Current and past employees of Center Parcs have lifted the lid on what it’s like to work for the popular UK forest breaks brand – and its faithful fanbase of active holidaymakers may be surprised at what allegedly goes on behind-the-scenes.
While many praised the company and the perks of working for it, such as day passes and discounts, others shared less positive experiences, including ‘toxic’ work environments and ‘unrealistic workloads’.
One food and beverage assistant claimed they had to work in 30-plus degree heat because staff areas didn’t have air con at the Suffolk park they worked in this summer.
Another said that there was: ‘nothing enjoyable about being a housekeeper at Center Parcs’.
With five parks in woodland settings – including Elveden, Longleat, Whinfell and Woburn forests, with a fifth set to open in the Scottish Borders in 2029, Center Parcs has become one of the country’s most popular family staycations since opening in the late 80s.
More than two million of us took a Center Parcs holiday 2024, with the quintet of villages, which all have a Subtropical Swimming Paradise, Aqua Sana Forest Spa and a vast array of activities, enjoying an impressive 97% occupancy throughout the year.
Maintaining the villages, which sit on around 400 acres, is no mean feat, and many present and ex-employees have shed light on exactly what it’s like to put a shift in while wearing the Center Parcs uniform.
With school holiday breaks often costing thousands of pounds for a family of four, the pressure is clearly on to ensure standards are high – and some former workers have revealed why they walked away from jobs with the company.
UK holiday village brand Center Parcs has an impressive 97 per cent occupancy rate at its five forest sites – but that can make working for the company stressful, say employees
Reviews: Former Center Parcs employees have lifted the lid on employment site Indeed about what it’s like to work for the holiday company
On jobs sites Indeed and Glassdoor, hundreds of reviews have been left offering insight into what it’s like to clock on as part of the 10,500-strong Center Parcs workforce.
On Indeed, the company scores an overall 3.5 out of 5 rating across two review pages, based on five categories: work-life balance, pay and benefits, job security and advancement, management and culture.
There’s plenty of perks mentioned; those who work for Center Parcs – where roles start from around £12.40 an hour – can often access day passes and receive discounts on services while in the villages.
However, the most recent posts submitted might make for difficult reading for the company’s CEO Colin McKinlay.
Entitled ‘Unrealistic work load’, one scathing review sees an anonymous former employee recounting their experiences of working as a cleaner at Center Parcs Elveden in Suffolk.
Giving an overall rating of just one star out of five, the disgruntled former member of the housekeeping team claims they were accused of not cleaning ‘to their standards’.
They wrote: ‘Management made me feel unwanted and very defeated’, alleging the company ‘made me feel very useless and they even said if I couldn’t do the job properly then I shouldn’t bother coming in to work anymore.’
Another, who’d worked at Longleat, firmly disagreed, saying in August this year that their experience as an employee had been ‘wonderful’.
Some two million visitors spend their holidays at the UK’s five Center Parc villages in the UK every year – and while staff get perks including day passes and discounts, some say working for the company is ‘stressful’ (Pictured: The brand’s signature Subtropical Swimming Paradise)
Giving five stars, the food and beverage team member said the team they were placed in was ‘extremely kind and collaborative’.
Another ex-employee at the UK’s first Center Parcs, which opened in Sherwood Forest in 1987, said they’d experienced a ‘degrading’ and ‘stressful’ workplace.
The beauty therapist, posting last summer, said ‘what goes on there is shocking’ without clarifying, and said a typical day was ‘stressful, you just don’t know how you will be treated day-to-day’.
Elsewhere, an educational ranger at Longleat offered a glowing review of the company as an employer but also suggested their role was ‘tiring and stressful at times’ with ‘busy workloads and incorrect schedules’.
However, they did praise the discounted breaks, free use of facilities and ‘very supportive and positive’ park-wide attitude.
A food and beverage assistant at Elveden described in a one-star post in July how staff were ‘left to struggle’, saying: ‘The perfect example I can think of is that our storeroom and our customer area had air con.
