Center Parcs UK and Ireland (formerly Center Parcs UK) is a short-break holiday company that operates six holiday villages in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, with each covering about of woodland. The company's first village opened at

Sherwood Forest Sherwood Forest is a royal forest in Nottinghamshire, England, famous because of its historic association with the legend of Robin Hood. The area has been wooded since the end of the Last Glacial Period (as attested by pollen sampling cores ...

, Nottinghamshire, in 1987 and its sixth, at Longford Forest, Ireland, opened in 2019. A similar enterprise operates in continental Europe, also under the name

Center Parcs Center Parcs may refer to: * Center Parcs UK and Ireland Center Parcs UK and Ireland (formerly Center Parcs UK) is a short-break holiday company that operates six holiday villages in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, with each cover ...

; however, the two companies have been separately owned since 2001. The company marked its thirtieth anniversary in 2017.

History

Beginnings

In 1968, Dutch entrepreneur

Piet Derksen Piet Derksen (1913 in Rotterdam – 24 February 1996 in Westerhoven) was a Dutch businessman who founded Center Parcs. A devout Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, wit ...

purchased woodland near

Reuver Reuver (Limburgish: ''Oppe Ruiver'') is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Beesel, about 10 km (6 miles) south of the city of Venlo.''ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland'', Topografische Dienst ...

so that staff and customers of his 17 store

sporting goods Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...

chain could relax in small tents. The park, , was successful and tents were quickly replaced by

bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a bu ...

. In July 1987, Center Parcs opened its first UK resort at Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. At that time, "Center Parcs" (under that name, with no regional qualifier) was a single global company owning both UK and continental European resorts. In 1989 it opened its second village in the UK at Elveden Forest. Center Parcs (including the Sherwood Forest and Elveden Forest villages) was bought in 1989 by (the now defunct)

Scottish & Newcastle Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold. The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...

. In 1994 it opened its third village in the UK located west and southwest from the first two and near Longleat Adventure & Safari Park.

Independence

After the Longleat Forest and Whinfell Forest villages opened and during a move in 2001 to concentrate on their core brewing business, Scottish and Newcastle sold the UK side of ''Center Parcs'' to

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

ists Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, and it became a separate company known then as Center Parcs UK. The remainder of Center Parcs continued to operate, becoming known as Center Parcs Europe. The two companies have since operated under very similar branding, but are now owned and operated by two distinct companies. (In 2003 S&N sold Center Parcs Europe to a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

-based

Pierre & Vacances Groupe Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs () specializes in tourism services, providing holiday and entertainment ''villages'', leisure activity residences and hotels under the brands Pierre & Vacances, Maeva, Center Parcs, Sunparks, and Adagio (th ...

(P&V), who already owned the competing Gran Dorado Resorts, and German investment group DBCP, hence completing the divesting of Center Parcs from the restructured S&N.) In December 2003, Mid Ocean agreed to sell the UK resorts to Arbor Ltd for £285 million, a special vehicle set up to float Center Parcs UK on

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in operation since 1980. It allows ...

, and in 2005 it moved to the main stock market listing. In May 2006 Center Parcs UK Group PLC was sold to

The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate bu ...

for a reported £1.1 billion, and subsequently re-registered as a

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

. Under a separate deal at the same time, Blackstone also bought the freehold of the European sites from P&V, which allowed them to rebrand all of the European sites as Center Parcs. In June 2015, it was announced that Blackstone had agreed to sell the company to

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-based

Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...

for £2.4bn. At the time Center Parcs UK employed around 7,500 people and received around 2 million guests in 2015.

Queen Elizabeth II's funeral

In September 2022, Center Parcs made the decision to close all of its UK locations for the

funeral of Elizabeth II On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death ...

. This included moving all check-ins scheduled for Monday 19 September to the following day, and asking that all guests already present vacate the site by 10am and not return until 10am on Tuesday. The company later partially reversed this decision, after widespread ridicule and derision by the UK media and customer complaints. It later clarified that guests may remain on site, but that they would be prevented from leaving their accommodation on the day of the funeral. This statement was later amended, with guests told they'd be able to walk around the sites on that date if they wished. However, guests due to arrive on the Monday were still to be denied access to the site, causing disruption to travel plans for many.

Locations

Center Parcs has short-break holiday villages in five locations in the UK, with a sixth in Ireland which opened in 2019. Each village covers around of woodland, with a standard set of facilities, and have around 97% occupancy annually. No personal cars are allowed into the villages except on arrival and departure days.

