Center Parcs Le Bois aux Daims — Hotel in Châtellerault

Travelling with 2A, 2C & 1 Dog, staying in a 2 bed "VIP" cottage. Check-in/arrival was straight forward. Upon entering the accommodation it was clear that CenterParcs has a different understanding of the use of VIP. The place was disgustingly dirty including the cutlery, utensils, glasses and crockery. The oven was filthy, the freezer was full of ice so the door didn't shut, cobwebs and dirt up the walls and the sofa was covered in dog hair. The sliding rear glass doors were broken and when we moved the sofa there was a sock and bits of food. VIP accommodation is cleaned by CenterParcs staff as part of the package. We called the staff from the accommodation phone and it was hard work explaining all the problems. So we visited customer service desk in the dome. We showed the member of staff the photos and she took some notes. She explained that all crockery/utensils/cutlery would be replaced with new and they'd take everything away. Maintenance would attend the property and the cleaning team would come that night (unlikely) or tomorrow. We we arrived back to the accommodation all the plates, glasses etc were not in the cupboards. They were all in the dishwasher (something we could have done!). So not replaced at all. When taking items out of the dishwasher they were all still dirty. I noticed that the dishwasher was broken, so I fixed it and we reloaded again and it cleaned (sort of), so we did it another 2 times and finally the items were clean after all the 4 washes. Oh and as for the cleaners......... They NEVER turned up on day two. But hey, the rear door was fixed. Day two and decided to just make do with the situation. The steam room in the accommodation was really good. The location of the accommodation (561) meant that we had several Deer coming to the fence at the rear which everyone including the dog enjoyed. The Aquadome is just as you'd expect at CenterParcs, the centre piece of the park. Changing areas were clean, although several lockers were broken (locks battery low), there were still enough around. Wave pool, outside lazy river, rapids, tubes etc were all working except the tunnel that ended up outside.This was broken. the ropes round the wave pool were covered with hair wrapped around them, it wasn't pleasant. Shop was well stocked, but as with all CenterParcs very expensive. Supermarkets were 20mins away in Loudon. We used the buffet restaurant for 1 night and 1 breakfast, which was OK. Personally I think charging 14 as Adult prices is a bit cheeky, seeing as the Adult prices includes an alcohol premium which obviously they do not drink. Activities. With our booking we were given 3 'free' vouchers. We wanted to use then for the Spa as a family. An Adult price is 29 Euro and children (under 18) 20 Euros. We had 3 credits so we wanted to pay for 1 more place for our child. We were told that the activity vouchers cannot be used for children at the spa. Even though they charge less than an adult! So at 14, they are Adults in the restaurant, but 14 in the spa, now they are children! So we had to pay 40 Euros and we wasted 1 activity voucher! The Spa area..... This is where it's a joke paying. The receptionist was enjoying chatting to the 'life guard' that it seemed customers were an inconvenience to her. Inside pool area : Water jets not working Outside pool area : All the paint has lifted from the pool, so there's much that is bare grey/brown concrete. All the flaked off paint is blocking the pool filters and is gunge'd up with hair and slime. I cleared a load away from the filter and put it on the side of the pool. this was not cleared away by staff. So if you don;t use the Spa and don't stay in a dog hair and dirt accommodation, you'll have a pleasant stay. As others have said, this needs investment (and proper cleaning staff). I think we'll stick to...