‘The staff didn’t, and you’re left to combat 30 plus degrees of non stop service.’
A cleaner at the same village described a different experience, saying there was transport laid on for staff and bikes to get between the lodges.
Over on job site Glassdoor, reviews of Center Parcs as an employer were similarly mixed
They added: ‘Hard work, but positive feedback given by team leaders, you can always ask for assistance if you are running behind for any reason.’
In April, a former leisure booking advisor criticised the management in a review of their time at Whinfell in Cumbria, writing: ‘Management is awful. I worked at 2 venues, both horrible. Only good part of the job was the friends I made along the way.’
The company responded to the post: ‘We’re always happy to receive feedback from current and former colleagues so we would like to hear more about what specifically isn’t positive and how we can improve. Please do not hesitate to contact your local HR department to discuss further.’
An ex member of the housekeeping team at Center Parcs in Whinfell, who’d worked for the company for three years, claimed in a post in November 2024 there was ‘too much expected in the working day’ and said it was ‘very very stressful, none of the housekeeping team happy which obviously explains huge staff turnover. Nothing enjoyable about being a housekeeper at Center Parcs.’
In January, an assistant kitchen manager at an unknown location also served up a one-star rating, saying while he loved compliments from customers about the dishes, the worst thing about working for the brand was ‘the lack of team work and very little support from the management’.
Over on Glassdoor.co.uk, the company’s overall review rating was 3.8, with many positive reviews praising Center Parcs as an employer. There were some more mixed reviews however, with a line cook who’d worked for more than a year at Woburn claiming the company had a ‘rampant’ clique culture.
A High Ropes instructor currently working for the company at Elveden, said pros of their position were that it’s a ‘really cool job that’s fun!’ but said the role could be ‘very busy and stressful at times’.
Earlier this year, Ian Addison, a teacher and father-of-two from Hampshire, complained about Center Parcs appearing to inflate prices during the school holidays
Even self-catering at the parks can burn a hole in your pocket, as this tourist shared on TikTok after visiting Whinfell Forest, where a Cook meal cost £18.95 in the supermarket
Commenting on the negative reviews, a spokesperson for Center Parcs told the Daily Mail.
‘We are sorry to hear these reviews as we take great pride in our colleague experience. We employ around 10,500 people and nearly 4,000 of those colleagues have been with us for more than five years and many more have more than 10, 20 and even 35 years of service. We have some of the lowest labour turnover rates in the hospitality sector.
‘In addition, we pay a premium above the National Living Wage as a minimum and pay the same rate to all colleagues, regardless of age or length of service.
All colleagues are eligible for an annual bonus and every single colleague receives a Christmas hamper alongside a unique package of benefits which includes the opportunity for enhanced pay over the festive period, discounted breaks, day passes and health and wellbeing programmes.
‘We are a Disability Confident Employer and have a DE&I Network as well as offering specific training programmes aimed at increasing diversity and awareness of diverse perspectives.’
Elsewhere, the brand has faced ongoing criticism over high holiday costs and ‘too mainstream’ dining options at Center Parcs, with one PR expert this week suggesting the company’s core market, middle class families, are turning their backs on it.
A one-week holiday this October half-term in a standard two-bed self-catering woodland lodge for a family of four at Longleat Forest in Wiltshire racks up at from around £3,148.
While access to the Subtropical Swimming Paradise pool and a selection of playgrounds is free, almost every other activity comes with a charge – with bikes from around £160 per family (if booked in advance), paintballing coming in at around £50pp and spa treatments from £99 for body and face treatments.
Add in dining on-site – including at Cafe Rouge, The Pancake House, Starbucks and Bella Italia – and a seven-night holiday is the wrong side of £5,000.
Choosing a Center Parcs abroad can cut hundreds from the price of a family break.
Though operated by two separate companies, both Center Parcs UK and Center Parcs Europe offer the same kind of nature-based getaway, but often at vastly varying prices.
