Center Parcs Woburn Forest

The Subtropical Swimming Paradise and Village Square

If you follow my posts you will know that I used to work for Center Parcs and am lucky enough to have been to the various villages lots of times and even since leaving there 15 years ago we have maintained our visits.

As my husband Tony was turning fifty and my best friends daughter Grace was turning 18 all in the same week in September, we decided to mark the occasion with a visit to the newest Center Parcs, in memory of all the lovely holidays we used to share when we were all a lot younger.

We were very excited and the updates from Center Parcs on the progression of the village just spurred us on, until finally, it was time to go.

We arrived around midday on the Friday, it was exceptionally easy to find just 5 minutes from the motorway. It has a similar stark approach to the village at Elveden Forest.

We were greeted by a friendly security guard who guided us to the arrivals lodge and made sure he sent us to the most appropriate bay with a drivers side window, so we didn't have to leave the car to check in.

The lady at check in was polite and answered all our questions and explained about the wristbands which would be our lodge keys and which could be programme with our debit card details to use in the swimming, no more hiding £10 notes in magazines!

And there started our first experience of this new village.

Our villa was just what we had come to expect from Center Parcs, clean, modern, fun, comfy and somehow managing to bring the outside inside, so that you know you are somewhere special. Don't get me wrong, it's far from the lush dense established coniferous forest that parts of Sherwood, Longleat or Whinfell showcase and although it's more open like Elveden it's obviously not as "at one" with it's surroundings. It's got a lot of growing to do. It's lacking undergrowth and wildlife and needs to develop from a site to a village. I'm guessing that once we get into the Spring and Summer of 2015 this process will run full speed.

I found the layout of the village strange, it's like a mini Center Parcs, very compact. The architecture of the Plaza and Village Square is quite bland. Curiously, the Parc Market was at the Plaza which is essentially what would be the Sports Centre at any of the other villages, There is a Parc Market Express at the Village Square, where the swimming and bowling and some of the restaurants are, but it's not much more than a newsagents. I suspect this is a ploy to get more people to the sports area, however, the few times we were in the Parc Market it was deserted and there were lots of reductions of the fresh produce.

We were on a budget, activity wise. The main purpose of the holiday was to celebrate birthdays and thankfully we travelled with our own alcohol. On the few times we ventured out to the bar we were made speechless by the price of a pint or a bottle of cider being around £4-5.00. The choice of beer seemed good to start with, they had Hobgoblin on draft which was quite encouraging, but after one round it ran out and they weren't getting any more that weekend and in the end the choice was reduced to lager.

Here's some of the things we tried out

• Dexter's Kitchen- our first meal on arrival. A burger bar. Pretty good as it goes, not too expensive for a first lunch and all freshly cooked, arrival days generally mean the restaurants are quite busy, but despite this we got seated quickly and the food arrived hot and tasty. 

Felafel Burger with lettuce, tomato, onion and yoghurt dressing.

Dexter's Classic Beefburger with no trimmings.

Cajun Chicken Burger
Cajun spiced chicken burger with a mint yoghurt dressing, lettuce, tomato, gherkins and onion.

•  Cafe Rouge - The best located restaurant on the village, we were lucky enough to sit outside, the atmosphere on the square as it got dark with it's twinkling lights and the buzz of friends and families enjoying the outdoors together was almost Mediterranean.  The meal was tasty, we all really enjoyed what we had, the only downside was Grace's pasta portion was small but that's so often the way with pasta..it's never how you do it at home!

This was my Parmesan crusted chicken, really moist and tasty and exactly right for the atmosphere, washed down with a large glass of red wine

• Ten Pin Bowling at the Leisure Bowl - Not bad value if you go for the earlier slots and avoid the most popular times, especially if you fill the lane. We loved the programmable buffer, that came out only for the people that needed it and away for the people who (thought they) didn't need it. There is a second bowling alley near the Sports Café.

• The Pancake House - We don't usually go to the Pancake House but the birthday girl made a special request for breakfast there. Well, we didn't quite make it for breakfast but we did manage brunch and therefore a great selection of sweet and savoury was enjoyed by all.

An ultimate chocolate - speaks for itself!

Spanish Fiesta - All the flavours of Spain , chorizo, chicken, paprika potatoes, peppers and grated cheese.

Blueberry delight - fresh blueberry pancakes topped with wild blueberry compote and ice cream/

Breakfast Pancake - with bacon, egg, sausage, and mushrooms with baked beans and tomato.

 The Water Sports Lake - We did quite a lot here, the lake is right by the Pancake House. Tony took out a canoe and came back with a very wet bottom and unfortunately a bad back. Lauren had a kayak, she is a natural - unsure where she gets that from. Everyone else (apart from me - well someone needs to watch the bags and take photos) went for a pedalo.

• Horse Riding - Lauren spotted the horses from her kayak. I went to pay and it was £12.50 which just about took my breath away, however, it turned out she got a really good ride, several circuits that lasted a good 15-20 minutes. I wasn't too impressed with the conversation the gentleman who owned the horses was having about girls breaking their ankles in their stirrups but thankfully Lauren was oblivious.

• Subtropical Swimming Paradise - This was the facility we used the most. Thankfully still free. Lovely new, clean changing rooms, plenty of space in the family cubicles - many more of them and the lockers bigger and more useful and all activated by your wristband so no need for any coins. At first the swimming seemed disappointing, with it's tiny wave pool but we discovered there were lots of elements to the paradise and lots to do. The waves themselves when they got going were brilliant, really strong and great fun. The lazy river was a source of amusement, always on, no having to stop for the waves like at the other villages. You had to jump on giant inflatable donuts, it was difficult enough getting on but hilariously good fun and staying on was another thing altogether and when you did inevitably pop off, the ensuing laughter meant there was no chance of getting back on and then getting out - forget it! No big outdoor swimming area either, just a small area which was essentially the opening to the wild water rapids. The rapids though were brilliant, no big drops like at Sherwood and Longleat, more like Elveden's winding rapids, but so fast like Longleat when they first opened. They were such good fun we barely wanted to do anything else, even Lauren who said she didn't want to do them could hardly think about doing anything else. We didn't use the children's area but it looked great, slides and water shooters galore and a big bucket to give everyone a soaking every now and again. And, finally the tube rides - not my bag, but the youngsters ventured on and said they were amazing, especially the 4 person one the Tornado. This tempted Tony to take Lauren on one of the smaller ones The Typhoon, but they both came off looking a bit peaky and said they wouldn't do it again..plenty of others were trying it though.

And then of course there was the birthdays and the journey hone, we broke down on the motorway, but that's another story altogether...an ongoing saga.

If you're new to Center Parcs then Woburn is probably a good starter, people have such fixed and differing opinions of the village depending on what they like I wouldn't like to say whether you will like it any better than the four other villages. For me I wouldn't rush back, but that's not to say I don't enjoy it and one of my Facebook friends, who's another Center Parcs veteran, has just come back and said they would definitely go again as they preferred it. Be interested to know what others think, leave a comment if you can once you've tried it.