Sherwood Forest

The first Center Parcs holiday village in the United Kingdom was opened in July 1987. It is located in of woodland at

, near

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. The site was formerly owned by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

, and was chosen as it was "pretty central n the UK it had the right maturity of trees and was in an area affected by the demise of the coal industry". In November 2006 around 30 people were infected by

Cryptosporidium ''Cryptosporidium'', sometimes informally called crypto, is a genus of apicomplexan parasitic alveolates that can cause a respiratory and gastrointestinal illness (cryptosporidiosis) that primarily involves watery diarrhea (intestinal cryptosp ...

, causing

vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the Human nose, nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like Food-poisoning, foo ...

and

diarrhoea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

, suspected to have spread through infected faeces in a pool at the park. By 2012 it was receiving around 400,000 visitors annually, mostly from outside of Nottinghamshire. It can have around 4,000 visitors at any one time. The occupancy rate was over 90% in the first 30 years of operation. A £3 million refurbishment of the Aqua Sana spa finished in April 2017, and a £15 million refurbishment of the Subtropical Swimming Paradise swimming facilities at the village started in September 2017. The village employs 1,500 people, of which around 700 are housekeepers. The site originally had 609 lodges, which increased to 900 by the end of 2017. It has a mixture of Woodland Lodges, New Woodland Lodges, Executive Duplex Lodges, Penthouse Duplex Lodge, Executive Apartment, Executive Lodge, New Executive Lodge, and Treehouses, with between one and four bedrooms in each. Three luxury Treehouses were opened in 2010, each with four bedrooms. A six-bedroom Woodland Lodge was opened in 2017, along with 27 other woodland lodges. There is a watersports lake near the Village Square, although only craft hired from the Boathouse may be used upon it.

Elveden Forest

Two years later, in 1989, a second village was added, at Elveden Forest. It makes up a small area of

Thetford Forest Thetford Forest is the largest lowland pine forest in Britain and is located in a region straddling the north of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk in England. It covers over in the form of a Site of Special Scientific Interest. History Thetf ...

west of the B1106 road and near the town of

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is named after the nearby village of

Elveden Elveden is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. In 2005 it had a population of 270. The village is bypassed by the A11 between Cambridge and Norwich, which ran through the centre of the villa ...

. Just before 10am on 4 April 2002 a major

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

destroyed the central Plaza and sports centre of Elveden Forest. One member of staff was treated for smoke inhalation, but there were no serious injuries. The fire also destroyed seven bars and restaurants, a disco, some gift shops, a sports centre and a bowling alley. The damage to the forest was minimal. A subsequent inquiry found that the blaze was caused by contractors carrying out repair work on the roof of a catering block adjacent to the Plaza. Elveden Forest re-opened in July 2003 after a major re-design, less susceptible to the potential spread of fire. The most dramatic difference was to the village square which was rebuilt with an open-air Mediterranean theme. The sub-tropical swimming paradise re-opened having survived the blaze; the sauna complex was changed to a

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

nese theme, and a new Sports Plaza was opened. Whilst it was closed, the rest of the village was also improved including the refurbishment of the country club and the addition of a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

and new three- and four-bedroom lodges. Elveden Village Square

Elveden Forest has a total of 866 units of accommodation which range from 'Woodland' grade to exclusive villas and include rooms at the Lakeview Hotel. These villas and rooms can accommodate up to 4,216 guests. Villas are located in six different areas with each area mostly including every type of accommodation, but the Ash and Oak areas are predominantly made up of executive and exclusive villas. Ash was extended in 2007 to include new four-bedroom two-storey villas.

Longleat Forest

The third village opened in 1994. It makes up a large area of

Longleat Forest Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of War ...

in the county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England, and is co-located on the site of

Longleat Safari Park Longleat Safari and Adventure Park in Wiltshire, England, was opened in 1966 as the world's first drive-through safari park outside Africa. History The park is situated in the grounds of Longleat House, an English stately home which is open t ...

nearby, approximately east of

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

and a few miles west of

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

. This village has fewer lodges than Elveden Forest and Sherwood Forest due to the steep topography of the site. In December 2022, a 4 year old boy died in the Subtropical Swimming Paradise at the resort

Whinfell Forest

In 1997,

The Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

had opened a similar style holiday village in

Whinfell Forest Whinfell Forest is a small area of woodland in the parish of Brougham, Cumbria, south east of Penrith in Cumbria and just off the A66 road leading to Appleby-in-Westmorland. The forest is a short distance from the Lake District national park and ...

near

Penrith, Cumbria Penrith (, , ) is a market town and civil parish in the county of Cumbria, England, about south of Carlisle. It is less than outside the Lake District, Lake District National Park, in between the Rivers River Petteril, Petteril and River Ea ...

