Center Parcs Oasis Whinfell, Penrith

...
Having visited the Center Parcs complex at Whinfell Forest a couple of times over the last 12 months I found the place has a lot to offer especially for those of us with kids. The park itself is set in a large pine forest which includes a variety of both indoor and outdoor activities and all the accommodation.

Location

The park is situated on the outskirts of the lake district about 10 miles from Penrith.
...on the A66 towards Appleby/Brough. Center Parcs Whinfell Forest entrance is about 3 miles along the A66 on the right hand side.

Accommodation

Each type of accommodation has a kitchen, an open plan living and dining area, bedroom/s, bathroom/s and either a patio or balcony with outdoor furniture. Bed linen is provided in all accommodation apart from cots. Following on from this there are a number of different types of ... more

Introduction

Having visited the Center Parcs complex at Whinfell Forest a couple of times over the last 12 months I found the place has a lot to offer especially for those of us with kids. The park itself is set in a large pine forest which includes a variety of both indoor and outdoor activities and all the accommodation.

Location

The park is situated on the outskirts of the lake district about 10 miles from Penrith.

How to get there by road

M6 Junction 40 follow the A66 east toward Brough. At roundabout continue on the A66 towards Appleby/Brough. Center Parcs Whinfell Forest entrance is about 3 miles along the A66 on the right hand side.

Accommodation

Each type of accommodation has a kitchen, an open plan living and dining area, bedroom/s, bathroom/s and either a patio or balcony with outdoor furniture. Bed linen is provided in all accommodation apart from cots. Following on from this there are a number of different types of accommodation at Whinfell which include:-

Comfort Lodge – Standard with 1 to 4 bedrooms.

Comfort Plus Lodge – These have 1 to 4 bedrooms but are different to the comfort villas in that they have a dishwasher, a dvd player, TV in main bedroom and towels are provided.

Executive lodge – These have two to four bedrooms, are a little more luxurious with main extras including LCD TVs in the lounge and bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms, ceiling speakers in the living areas; LCD TV in the lounge & all bedrooms, a daily maid service, wine chiller and coffee machine.

Exclusive Lodge – Same features as the executive lodge but include a steam room, sauna and hot tub.

I found the accommodation to be excellent – clean, tidy and modern with the usual kitchen facilities including, hob, oven, microwave, fridge, cutlery and plates etc. Having said this there was a few notable extras that make your life a little easier if you have small children as I do. On my first visit we had two storey accommodation which could be a nightmare for those with toddlers (as I have) who insist on climbing stairs before they are really able to. However, child gates could be found at the top and bottom. Cots are provided and these are of good quality, I also like the way they have a small porch way as you enter your lodge to put muddy shoes, prams, golf bags etc etc.

Other pluses are that on both my stays we had 3 bed accommodation, each had two separate shower rooms (one with a bath) and two separate toilets. Seating within the lodges was excellent with two sofas in each and a sizeable dining table all within an open plan area. Each lodge also had a barbecue outside with table and chairs and a log fire inside.

Cost

Bookings are Monday to Friday, Friday to Monday or if you want to pay extra you can go for the whole week. The cost of accommodation largely depends on the time of year you want to visit the park. Both times I visited the park I found that there were good deals available 2 to 3 weeks before booking the holiday but this was in the off peak season. The first time was in September where I managed to pick up a 3 bedroom two storey comfort plus lodge for £410 Monday to Friday and my last visit in March cost £320 for a bog standard 3 bedroom comfort lodge. Don’t expect to pay prices like this in peak season though. I have just tried to find some 3 bed accommodation for the end of June and am looking at £550 minimum so the school holidays are likely to be expensive. The executive range starts at around £800 Monday to Friday in June so will no doubt be more expensive August. I intend to go again at some point but perhaps not at these prices.

Arrival and departure

The first time we turned up at the park we were amazed at the booking in process which reminded me of boarding a ferry by car. There are about 5 gates, any of which you can drive your car to in order to book in. Whilst still in your car, you just need your booking confirmation which is sent in the post normally two weeks before arrival or via email confirmation if you have made a late booking and the booking assistants will give you a keycard for the lodge you have booked.

You are unable to gain entrance to the lodge until 3.30 unless you have booked exclusive or executive lodges where you can book in from 1.30. However, you can park your car on the car park and use the facilities at the site from 10 in the morning. On my first visit I ended up queuing for about 45 minutes at 3.30 to get to my lodge in the boiling sunshine, not very pleasant and I wasn’t amused. I learnt from this second time round, arrived at 3, went for a swim then went to my car at 4.30 and drove straight in.