Center Parc’s most affordable option this half-term, at Whinfell Forest, sees a four-night break come in at £1,499.
In the Netherlands, the average price for the same dates during October half term comes to €645.56 (£561.25).
Swish: A sixth park will open in the Scottish Borders in 2029 between Hawick and Selkirk. A spokesperson for Center Parcs told Daily Mail the brand invests ‘tens of millions of pounds improving our villages to ensure we meet their expectations’
For many, the British holiday park brand is a go-to for a multi-generational family holiday. Right: One enthusiastic TikToker shared her passion for the sporty holiday company this week on TikTok
Other criticisms have taken aim at the dining options at the five villages.
On its pricing, a spokesperson for Center Parcs told the Daily Mail last week: ‘Center Parcs offers unique family short breaks in the UK. We welcome over 2 million guests to our villages annually, and we are 97% full all through the year.
‘Our guests place great value on their breaks, over 60% of guests will go on to make another booking with us, and last year we had our highest ever guest satisfaction scores.
‘Our guests demand a high quality experience and each year we invest tens of millions of pounds improving our villages to ensure we meet their expectations.’
While Center Parcs is largely self-catering, there are own-brand and high-street restaurants at all five parks…but they might not appeal to Middle England.
A partnership with The Big Table, which owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge, means both restaurants feature.
The two eateries once enjoyed high-street locations across the country but have increasingly disappeared from view, with The Big Table shedding 700 jobs during its last financial year.
Other collaborations, with Starbucks and The Pancake House, have done little to make Center Parcs’s guests feel like they’re enjoying a high-end experience – a hard sell when families are paying thousands for a holiday.
On Mumsnet, often a bellwether for family holiday trends, one user didn’t hold back on how they perceived the dining opportunities, saying: ‘Strangely, it feels like aspirational middle classes in the 90s, Café Rouge, Starbucks etc. By now no one middle class would actually go to any of these places in their real life.’
However, some families have suggested Center Parcs has become ‘too busy’, with the quality of experiences not in line with the high prices
Branding and marketing expert Chad Teixeira says its an own goal if the brand wants to keep attracting big spending families.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘Center Parcs has long been positioned as the quintessential middle-class holiday with its safe, familiar and aspirational image without being unattainable.’
‘However, the issue now is that its brand promise hasn’t evolved in line with consumer expectations.
‘For years, families accepted the premium because it delivered a controlled and convenient environment, but now the same middle-class audience has far more choice – from affordable boutique breaks in Europe to high-quality domestic alternatives that feel fresher and better value.’
‘Rather than offering distinctive, place-led dining, Center Parcs has doubled down on high street chains like Starbucks, Café Rouge, Bella Italia and others. On paper, these are safe bets. In reality, they strip the holiday of uniqueness and it’s at risk of becoming bland and mainstream.’
‘Customers paying luxury-level prices don’t want a dining experience that feels identical to their local retail park. It comes across as lazy, generic, and formulaic, ultimately undermining the sense of escape people are seeking.’
PR expert Chad Teixeira says the decision to partner with brands owned by The Big Table, including Café Rouge and Bella Italia has put Center Parcs ‘at risk of becoming bland and mainstream’
The brand expert adds: ‘Center Parcs is also in danger of being left behind as the middle-class consumer is becoming increasingly savvy. They research and compare before making a booking, and they expect authenticity and design as well as culinary quality to justify a premium price point.
‘Center Parcs’ current formula struggles to deliver on those emotional drivers. Instead, it risks being seen as an expensive but underwhelming option, essentially a Wetherspoons experience at Mayfair prices.’
Responding to Teixeira’s comments, a spokesperson for Center Parcs said: ‘We offer our guests a wide choice of food and beverage options, including our own much-loved brands like Huck’s, the Pancake House and Rajinda Pradesh.
‘We are constantly looking at how we can enhance our restaurant offering and recently introduced a new premium gastropub, The Dozing Duck, at Sherwood Forest which is proving hugely popular with our guests.’