We recently spent 5 days here as a family with two teenagers. We have been to all the Center Parcs in the UK many times over the years and this was quite disappointing by comparison although the villa was cheaper than in the UK.||First the positives:||VIP cottage was spacious and modern|Staff were very friendly and spoke good English which was helpful|Some of the slides were good|The site is attractive and well looked after.|The Carrefour supermarket was well stocked.||Now the negatives:|The CP app does not work on English phones so were unable to easily book activities and restaurants unless we walked up to the reception at the Aqua Mundo every time.|The shower room in the VIP cottage was mouldy (see photos)|The hammam in the VIP cottage only worked sporadically.|Some of the soft furnishings were worn (see photo) and the garden recliners had bird poo on them |Almost everything has an additional cost and the prices are quite high (£35 for a bowling lane for an hour)|The meal we had in Le Marche buffet was inedible: we asked for the steaks to be well done but they were literally bleeding on to the plate. The other dishes available were tasteless and small kids were being allowed to dip their dirty fingers in the jars of cakes, marshmallows and sweets without anybody doing anything about it.|I have an intolerance to gluten and it was almost impossible for me to find gluten free options - in the italian restaurant, Il Giardino, there was only ONE dish on the entire menu that I could have and that was a totally tasteless salad. |Some of the restaurants were closed certain days or only open for lunch - very disappointing.|Parts of the changing rooms in Aqua Mundo were dirty (see photo) and smelt of urine.|The spa was quite nice but very limited compared with the spas in the UK Center Parcs (Aqua Sana) and the entrance to it was chained up - we had to wait for somebody to come and let us in.|There was very little evening entertainment and the light show on the lake that was advertised didn't happen.|And finally our biggest issue was with the advertising of the High Adventure course:|| This is a ‘Go Ape’ type tree ‘rope and obstacles’ course – the description when booking states that it’s got 3 courses the green 6 metre-high course, the blue 8 metre-high course and the ‘challenging’ Tyrolean course with a 220 metre zipline and panoramic view. It’s quite expensive at 33 euros for each adult, but we thought for 3 courses and a 220m long zipline that this was worth it. However, once you get on the course you find thst there are only the first two of these courses available to you, without the 220m long zipline or panoramic view. The staff told us that the text is incorrect on the English version of the booking form and the French version correctly states only the first two courses. But this felt like miss-selling to us, particularly as it cost 33 euros each…||We also mistakenly thought the long 600m zipline across the lake was part of this course, which it isn’t, so beware, you will need to book the ‘Zip Wire Parcour’ activity for this which was an additional 27 euros for one person. (See photo)||Center Parcs needs to be clearer in their translations and descriptions.||Overall, I would not recommend Center Parcs Le...

Stayed here for a week with our 1 and 5 year olds. Both had a wonderful time and enjoyed their stay, particularly the swimming pool. My wife and I also had a good time.||Cost - Expensive, though compared to the UK the upfront cost was significantly better value for money than was being offered at home. We had the full board (where everyone has a certain number of meal vouchers for the duration of the stay) which was probably more than we needed but removed the stress element somewhat, and it cost the same as basic accommodation at a UK park. Yes there’s the travel cost on top of that but still better bang for your buck.||Activities - The variety of activities is very good, particularly for children the age of our two. Aqua Mundo was a favourite for both with the five year old enjoying the water slides and our toddler enjoining a good splash. The five year old also had a go at pony riding (which she adored) and both enjoyed the petting zoo.||Dining - What was less good is the variety of food. The buffet food was above average quality but surprisingly limited in variety and seemed to be materially the same every day. The kids buffet was chicken nuggets and chips (plus peas / green beans) for lunch and dinner every day bar one where the nuggets were replaced by frankfurters. Picture Flunch but with less choice, and I would like to have seen a bit more variety. Having stayed in an all inclusive before I quite enjoy when they have different themes each night.||Away from there there’s Quick (a better quality McDonalds) and a decent pizzeria, plus a créperie and a fancier cafe (which we didn’t try as the kids wouldn’t eat anything on either menu.) ||And of course there’s the on site supermarket, and we cooked a couple of times.||Accommodation - The accommodation is basic Center Parcs fare - though with a slightly more rustic feel to make it blend in with the surroundings. We had a premium cottage which showed its age in places but was perfectly acceptable for our needs. Bewarned though, if you don’t buy the towel package then “no towels” means NO towels. This includes tea towels and bath mats!||I would say also not being able to move into the cottages before 4pm is a bit annoying. While you can drop the bags off and go and enjoy the park there’s no secure outside storage for bags etc, so if you may end up with a long walk to and from the car park if you do choose to use the facilities before your cottage is ready. Some kind of large lock box to store bags would not go amiss :-)||Staff - Finally, all the staff were very helpful and between us we were able to communicate (my GCSE French got a long overdue workout but generally the quality of English was good for more complicated requests). We are very grateful to them.||Score - I’ve scored it 4* good - the variety of activities trumps the adult grumbles. The kids had a fantastic time which in the end was the primary reason we chose CP. I felt “Average” was a little too harsh.||Would we go back? Yes, though in a few years when the kids (particularly the toddler) can do more. Hopefully the buffet will have a little more...