Hotel Hochsauerland by Center Parcs

We had a good week at this park and think it rates well against the British ones we have tried. It was about half the price (we were visiting outside of the german school holidays) and the range of amenities was better overall, if more appealing to younger children. The location is quite rural (rolling hills with lots of forest) so took a bit of driving. But the local town (Medebach) is an established tourist destination so there is plenty to do, even outside the park. We had the cheapest accommodation (comfort) and it was fairly basic but spacious and had everything we needed. The bathrooms appeared quite new and the beds were comfortable. You do have to pay for sheets/towels but the charge is not excessive. The swimming pool is typical for CP including waves, slides and areas for younger children. The swimming pool was bigger than parks we have visited in the UK and had a good range of slides plus an outside area (including deckchairs etc). Changing cubicles were a bit limited but, that aside, we really enjoyed it. The other major attraction for children is called the Spielberg (an enormous playground on a hill). It is advertised as part of the park but is actually just outside - literally adjacent - and free for any visitors to the area. You can walk to it from your chalet within 5-10 mins. One thing we hadn't realised about european CP was that all the parks are in fact open to non-residents (at a charge) so this probably does increase the numbers on certain days but we never felt it was overcrowded. Food-wise I have read some quite negative comments on here but we felt it was fine. There are several restaurants in the covered 'village centre' serving mostly german-style/international/italian food. There is also a pub/cafe on the Spielberg. Quality was decent and we thought the buffet (at the market restaurant) was pretty good. It is perfectly possible to cook in the houses (there was an oven and hob, sufficient crockery/knives/cutlery etc) and the prices at the supermarket were only slightly higher than at the shops in town. The staff at the park were polite and professional. There are possibly fewer staff here than we have seen at UK parks so you may have to queue a bit for reception / shops but I didn't find any to be rude and they were very responsive about any problems we had. Other positives that we noticed were free, reasonably quick, WIFI and easy access to your car (the parking is nearer and not as vast as in UK so you can easily nip into town). Would have given 4.5 stars if I could.

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