Cars are not allowed on the site during the week so you have to take your car back to the car park once you have unpacked. The only forms of transport you see will be bikes, maintenance vehicles or the horse and carriage which you can pay to take a ride on (About a fiver a person if I remember rightly). I think the no cars rule is an excellent idea as families can stroll around the whole complex which has many paths and roads without fear of getting mown down by cars all the time.

Upon departure you need to be out of your lodge by 10 but this is not such a mad panic as arrival as everybody tends to drive their car back a different times during the morning. The good thing is that Centerparcs let you use their facilities for the rest of the day if you wish on the day of your departure.

Activities

Where to start?? As I have a small child the activities I discuss are inevitably going to be biased towards small children but I will try to mention as many as I can remember for those without kids. Sorry to those who don’t have kids who would prefer talk of tree walking etc etc.

For the under 3’s there are a number of activities, we went to baby dolphins where you get the subtropical swimming paradise to yourselves and a number of inflatables to play with, also to mammal magic but I would suggest this for older kids as a lot of the course is spent listening to presentation on different mammals (not good when you have a 16 month old who never sits still!). Messy play was probably the best and most comical activity we went to, this basically involved the all the kids jumping into buckets of spaghetti, cornflower and water, sand etc etc and having the chance to paint – WARNING – your kids will get absolutely covered in the stuff, old clothes are required (even better just strip em off!!). There was also a soft play area we used nearly every day at £2.50 a pop, this was excellent and included things like ball pools, tunnels, little slides etc, etc. There are loads more activities available for the small kids which can be found under the following link:-

http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/villages/whinfell/todo/children/index.jsp

For the rest of us there is an indoor sports centre where you can take part in table tennis, badminton, indoor football and cricket, snooker and pool, ten pin bowling, a golf simulator and many, many more activities. There is of course the subtropical swimming paradise which has three large slides, a baby pool, main pool with a wave machine and a further pool on the top level which is quieter and good for those who are more serious about their swimming.

Again outdoor activities are plenty and include golf, watersports at the lake next to the main complex (you are also able to walk round this lake), horse riding, archery, paintball, tennis, quad biking, clay shooting, tree walking (new to me!!), mini golf, soccer tournament etc etc etc.

Please remember that most of the activities do incur a charge with the main exception being the subtropical swimming paradise so you will have to bring your cheque book if you wish to participate.

Shops and eating out

The complex has its own mini supermarket which pretty much contains everything that you need (reminds me a little bit of a Tesco Metro) and isn’t too expensive. There are one or two other shops on site which include sportique for sports items, Funtastic the toy shop and treats which is a sweet shop.

There are a number of eating areas and restaurants and it would have been rude of me not to try both the Chinese (Yang) and Indian (Rajinda Pradesh) restaurants where the food was quite respectable and reasonably priced (About £15 a head). Most of the eating areas do provide high chairs for those with toddlers, were clean and had a wide variety of foods such as Traditional English pub food, Italian and American.

Advise

If you don’t like walking too far to get to the centre of the park where most of the action is you should chose to pay the optional £20 to chose where which lodge you can stay in. take a look at one of the maps on the website, this will show you the areas close to centre. On my second visit I chose the Seven Pines area which was pretty useful for both the car park and village.

If you like it quiet but don’t like walking too far, hire a bike, these are around £15 for the 5 days or weekend. You are able to choose from normal bikes or mountain bikes which have gears. Bike seats and trailers are also available for toddlers they have a bike centre with experts to ease your mind about the safety. I was surprised at how many bikes they have at the park, trust me the warehouse has literally hundreds. I have never seen so many bikes!!

Avoid queuing to get to your lodge at 3.30, relax, take some time around the complex and sort your unpacking after 4 o’clock when you should be able to drive straight to your lodge after the mad rush.

Some of the classes get fully booked up (especially the kids classes) so make sure if you wish to go to some of the classes book them by phone as soon as possible after you have you have made your booking. Don’t leave it until the last minute, you may be disappointed.

Conclusion

Don’t expect this to be cheap, however, accommodation is excellent, you will never run out of things to do come rain or shine, and the surroundings are very pleasant (you can even see red squirrels and pheasants whilst wandering around the forest). There seems to be something for everyone here from those with families to young and old. If you need further info on centerparcs they have a comprehensive website at www.centerparcs.co.uk. 

...less