, under the name Oasis Lakeland Holiday Village, which featured commercial restaurants and businesses such as

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

and a

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and rol ...

. Bought by Center Parcs UK in 2001, who removed the commercial ventures, the site was rebranded as ''Center Parcs Oasis Whinfell Forest'', before 'Oasis' was dropped from the name in 2006. The set up at Whinfell is slightly different in that the style of accommodation is more akin to two-storey

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n-style lodges, the main centre of the village is under cover, and there is no country club like at Longleat Forest, Elveden Forest and Sherwood Forest. Center Parcs have updated many Whinfell Forest lodges, and added new lodges of an identical style at their other UK villages. Whinfell Forest is the largest of Center Parcs' five UK holiday villages, with accommodation for 4,668 people in 861 units.

Woburn Forest

Center Parcs Woburn Forest (formerly Center Parcs Warren Wood) is located on the outskirts of

Flitwick Flitwick () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling ''Flytwyk'' appears in 1381. The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, a natur ...

and

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

, from the village of Woburn in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

in the UK. It commenced operation in July 2014 and hence it became the second Center Parcs resort off of the M1 motorway (the first being Center Parcs Sherwood Forest). The

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, Martin Dalby, said that the company might add a fifth village. In December 2004, Center Parcs UK announced that it had identified a location named Warren Wood near Flitwick at Woburn,

. Despite the land being designated as

greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

, the company sought

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

and had already completed the signing of a lease on the land from its owner, the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...

. The project was expected to cost approximately £160 million, including the construction of accommodation, indoor and outdoor facilities, the sub-tropical swimming complex, restaurants and a spa, but this has since risen to £230m. It was anticipated that, given planning permission, the project would take between three and four years to complete.To commemorate Dalby's love of the United Kingdom, each room in Woburn Center Parcs celebrates the nature of the different countries, either with a plant canvas of either a daffodil, thistle, rose or shamrock, or with a four part collag
BBC article from September 2007 detailing the granting of planning permission
/ref> In July 2006, Bedfordshire District Council turned down Center Parcs' application for planning approval on the grounds that the project breached policy safeguarding

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

land, leading the company to lodge an appeal against the decision later that year. The

inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

hearing the appeal recommended that the Council's decision be upheld. In September 2007 the council's decision was overturned by the government as Secretary of State

Hazel Blears Hazel Anne Blears (born 14 May 1956) is a former British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles, previously Salford, from 1997 to 2015. One of 101 female Labour MPs elected at the 1997 gen ...

overruled the inspector's advice. She acknowledged that the scheme breached both local and national policies on safeguarding Green Belt, but argued that "in this particular case, the economic and employment benefits of the proposal, when taken together with the ecological and biodiversity benefits... constitute very special circumstances and are sufficient to clearly outweigh the harm to Green Belt", and granted outline planning permission. In November 2010 Center Parcs gained full approval for the plans of the village including designs of facilities, restaurants, shops and accommodation and in 2012 secured £250 million of investment to build the new resort, to be known as Woburn Forest. Before Center Parcs could start construction, there were a number of planning conditions that had to be satisfied, most notably the improvement of local road junctions to allow smooth access to the Village. They also had to submit a local employment strategy,

local purchasing Local purchasing is a preference to buy locally produced goods and services rather than those produced farther away. It is very often abbreviated as a positive goal, "buy local" or "buy locally', that parallels the phrase "think globally, act loc ...

policy and a forest and ecology management plan. This represents final approval of the detailed designs of buildings and landscape as well as local sourcing, employment strategies and green travel plan. The next stage of the project was the construction of a new roundabout, as well as the diversion of the public rights of way that cross the site. It was built by

Bowmer + Kirkland Bowmer + Kirkland Group is a British construction services business based in Heage, Derbyshire. History The company was established in 1923 as a partnership between joiner Alfred Bowmer and bricklayer Robert William Kirkland. In July 2009 the f ...

and was completed in spring 2014.

