Center Parcs? Which one?

The spa at longleat is lovely. I've had a few treatments there and they are divine. But they'd be the same at Eleveden, so thats probably not much help! The spa only got renovated in 2006 so its really nice. I also love the rapids at longleat!!

I would go to Longleat over Elveden anyday.... Elveden is nice.... but Longleat is amazing.... steeper climbs and places a bit more spread out I think.... but scenery is awesome and it always seems 'quieter'.

Having been to Longleat, Sherwood and Elveden.... I would go back to them in that order... but would travel that extra bit to go to Longleat each time if I could!

I've been to both and prefer Elveden. Longleat is very hilly and everything is spread out so you have to either walk or get the shuttle bus, whereas Elveden is flat and everything (pool, bowling alley, creche, squash courts, resturants & supermarket) are all in the centre, the only place you have to walk to from the centre is the spa. even the watersports and highwires are only 5 minutes from the centre.

The activities can be quite expensive depending on what you want to do and they book up really quickly so I would recommend that you pre-book rather than wait till you get there, especially the spa treatments (which are gorgeous). If you don;t have children I highly recommend the 3-hour spa session. oh and take some food with you as the supermarket is expensive and not much choice and the resturants are also expensive, although the pancake house is yum!

Ok thanks guys......

Has anyone done the archery? We really fancy that...and maybe the fencing....... what would you guys do?

well not at center parcs, but i've just taken this up. i had a lesson at ragdale hall last year, is this the sort of thing they do?

We did archery at Longleat and enjoyed it.... also done silk painting, badminton, racket ball and the usual swimming etc.

Not sure about fencing... not really my thing....

Spa sessions are nice for a bit of escape as well.... and we enjoyed our meal at the Indian...

Personally I'd pick Sherwood over any of them.

Actually I don't think it's really expensive. When I think what we paid to go jet-skiing in Turkey for 15 minutes the prices at cenerparcs seem reasonable. Although the restaurants are more expensive than maybe a local italian or indian, again I wouldn't go so far as to say they are expensive. Let's face it, wherever you go on holiday you can expect to pay a little more either in restaurants or supermarkets. You're paying for the convenience of having them on your doorstep. However, the facilities in the villas make it very easy to do your own cooking so that can make the holiday a lot cheaper!

We like doing the Target Archery and go every time we go to centerparcs. We've done the Fencing twice, both time at Sherwood, but I'm assuming it would be the same at all the sites. The first time we enjoyed it. Approx the first 20-30 mins is spent on 'theory' and the remaining part of the hour is a sort of round robin. The only problem is that it's always the same so if you have been before you still have to go through all the 'theory' again.

The spa is lovely and must be at the top of your list of things to do along with the rapids and jungle river in the pool.

Paintball is good fun but quite painful and the slow trek through the woods (horse riding) is lovely, peaceful and relaxing.

I woulld also say have a go at the salsa class if you haven't got 2 left feet.

We also like the laser clay shooting although I don't think i'll ever get the hand of it. i finished on 4 once when everyone else was in the 80's!

Based on last weekend's personal experience I'd not recommend Longleat... waiting for the head of guest services to investigate and get back to us after a horrendous stay.

There was a broken glass in our villa on arrival, the bedroom was covered in mould and stank and the ensuite had an unplanned water feature that ran across the floor in the tile grouting... it took a full 24 hours and 4 visits to the guest 'services' desk before our mould problem was dealt with, and the broken glass is probably still there.

The spa at Sherwood imo is much nicer - both have the same range of steam rooms etc but Sherwood has a bigger and better pool. Same goes for the subtropical swimming paradise.

If you do book i'd recommend you go for one of the newly refurbished villas... even the member of housekeeping I chatted to pretty much told me that the 'executive' accom we stayed in was knackered and earmarked for decommissioning/renovation.

I've been lurking for a while... this is my first post in yonks. Hello everyone ?

I used to teach archery at Centre Parcs ?

We have just been to Elveden. It was good, accommodation was nice enough (comfort plus villa). We ate out at Bella Italia one night for my Dad's birthday (the only restaurant that wasn't fully booked!) and the food was ok - starters & desserts v tasty, mains average. We had a take-away on the last night and my Thai Curry was v nice, very tasty with nice fresh vegetables in it. The pizzas looked good too.

My 3 yr old did Canopy Capers which she enjoyed. My son and my Dad did kayaking and they had a great time. My Dad persuaded me to do the High Ropes course along with him, my son, my H and my brother. It was absolutely terrifying, but I'm glad I did it and survived without disgracing myself too much! My Mum, SIL and I also went horse riding which we enjoyed but unfortunately the contract with the stables ended today so there won't be any riding until they find another provider (I felt v sorry fo the stable owner cos it's her business down the tube now she's lost the CP contract!)

The swimming pool there was great - the kids loved it and the playgrounds were great too.

I haven't been to Longleat but I've been to Sherwood Forest a few times because I live very close to it. To be honest there is very little to choose between Sherwood & Elveden, so I imagine Longleat would be very similar too. If I were you I would just go to whichever is closest!

If you choose Sherwood I can second what others have said - the spa is fab!? My friend tells me that Belly Dancing classes are great fun too.

you an archer, flowery? ?

Not really - I did a 5 day coaching course with an ex-grand mastery type. It was good fun.

I ve been to Longleat 3 time i loved it and i agree with someone said about hilly But really lovely place lots of dos i love swim outside steam and warm

I dont know about what like other center parcs is Sorry

Tasha x