Overview

Great place to relax and chill. Mostly excellent for disabled people but still needs a few improvements

Transport & Parking

We had an adapted lodge, with this you have a dedicated parking space outside your lodge. All visitors are only allowed cars in the village on arrival and departure day then it must be left in the main car park. It was easy having access to the car for equipment etc. I am not sure if public transport would work it’s a long distance drive from the main road to the park entrance so would be difficult for anyone with luggage etc. The park have a minibus that you can call to take you to the main facilities from your lodge if you cannot do the trip on your own

Access

The whole parc is very well set up for disabled people. There are induction loop facilities at all points of contact. There are wooden benches dotted around the main outdoor social areas as well as outdoor and indoor tables and chairs for sitting and talking snacking etc. there are sign posts at all junctions in the parc. They also give out maps of the par. I’m not sure if they do brail versions or not All the activities are accessible to disabled people eg archery, tree climbing, activities on the lake kayaking peddle boats. There are instructors at all facilities to assist people able bodied or disabled. There where ramps where needed but mostly the entire park although hilly it had undulating hills that a wheelchair manual or electric or people with walking difficulty could manage. Again if not able to walk far you can book a lodge near the main facilities to save walking. Also there is the minibus transport if required.

Toilets

The accessible toilets let the park down. In the public areas they where small and difficult to manoeuvre in a wheelchair and was impossible for anyone to come into the toilet with you. I can stand and walk a little so I was able to get out of my chair to lock the door as there wasn’t enough room to turn my chair. I can’t imagine how someone with less mobility would manage. I had a terrible experience, the highlight of our weekend was to go to Aquasana the spa within centre parcs. We had a lovely morning we where offered a manual chair to replace my electric one as it was not allowed in the spa due to the water etc. we had lunch and where looking forward to the afternoon swimming and using the different steam rooms. My bag burst I was in a state of horror as usual as you can imagine. I had brought another swimsuit and a change of stoma bags etc. I made my way to the disabled toilet to discover there was no mirror. My daughter checked the other disabled toilet again no mirror. Mirrors everywhere in the common changing area but again nothing in the private changing facility. Being a spa and doing facials and makeup demos. I asked my daughter to ask if they had a vanity/shaving mirror, she returned with a compact mirror they sold her for £5 which was too small and no use. I tried to use my phone but the lighting so dim I couldn’t see. I did my best but I needed to get back to the lodge to change my bag properly so missed half of the spa day. I was so disappointed I’d looked forward to spending time relaxing with my daughters. I don’t get out much with my health and I was so happy I had made it to Centre Parcs and got to the spa only to be let down by the lack of a mirror. None of the staff were particularly helpful at the time even later reporting it to the parc customer services all they said was they would take it up at their next branch meeting !!

Staff

The staff seemed smiling and pleasant. I was able to book a sharps box and a contaminated waste bin for my used stoma appliances. When I got to the lodge they were not there. I asked the following day at the parc customer desk. They look at there system and said yes it had been booked and apologised that it had been overlooked. They asked if I wanted to take it with me. I said no it was a fair old distance and didn’t want to be struggling with a big bin. They said they would have it dropped off at our lodge. It never arrived Great idea if it had been utilised. So yes staff friendly and said the right things but no follow through with promises

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The actual adapted lodge was amazing for a physically disabled person. It had in the main living are. A high back chair with arms to allow you you to get up from it with ease. The kitchen area had a lower workstation to allow you access while in your chair The bedroom had an electric bed with control to allow you to sit up or lye in a comfortable position The bathroom had a wet room shower with a seat plenty of grab rails. The handbasin was shaped to go around you in a chair with grab rails to pull yourself up to stand. The bathroom was excellent the only fault it had was the emergency pull cords where tied up out of reach so may as well have not been there at all Improvement definitely install mirrors in all disabled toilets and brighter lights so you can see what your doing Really good place to stay if you have needs. It is expensive to stay there and activities are expensive too. You don’t have to do any of them and the main swimming complex is free I didn’t go in after my experience of the spa the day before You can also eat your own food and not eat out that would lower the cost. Overall it’s a safe welcoming accessible place and I’d definitely go back Although there was a tv in the main room and the double room it would have been very useful for the adapted room. If your resting in bed it’s very useful to watch tv

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