Longford Forest

In a 2008 interview, Martin Dalby, the chief executive of Center Parcs UK, stated that Woburn would be the last village the company constructed in the UK and that if a sixth village was considered it would probably be located in Ireland. In September 2015, Center Parcs UK announced its intention to build a new site in

County Longford County Longford ( gle, Contae an Longfoirt) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 46,6 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Named Longford Forest, it opened in July 2019.

Future

In July 2021, the company announced its intention to construct another resort what would be called "Center Parcs Oldhouse Warren Forest", bringing its total number of owned villages in the UK and Ireland to seven. The planned holiday park will be located near

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

and in the vicinity of

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

which will be East from Longleat, South from Woburn and Southwest from Elveden, and hence it will be the first Center Parcs UK branch off the

M23 motorway The M23 is a motorway in the United Kingdom, running from the south of Hooley in Surrey, where it splits from the A23, to Pease Pottage, south of Crawley in West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts on what ...

Facilities

Accommodation

Each village has a number of different lodge types that range from one- to four-bedroom accommodation for up to 8 people, with Sherwood Forest recently opening 6-bedroom lodges for 12 people. Some larger lodges include their own games room and hot tub. Lodges are usually in small clusters and give a good degree of privacy, whilst allowing for self-catering and communal BBQs. Elveden Forest has no one-bed lodges, but instead includes the Lakeside View Hotel.

Amenities

Guests are able to book and participate in a wide range of activities at the various villages. * ''Arrivals lodge.'' Guests are directed here for check-in from 10 am on their arrival day. * ''Security lodge.'' Each village has a security lodge staffed 24 hours a day. Security staff help with directing traffic to the arrivals lodge, identifying all visitors to the village, staffing barriers, and assisting arrivals lodge staff on changeover days. They also staff the emergency phone number given to guests to call in the event of an emergency. * ''Subtropical Swimming Paradise.'' The village swimming complex is known as the Subtropical Swimming Paradise and contains a

wave pool A wave pool is a swimming pool in which there are artificially generated, large waves, similar to those of the ocean. Wave pools are often a major feature of water parks, both indoors and outdoors, as well as some leisure centres. History T ...

, slides and chutes, an outdoor slide referred to as the Wild Water Rapids, outdoor pools, a '

lazy river A lazy river is a water ride found in water parks, hotels, resorts, and recreation centers, which usually consists of a shallow () pool that flows similarly to a river. There is generally a slow current, usually just enough to allow guests to g ...

', flumes, a children's pool and food outlets. Rides vary between villages. * ''Village Square/Plaza.'' Main hub of restaurants and shops as well as other facilities such as Guest Services and the medical centre. * ''Sports Plaza/Jardin Des Sports.'' Contains most of the indoor sports facilities such as

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

courts, badminton courts,

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

and

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

tables,

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasium, table tennis tables, golf simulators, indoor wall-climbing and an

aerobics Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness (flexibility, muscular strength, and cardio-vascular fitness). It ...

studio. There is also a themed restaurant, a sportswear shop and a newsagent. * ''Boathouse.'' For all water-based activities on the lake including

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

, fishing,

pedalo A pedalo (British English) or paddle boat (U.S., Canadian, and Australian English) is a human-powered watercraft propelled by the action of pedals turning a paddle wheel. Description A pedalo is a human-powered watercraft propelled by the ...

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

mini captains and

raft building A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barre ...

. * ''Aqua Sana.'' The village

includes various themed rooms as well as a central pool with hot tubs. * ''Activity Den.'' The village

crèche Crèche or creche (from Latin ''cripia'' "crib, cradle") may refer to: *Child care center, an organization of adults who take care of children in place of their parents *Nativity scene, a group of figures arranged to represent the birth of Jesus ...

. * ''Leisure Bowl and House of Games.'' A

ten-pin bowling Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll ...

alley and coin-operated

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

s. * ''Country Club.'' Contains additional restaurant and leisure facilities at some villages. * ''Shops/Retail.'' Includes supermarket "ParcMarket", newsagents "Refresh" and "ParcMarket Express", toy shop "Just Kids", gift shop "The Store Room", sweet shop "Treats", clothing and shoes shop "Spirit", sunglasses shop "Time for Shade", sports and fashion shop "Sportique", swimwear equipment shop "Aquatique", and the "Aqua Sana Spa Boutique". Some shops are owned by Center Parcs, whilst the rest are operated by the Nuance Group. JustKids and The Store Room replaced "Funtastic" and "Natural Elements" respectively in 2012.

