Terhills Resort by Center Parcs — Hotel in Dilsen-Stokkem

We travelled as a family with two grandparents, two parents, a 5 year old and 1 year old and stayed in a VIP 6 person cottage (zone 3) from Monday to Friday in August. ||Cottages were spacious, modern and fairly clean. Inside was suited for young children. Plenty of towels. Beds comfortable with nice bedding. The cot was sturdy and perfectly suited for our little one. I appreciated the cleaning kit on arrival and coffee. The outside area and furniture were dirty on arrival with lots of cigarette ends littering around the cottage. There was also a broken light bulb outside in the grass. Around the site generally there was quite a lot of litter (like beer cans!) and I would encourage the management to give more staff to keeping the beautiful surroundings tidy. ||I enjoyed the free morning yoga outside in the forest pavilion. The teachers had varying experience though - and I would question if one of them had completed formal yoga teacher training. I would also suggest maybe looking at the set up as it’s quite muddy and dusty! ||It would also have been better if the Terhills drop off club for children could have matched the timings for yoga. It would have been nice to have more children drop off sessions during our stay more generally so we could enjoy some ‘adult time’! My daughter did enjoy the session she attended though and asked to go again. She made a wooden aeroplane.||The little farm was really cute and interactive. We booked the handling small animals session and was told on arrival they had actually changed the times to an hour earlier - disappointed kids. The staff member on duty did let us pop in though kindly. Also there was no where to wash your hands and the hand gel had run out on the first visit. ||We could walk to the main country club in 10 mins from our cottage. Longer with walking kids! The paths were quiet and there weren’t many vehicles.||The setting in the forest around the lake was beautiful. Although I question having no barriers around bodies of water at all - you can’t take your eyes off children for a moment even around your own cottage.||The indoor play area was lovely although not monitored by staff and on one occasion there were some older boisterous children not being mindful of smaller children.||The outside sand play area was small but nice - and well located next to ‘the shelter’ where you can get drinks and snacks.||Beach on the lake was fun but quite small with sun loungers packed in together. We got kicked out of one area because we were residents - which was weird as it was empty and you’d think residents would have priority.||Pool was the highlight for my girls. The staff were lovely and it was really well thought out with big changing rooms and lockers controlled by wristbands. It was a nice balance of relaxing and fun - there were features like a current, bridges, indoor and outdoor, jacuzzi, small kids play area and a few large pontoons and rings for the kids to play with. Don’t go down the kids slide as an adult with your kid on your lap though - my leg got very scratched on the stones at the bottom.||We ate lunch and dinner in the restaurant which felt high end and had great views across the lake and into the national park. The food was excellent - very fresh - our waiter was amazing. We also had pizza at the beach bar which was great with kids as they could play in the sand while we had a cocktail (which were also very good). The takeaway pizza was really good and quick too. ||We hired a pedalo one day which was nice. Our older child enjoyed the Kids safari and Kids party too. Worth noting that most activities/signs/menus are in Dutch/Flemish - but most of the staff spoke very good English and French. ||I think with a few tweaks this place could be fantastic but it’s not...

Despite having a nice 5 day break, when writing this review it’s difficult to ignore the feeling I get every time I go to a Center Parcs. In fact this feeling is the reason we haven’t been to one for at least 8yrs. The feeling is being taken advantage of and ripped off. This started even before we arrived when we found out that if we’d booked the week before we would have paid almost half price. We booked 2 months early to take advantage of the early booking discount but this was clearly a mistake and even the staff told us when we arrived that we should have left it to the last minute (before we arrived I sent a complaint form in about this and still haven’t had a response 5 days later!). Worth remembering that when you arrive they charge for virtually everything.|| Now for some positives. Terhils Center Parcs is beautiful. It’s clean with modern lodges and a nice restaurant. The pool is lovely. My teenagers would have liked more to do with a wave machine and slides but it’s a decent size with a small lazy river and water jets. Remember to take your own towels to the pool because hiring them costs €8 for two. After going to the pool we visited the beach bar and watched the sunset drinking cocktails. If you’ve hired a lodge on the main lake you can rent an electric boat for €40 a day to get to and from the main building which looked a bit different. While we were there we hired bikes (mountain bikes €24 pp per day) and electric scooters which the kids loved. The designer outlet shopping village is a short bike ride away so that was an added bonus. I recommend going to The Bakery near the shopping village - delicious bagels and cakes. The two bed VIP lodge was clean and modern but only had one toilet ( not ideal for a family of four with older kids). The beds were comfortable but the pillows were way too soft (take your own). On the last day we did the mini golf which we enjoyed but I thought they shouldn’t have charged for this (€8 Per adult - over 12 classed as adult). The kids loved the mini farm where they were allowed to get close to the animals (one of the only things along with the swimming pool that was free). The park was noisier than we were expecting - there always seemed to be a man with a grass trimmer or leaf blower hovering around the outside of our lodge which was annoying considering we’d come to relax.|Would I visit again….yes, but I’d book last...

This resort was just perfect for our family weekend getaway. The cleanliness of the place throughout was spotless and the service provided by all staff on site was friendly and faultless. ||Our lakeside ViP cottage was clean, well equipped and comfortable for our stay. My children particularly enjoyed the private jetty to interact with the wildlife - ducks, geese and swans etc. We brought our own bbq coals and bbq tools to make use of the bbq on our terrace. ||Pool: The resort has a very laid back and relaxed vibe which is just what we were after. Note that the pool does not have the slides etc typically associated with Center Parcs but did have a small lazy river, and hot tub as well as a beautiful outdoor infinity pool with sun loungers and bar to boot. There are a few large rubber rings and floating mats provided with entertain the children. |We found this adequate for our pool time. ||Activities: We hired an Eboat for 90 mins which was a must do activity in my opinion to relax on the lake and explore the water. We also took part in kids safari and the huge inflatable floating aqua park on the lake which was really fun and very reasonably priced. We also visited the local shopping village which had some fabulous outlets, and climbed the steep hill to the viewing points over the lake. We visited the free petting farm and spent some time with the cute animals there (chickens, peacocks, sheep, donkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs and goats) which was a nice free activity provided. ||Food: Though we tended to eat in, but food and drink we did purchase from the main restaurant and bars was very good quality and delicious. Again, staff here very polite, friendly and chatty. ||Overall, I would whole heartedly recommend this resort. The standard of the place throughout has actually discouraged me from booking another UK Center Parcs break and instead to look at other options in Europe. ||We give 5* to this...