Center Parcs: New Woodland Lodge Review

Our party consisted of 4 adults and 1 toddler so we booked a 2 bedroom New Woodland Lodge. We didn’t pay for early access as that was another £35 and we were trying to do our holiday as cheaply as possible. This meant we were able to get in from 3pm, which was actually a nice time for us.

All of us were really pleasantly surprised when we entered the lodge. The living and dining areas are open plan and bigger than what I was expecting. This lodge had a dining table that seated 4, a large corner sofa with an arm chair, coffee table and large TV as well as a kitchen big enough for a self-catering holiday. The décor suited the woodland setting and was clean and modern, which I really liked.

One of the bedroom was set up as a double while the other had twin beds. A travel cot was also provided. However, in their original layouts, neither bedroom would have been able to accommodate the travel cot. John and I had the main bedroom with the double bed so we had to move the bedside tables and push the bed next to the window in order to get the cot in. It’s fantastic that cots are available but maybe room layout could be a bit more thought out to make sure these things fit okay.

The kitchen comes fully equipped with cutlery, crockery and cooking equipment etc. Don’t be expecting anything too fancy though. You most certainly won’t get a food processor or anything like that. However, there was enough for what we needed which meant not having to cart everything with us on the train. You do only get a small sachet of washing up liquid and a few tea/ coffee supplies, so anything like this you need to buy yourself.

The lodge had not only a bathroom, with a bath and overhead shower, but a second toilet as well. When you have 2 families and a toddler, this is super important! Erin hates showers so we were really thankful to be able to give her a bath each night of our holiday. We swam most days and really needed to wash the chlorine out of her hair! The water wasn’t amazingly hot and we needed to use a few kettles to use the bath for the adults but the shower was perfectly fine and lovely to use after a long day!

One of our favourite aspects of the lodge was the big doors and windows because they were all glass and looked right out into the woods. The lodge has a patio with outdoor table and chairs as well as a BBQ area. We brought bird food and peanuts with us and we used the patio area for this! We had so many cute visitors, most of which came right up to the window! One morning we even had a deer right in the ‘back garden.’

We did have a few niggles with our accommodation but nothing major and nothing that would stop us going back. The heating was a bit tricky and wouldn’t always go on when we wanted it to. When it was on, the lodge got incredibly hot and we ended up turning the heaters off in the bedrooms. The WIFI was extremely hit and miss and sometimes wouldn’t work at all. For someone like me, who likes to keep on top of work emails, it was very frustrating.

Our lodge was a lovely home for a midweek break and we could have easily stayed for the whole week. While I would love to stay in one of the executive lodges with a sauna, I think for the lower prices, the New Woodland Lodges are pretty perfect and I’ll happily book one again!