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

cafés were introduced to all villages in 2008.

Food and drink

Six food and drink options are provided by external chains and operated under concession, but the majority are internal brands.

External chains

Café Rouge Café Rouge is a French-styled restaurant chain, with 30 sites across the United Kingdom. Café Rouge is part of a bigger restaurant network owned by Casual Dining Group. History Café Rouge was founded by Roger Myers and Karen Jones, in ...

''.'' French cuisine. Located at all Center Parcs UK villages. *

Bella Italia Bella Italia (formerly known as Bella Pasta) is a chain of over 90 restaurants offering meals inspired by Italian cuisine in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The chain is part of The Big Table Group, which also owns Café Rouge and Las Iguanas ...

''.'' Italian food. Location varies by village. * Las Iguanas. Brazilian, Mexican & Latin American food & cocktails. Located at Woburn Forest, Longleat Forest and Elveden Forest. *

Strada Strada is a chain based in the United Kingdom of branded restaurants specialising in Italian cuisine with two Strada sites and six Coppa Clubs, all in Southern England. History The concept was spawned by Luke Johnson in 2000 and, over five ...

. Italian restaurant. Available at Woburn Forest. *

''.'' Hot and cold drinks and snacks. Located at all Center Parcs UK villages. * Leon. Fast food and Mediterranean cooking. Available at Woburn Forest. * Millie's Cookies''.'' Retail bakeries specialising in cookies, muffins and hot drinks. Located at all Center Parcs UK villages.

Internal brands

* ''Huck's American Bar and Grill.'' American and Mexican meals. Located at all Center Parcs villages. * ''Rajinda Pradesh.'' Contemporary Eastern-inspired restaurant. Located at all Center Parcs villages. * ''Sports Café.'' A range of options for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. Live sports shown, in the style of a British pub. Located at all Center Parcs villages. * ''The Pancake House.'' Pancakes, Belgian-style waffles, and omelettes. Located at all Center Parcs villages. * ''Foresters' Inn.''

Gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s. Etymology The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David E ...

-style restaurant. Location varies per village. * ''The Lakeside Inn.'' Contemporary pub offering local produce, carvery, and

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

s. Available at Whinfell Forest. * ''Dining In.''

Takeaway A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada); takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in Nort ...

option, delivered to customer accommodation. Available at all Center Parcs villages. * ''Dexters Kitchen.'' Burgers, salads, coffee, ice creams, and Millie's cookies. Location varies by village. * ''Canopy Café.'' Situated in the Subtropical Swimming Paradise. Location varies by village. * ''Leisure Bowl.'' Bar adjoining a

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a Meetinghouse, clubhous ...

. Available at all Center Parcs villages. * ''Monty's.'' Poolside restaurant serving meals and snacks, including hot dogs, nachos, pizza, doughnuts, churros, slurp milkshakes and ice-creams. Available at Woburn Forest. * ''Vitalé Café Bar.'' Situated within the Aqua Sana Spa, selection of drinks, salads, tapas, and pasta dishes. Available at all Center Parcs villages. * ''ParcMarket.'' Small

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

which incorporates a bakery. Available at all Center Parcs villages. * ''The Coffee House.'' Coffee and light meals. Available at Longleat Forest. * ''Cara's Kitchen and Bar.'' Exclusively at Longford Forest in Ireland, an all-day dining and family-friendly option.

References

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The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

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Mynewsdesk Mynewsdesk is an all-in-one brand newsroom and multimedia public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or ...

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Nottingham Post The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The ''Post'' is p ...

, date=22 August 2017 {{cite news, last1=Robinson, first1=Dan, title=28 new lodges built at Center Parcs as part of £6.3m upgrades, url=http://www.nottinghampost.com/news/business/28-new-lodges-built-center-842326, work=nottinghampost, date=28 November 2017 {{cite web, title=Center Parcs Sherwood Forest, url=http://events.experiencenottinghamshire.com/venue/center-parcs-sherwood-forest/, website=events.experiencenottinghamshire.com, access-date=10 January 2018, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110234220/http://events.experiencenottinghamshire.com/venue/center-parcs-sherwood-forest/, archive-date=10 January 2018, url-status=dead Tourist attractions in England Hotels established in 1987 Companies based in Nottinghamshire Brookfield Asset Management Center Parcs Hotel and leisure companies of the United Kingdom