Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Location, Facilities, Ideal family holiday |
| Disadvantages: |
Can get very expensive |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
After the destruction of the dome that housed many of the facilities in the fire of 2002 Center Parcs Elvedon has risen from the ashes, but is it bigger and better?
Firstly for those of you who are unaware of what Center Parcs is.
Center Parcs are large family holiday villages set in forests. There are four sites in GB Elvedon Sherwood Forest Longleat and Oasis in the Lake District. There are also villages in France Holland and Belgium.
Elvedon is the village that we return to again and again having visited twice a year for the last eight years.
Elvedon village is set in 400 acres of Thetford forest near Brandon in Suffolk. The site has lakes and streams and varied wildlife.
When you get there the first thing you do is book in at the gate lodge, where you get your villa keys, information booklet and any activity tickets that you have booked in advance (A list of bookable activities is sent to you about two weeks before your stay. It is advisable to book most of the things you want to do as they do get full rather quickly).
Now you can drive around the site to your villa to unload. Cars must then be taken back to the car park and left there for the duration of your stay, as cars (except disabled) are not allowed on site except on day of arrival and departure.
The range of accommodation is varied with two, three and four bedroom villas available plus executive versions. The villas are well appointed giving you an open plan lounge/diner/kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom (extra shower room in larger villas) and separate WC (two in larger villas)
Executive versions are better appointed and furnished and include either a sauna, hot tub or Jacuzzi bath but they are very much more expensive and numbers are limited.
There are also a number of specially adapted villas for disabled guests.
So you are unpacked and the car is back in the car park, it can be a long walk or cycle back depending where your villa is. Oh yes bikes are available to rent if you don't take your own.
Now to the centre, this is where everything happens including the restaurants, sports arena,
Sub tropical swimming paradise and shops. You will probably spend most of your stay in this area although the golf course, Aqua Sana health spa and archery are at the country club.
The centre is now along the lines of a street with a stream running through the middle with amenities on both sides (whereas it used to be all under the one roof of the dome, not necessarily an improvement especially if its raining)
The range of restaurants includes-
Luciano’s –Pizzeria.
Could be called an Italian really as it offers all sorts of pasta dishes as well as pizza.
We traditionally have the first meal of or stay here whenever we go.
Indian restaurant.
I don’t know why we haven’t tried this one (probably because of the children’s dislike of spicy food)
They offer a large range of Indian cuisine; we must try it on one of our trips.
Hucks Diner - Steak and full meal restaurant.
This is the largest of the restaurants and offers a wide variety of foods, ranging from steaks and burgers to seafood and Mexican. They cater for Birthday parties and large parties of people although it is best to book in advance as it does get full. It was my Birthday last year while we were there and my wife had organised a party complete with cake and me looking a right Pratt standing on the table while the whole restaurant sang happy birthday to me, not very embarrassing.
There is also a large soft play (Not supervised) area so the parents can have a bit of peace to digest their meal while the kids run off to play.
Chez Pierre – French style light meals and snacks.
More for a coffee and a Danish or light lunch of soup or filled rolls than for a full evening meal.
Platform Five.
Sells hot dogs, salad, nachos chips etc. This is the one to bring the kids to, to get their junk food fix.
All the restaurants except Platform Five have a full alcohol licence.
If you fancy cooking yourself the Parc Market stocks a very good selection of food and drink together with a large off licence and the prices are not much above a supermarket.
The range of things to do is huge.
The biggest draw is the subtropical swimming paradise complex which is FREE. This includes indoor and outdoor swimming, flumes, the white water rapids (prepare for some bruises especially when it’s busy), slides and separate children’s pool area including small slides and flume.
The whole area is warm and tropical plants grow in profusion giving the whole pool a nice peaceful feeling.
This area is the biggest selling point of all the amenities and does not fail to impress.
The changing area is large and clean and contains plenty of large lockers for putting in your clothes etc. They are kept clean and hygienic throughout the day.
There are plenty of lifeguard staff in all the pools to give you a sense of security although children are still the responsibility of their parents.
Sports range from tennis, badminton, golf, ten pin bowling archery, horse riding, clay pigeon shooting, fishing, sailing canoeing and many many more. Most sports are booked and paid for by the hour.
Booking early or before you arrive is a good idea as the various sports do get booked quickly.
Time out clubs are available where the children get to do a large range of activities from sport to computer based for the older children while the youngsters get to do things like face painting, cooking and art projects to name but a few.
These are split into age ranges 3 – 5 and 5 – 8 and 8 - 14.
The action Challenge Company (mostly for the older kids or the big kids) gives you the chance to do more adventurous things like pole climbing or abseiling and
other scary things. You certainly need a head for heights with this one.
These events are closely supervised and safety is paramount because some of the activities could be very dangerous.
Not quite so sporty? well there is a cinema and the health spa which offers a huge range of treatments , just sit in one of the coffee lounges and bars or even get your hair cut and nails done.
The centre shuts around ten so nightlife is limited but you are probably so knackered by what you have been doing all day that you won't care.
You can stay for either a weekend (Fri-Mon) or midweek (Mon-Fri) or for a whole week.
Prices vary hugely depending on length of stay, time of year and type of villa rented.
We have found the cheapest way of doing it is for two or more families to share a four-bedroom villa and to go in school time.
Although now we have too many kids so we have to go for a two and a three bedroom but we can normally get these next to each other.
Spending whilst you are there is really entirely up to you and what you want from your holiday.
If you are happy strolling through the woodland and spending lots of time in the pool and cook for yourselves from the supermarket then it can be quite a cheap stay. If on the other hand you have four kids who all want to do booked activities all day every day and you do all your eating and drinking in the restaurants then it will be expensive. Of course there is always the happy medium.
For your shopping needs, I have already mentioned the Parc Market; there are souvenir shops. One selling toys and one selling adult gifts (not that sort of adult). There is also a sports clothes shop, this one is expensive. Lastly there is a swimwear shop selling all things aquatic.
To finish
It is a lovely, peaceful place that is car free for most of the week.
You can do as much or as little as you like and do it all at your own pace.
We love it and will be returning for another visit very soon.
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