Center Parcs Woburn Forest

We have just returned from a wonderful weekend at Center Parcs Woburn Forest. It was our 12th visit to Center Parcs, but first to Woburn. Even though we knew what to expect from a brand that as become part of our family life (we have been visiting ever since Joe was born). We were super excited to be visiting a brand new Center Parcs. 

On first impressions the village was impressive, the pool complex in the village square was so impressive. Extremely modern yet reflected the lake and greenery around it, to blend into the surroundings.

We had a few issues with our lodge, as when we arrived at 3pm it had not been cleaned, as a result was as the previous occupants had left it. I was lucky that Mike from maintenance was walking past as I ushered Joe out of the lodge. He was great, contacted guest service straight away, who had us moved to a nice clean woodland lodge within 20 minutes.  

As it was slightly further out, we were provided with bikes. Guest services were so helpful, are were very concerned that we were happy to enjoy the rest of our break. I must say in reflection they dealt with it in a very professional and speedy manner, these things happen in life don't they? It is how it is dealt with that is important. Within an hour we were unpacked in our beautiful spotlessly clean lodge with a glass of wine and anti pasta.

Below is our little Lodge Vlog, I always like to know what accommodation looks like in real terms rather than photos. So thought this would be a nice idea to show the lodge. Please bear in mind, I am no Steven Spielberg. But it does show off how beautiful our lodge was.

The pool complex was amazing, my favourite of the 3 Center Parcs we have visited. The slides were fantastic, if not a bit scary. Joe was terrified on the tornado the first time we rode it. But did go back for more. And I have lost count of how many times I went round the rapids, as the boys loved them. Because there was so much to do there was no real queue for the slides, so we felt we really got value for time and money in the pool.

The village felt well laid out, and although we did do quite a bit of walking, and cycling. We enjoyed the exercise, and the boys loved the freedom of cycling around the village without having to worry about traffic. We visited the Shearing House for a glass of wine, this was a lovely tranquil bar although we would have liked to go to the bar to get our drinks, we were encouraged to sit down and be served. It then took half an hour to get our drinks. Saying that, the atmosphere was lovely and chilled, away from the crowds of the sports bar. So we enjoyed time chatting as a family and playing card games whilst we waited.

The Shearing House

As the weather was great with the exception of one rain shower we took the opportunity to hire a pedalo on the lake, the boys were desperate to pedal but didn't last long, it was just to hard work for them. To say it is all so new, the lake was lovely and the wildlife was starting to establish itself. We even had a Duck and her Ducklings swimming alongside us, and several dragon flys' hovering by.

We were so lucky that our great friends the Gibbons family had joined us at Center Parcs, so we got the time to catch up  and spend some quality time together. Theresa and I went to School together but live over 200 miles apart now. So it was wonderful to meet up for the odd glass of wine, and BBQ.

One of my favourite parts of visiting Center Parcs it chilling in the lodge with Chris and the Boys, we are all so busy all of the time, so it is wonderful to light a candle pour a class of wine and all huddle on the sofa chatting, reading or watching a movie. 

In reflection we loved our time at Center Parcs, we did encounter a few minor issues, but these were never due to the wonderful team of people making it all happen. You could just see that everyone we encountered was so committed to creating a great experience for their visitors, however they were all finding their feet together. Teething problems are to be expected on a brand new village the size of this. Did any of these small issues put us off? Definitely not, I can’t wait to visit again; in fact we already have our next two Center Parcs breaks booked. 

I think sometimes you can mark the level of service by the way people deal with issues. And any issues we had were dealt with immediately and professionally. Thank you Center Parks for a wonderful weekend. And thank you to the Gibbons, Bevis, Ilot and Middleton Families, even though we did not get to see you all as much as we would have like to.