table in the garden with a G&T and a happy sigh. Rory zoomed off on a mini-tractor and Holly made friends bouncing on a trampoline pitched some way across the lawn. Perfect.

Popular with wealthy London couples with smallish children, Ickworth in Horringer covers all the bases. It’s smart but relaxed and the food is good. There’s nothing like the same number of activities as at Center Parcs, but there’s still plenty to do. A playroom is staffed by nannies who will look after 0-6-year-olds for up to two hours at a time, a games room for older kids has table football and PlayStations and in an outhouse is a big pool.

Outside Ickworth House, there’s a big adventure playground and guests have free access to the house and grounds. During summer holidays a sports coach supervises games three afternoons a week, bikes are free, riding lessons are £40 an hour and for £85, a local farmer will whisk up to seven of you off in his 4x4 for a wildlife-spotting tour of the estate, telling tales of the debauched John Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol, who drove his Ferrari into the lake, and before his death in 1999 had to sell the lease of the East Wing. For adults the small spa is a peaceful haven.

In the evenings, kids can have high tea from a well thought-out children’s menu and pop upstairs with a DVD or a board game from reception, while parents can make full use of the baby-listening service and go for the gourmet experience in candle-lit Fredericks. Don’t expect a riotous house-party atmosphere, though – most people seem to be tucked up by 11pm.

The way to keep the cost manageable is to pile into one room with the kids on sofa or Z-beds, or to take an apartment in the Dower House which is a 10-minute walk away. I’d plump for a room in the main house because, not wanting to self-cater, it was a bit of a bore schlepping back and forth.

Verdict: For parents with small kids, coming to Ickworth for a recharger is a no-brainer. But the emphasis is on small – most over10s would probably be happier at Center Parcs.

Need to know: Weekends from £280 half-board per room per night, weekdays from £180 half-board, children’s meals extra. Details: 01284 735350, www.vonessenhotels.com.

Going green

Center Parcs’ old lodges, with their plastic shower curtains and green furniture, are fraying at the edges – so the next bold step is a £60million overhaul. At least 1,000 lodges are due to be transformed by next April, with the first batch available for hire from September.

The designer Tara Bernerd, who is working on early refits at Sherwood Forest, has replaced carpets with oak flooring, and added open fires. While older lodges seem garish and somewhat chintzy, the revamps are like dropping in to a trendy cousin’s riverside condominium. There are plasma TVs, naturally, dishwashers in the kitchen, chrome Villeroy & Boch fittings in the bathrooms and a barbecue area.

Commendably, in keeping with the ecological approach to living, Center Parcs includes separate recycling bins under the kitchen sink, with bottle and newspaper banks. Four nights midweek at a new two-bedroom villa sleeping four at Whinfell (available from September) will cost from £489, with three-night weekend breaks from £449.

Mike Barnard

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