Center Parcs le Lac D’Ailette

Superb venue with great facilities. Beautiful lake and water sports on offer. Great countryside to explore on bike or foot. Cottage was adequate for us and the kids loved cycling around the grounds.

I have few positive comments to make about this place, it’s like no other Centre Parcs I have been too. Our accommodation was dirty and in need of maintenance. In the dated kitchen drawer fronts were loose, the cupboard door veneer chipped, and the whole thing felt shoddy. The beds were fairly comfortable with nice white linen. Out doors on the veranda the table top was disfigured and the chairs had bird poo on them, and not just a little, hence we never sat outside to eat. Many of the activities were closed. Restaurants same. On Monday morning we wanted to have breakfast out before leaving but no where was open at 11.00hours for coffee - not even McDonalds. The bowling alley was nice and most people seemed to gather there. Upstairs in the arcade there was a good selection of games. The beach area is nice but then the beach cafe was never open when we visited. The pool area is OK with some good facilities, like a children’s play / splash area. Slides were good but again it all felt unkept and not so clean and in one of the toilets we saw a live cockroach. There is plenty of space around the accommodation and the grounds are very well kept.

We paid extra to have a cottage with a lake view. The cottage (#375) was located behind a small island, almost entirely obscuring the lake with just a small portion of it visible (only if you sat in the right place looking out to side of the balcony and not visible at all from inside the property). We highlighted this to the staff after arrival but they were extremely dismissive saying ‘we can’t control the nature’. This misses the point, you can’t see through an island! The cottages should be better marketed in terms of which ones have full views of the lake and those where the view is significantly obstructed. Don’t expect the staff to care.

My family and I visited for my daughter’s 4th birthday at the end of August and stayed in cottage 739. We had an amazing time and did a lot of the activities on offer, we enjoyed them all the particularly pony riding and the climbing, the staff on the climbing frame are amazing and helped all the younger ones! We used pretty much all of the restaurants which all were nice enough apart from Gina Italian which was expensive microwaved and tasteless. All staff in the restaurants were very nice. We used the swimming facilities once and they were clean with great slides, we received good service at the cafe in there. We also hired a golf cart which was handy as it was quite a walk from our lodge but quite pricey and not necessary. The only bad part of our stay was the cleanliness of the cottage and judging from other reviews seems to be a common theme. Whilst the lodge is not the most modern it’s perfectly fine for what you need it for but it was absolutely filthy, months if not years of grime in our bath, it was the type of shower where you still feel dirty after taking it. I didn’t feel comfortable using our kitchen due to the cleanliness, the pots still had food residue and a strange smell from the dishwasher would probably explain that! There’s cobwebs and bugs on every ceiling and the floor left your feet dirty. Overall completely unacceptable hence only giving three stars as it would have been five if it were cleaner. A company as large as centre Parcs should be well versed in hygiene practices so more training should be provided and additional cleaning staff hired to manage the workload. I would also note that most of the public toilets are designed poorly maintained.

The park is glorious, you feel the sense of relaxation and stress free holiday. The lake and swimming pool were fantastic. Unfortunately our cottage was premium in name only. Very poor, could do with an extensive modernisation and a really good clean! Very disappointing, would not recommend.

We usually visit Longleat as it’s only about an hour away, but this time we decided to try something different. This was one of the closest and most affordable Center Parcs to us. The pool was fantastic – loads of slides (I believe it has the most of any Center Parcs), though it could do with a fresh coat of paint as it’s looking a little tired. We went swimming at 7:30 pm and it was lovely and quiet, with no queues for the slides. During the day, however, it does get very busy. The changing area was spotless, partly because you have to take your shoes off before entering. We stayed in Villa No. 1, which was the closest to the centre – super convenient! Many people hired electric golf carts as their villas were quite far away. Being so close to the beach meant it was a little noisy in the evenings due to the entertainment, but we didn’t mind as we were usually joining in with the blind test game, karaoke, or family quiz. The villa itself could do with a deep clean and a bit of an upgrade. Not terrible, but as a VIP cottage, I expected more. When we arrived, the baby mattress was missing, but I contacted customer services via WhatsApp and they responded very quickly. The beds had sheets on, but the duvet covers were wrapped and left on top, with the actual duvets in the cupboard – a bit odd considering the beds were meant to be made. We went for the half-board option, which included an all-you-can-eat breakfast and an evening meal at a restaurant of our choice. This made the trip feel that little bit more special – I’d have hated to cook all our meals in the villa. The drive was around 2.5 hours on the A26 using the toll road, which cost about £18 one way. Well worth it, as the alternative routes were much longer. Overall, we had a very enjoyable Monday-to-Friday break. I’d definitely recommend it for the summer, but it’s not somewhere I’d choose for a winter trip.