Forest Holidays Reviews

A fantastic break with wildlife all around us. We had baby Tawny Owls directly over our patio and deer regularly seen on our walks through the woods. We have a Jack Russell dog and he is in his element there but due to the spacings of the uprights in the outdoor area of our lodge he would escape into the woods so we take a couple of rolls of plastic netting to stop that happening. The outdoor table and chairs are wood and are quite grubby due to the woodland environment which us understandable but we also stop at your site at Keldy has better outdoor furniture without the mould and green coating. Fantastic time away and we will be back.

Great relaxing holiday amongst the forest
Very clean cabin.
Helpful friendly staff.
Hot tub gazing at the stars and mountains
Excellent all round.

Lovely location and surroundings area is absolutely beautiful.
There is a busy road running along Loch Long which we could hear and see from our cabin which was the only negative.

Lovely family holiday....large family so we had a number of lodges in the forest. Great location with plenty of lovely places to walk and loads of nearby places to visit. Well equipped lodge and hot tub was clean and warm.

The best pet friendly holidays we've ever taken. Luxury lodges and beautiful surroundings. This was our second visit and we have recommended it to friends and family as an ideal holiday with their dogs.

We have just had a lovely weekend at Sherwood Forest, it was the first time the whole family had been able to spend time together for a long time. The cabin we stayed in was spacious and clean, the beds were comfy and it had everything we needed for 8 people. The staff were helpful and prompt and very friendly, Angela, on reception made sure we had everything we needed. Thank you.

Just back home from a 4 night stay at Cropton. We’ve been here quite a few times and love the place. Food at the Retreat was delicious, highly recommend. Staff all pleasant throughout. Quick check in and check out. Bedding and towels lovely and clean. Utensils and all cooking equipment really good. We booked quite late so had limited options of cabins, stayed in 29 (Silver Birch) and it’s ample size for 2 of us and the pooch. Downside was the decking is very shaded with little sun. Though as the weather got warmer we were glad of that as the cabin was really hot. Last night and this morning especially so. Air con would be good for summer months or a couple of fans at least. We had paid for late check out today but left much earlier as the cabin was uncomfortable due to the heat. The forecast is very warm for the next week or so, glad we’re not there for it. For us we will continue to book but stick to spring and autumn/winter months. Back again in October, Golden Oak already booked. Fab place, no hesitation in recommending, but a Fan or 2 a must in warm weather. A few notes about this cabin - the en-suite had a slightly funny smell. The Fridge wasn’t very cold even when on highest setting. Shaded decking area though picnic bench out the front I guess to compensate. Blinds not great throughout. Main bedroom very light from early morning, which for me meant very early morning wake up times, no big deal but darker/black out properly fitting blinds at the top window would give choice of either light and airy or darker if fancy a bit of a lay in. This last info given constructively. We’ll be back in October!

VERY VERY DISAPOINTED!!

I BOOKED A CABIN FOR MY WIFES 50TH BIRTHDAY.
UNFORTUNATLY SHE FELL OVER WALKING THE DOGS A FEW WEEKS BEFORE WE WERE STAYING AT SHERWOOD FOREST AND BROKE BOTH BONES IN HER ANKLE.

I RANG CUSTOMER SERVICES TO CHANGE THE DATE AS SHE NEEDS AN OPERATION AND IT WAS SIMPLE IMPOSSIBLE TO GO.

THEY TOLD ME TO SEND AN EMAIL WHICH I DID AND GOT A REPLY TELLING ME IT WOULD TAKE UPTO 3 DAYS TO GET A RESPONCE.
ON THE FORTH DAY HAVING HERD NOTHING I RANG THEM UP TO BE TOLD THEY HAD NOT RECEIVED MY EMAIL, I SAID I HAD A REPLY AND THEY HAD DIFFINITELY RECEIVED MY EMAIL.

AFTER THEY HAD CHECKED IT WAS CONFIMED EMAIL RECEIVED AND THEY WOULD GET BACK TO ME THE SAME DAY.
WHICH THEY DID, THE EMAIL SAID THEY WOULD NOT CHANGE THE DATE AND I SHOULD SEND OTHER FAMILY INSTEAD.

AT NO POINT DID I ASK FOR MY MONEY BACK I JUST WANTED TO CHANGE THE DATE SO WE COULD ENJOY A BELATED 50TH BIRTHDAY.

THIS IS SHOCKINGLY POOR PERFORMANCE FROM A COMPANY THAT IN THESE TIMES OF AUSTERITY SHOULD NOT EXPECT PEOPLE TO LOOSE £1000+ JUST LIKE THAT.

I WILL NEVER BOOK WITH FOREST HOLIDAYS AGAIN.

WHAT A SHOWER!!

Absolutely terrible, we booked a holiday with a cabin with a hot tub specifically as i am awaiting an operation for a broken back and was told the hot tub would be therapeutic for the pain. We were there for 4 days at a cost of over £1000 and the hot tub was faulty for the duration of our stay. We reported that that the hot tub seemed extremely weak and only one side was working on the first day. The maintenance team said it was fine but on the 3rd day of or 4 day break another man came and said one of the pumps needed replacing which he immediately did. When we came to use the tub on our last full day it was cold as it had tripped during the night so we couldnt use it and it was still under powered which we reported that morning. An extremely rude maintenance man came after many phone calls at 5.30 on our last full day, he said it was fine and started filming the hot tub working as evidence it was bubbling he was extremely annoyed when during filming my wife said that a lot of the jets werent working, he stopped filming and said they were on order which implies they were fully aware of existing faults. We were devestated and complained and were offered £150 in compensation for a ruined £1000 holiday. Had they offered more we would probably have spent it on another break with them in the hope we had a fully functioning hot tub but not now. After many letters of complaint they are now ignoring us. Ive contacted the onbudsman and intend to take this to small claims court. I will never book with this company again as they were totally unwilling to rectify a very unjust situation properly.
And i havnt even mentioned the fly infestation which we didnt complain about, my wife was literally sweeping hundreds of dead flys up daily, it was awful.

Myself, husband and young son just spent a long weekend in Ardgarten. It’s was a lovely place to stay. Lodge was clean, roomy and comfortable. All the staff were helpful and happy. Great walks in your doorstop. Lovely lorne sausage roll for breakfast at the retreat.

Writing from cabin now in Sherwood
Ordered keg beer - not installed correctly first drink out at 9pm
Hot tub a disaster - dirty no propulsion so like a warm Bath. No one came over three days. Same in forest Dean 3 months ago
Bath/shower - by the time you had shower the water over your ankles as couldn’t drain
Toilets - popeye to flush them. They are so hard to push. I need all my strength and had to flush other guests toilets as they didn’t have the strength
Oven most of icons missing. It was guesswork to put on grill, oven with fan without fan
Beds appear new but literally rock hard

Been coming to forest over 12 yrs and the lodges now need a complete re-fit.

They are NOT worth the money. Forest lodges appear to be profiteering. They certainly are NOT fulfilling their promise on the website.

No care, no point. Chooses a lodge with hot-tub near and travel to Sherwood pines if you need quiet. If not go to centre parcs

I am fed up with the lodges being of a poor standard, customer service poor (I mean management not the kids who run it they are good people)

I looked at newer sites and they are 3-400£ more! This is the same value proposition as a week in Spain so the Co are slowly prising them out of their market. They headlong rush into other sites(4more planned) but ignore the elephant in the room. The old sites need gutting!!

Pity really as we prefer the simple lodge/tub to centre parcs type places.

But we can do this in Spain or my fav Greece with nice pine forests.

Looks like the end of my association with this brand. Don’t get me wrong the peace, quiet was as lovely as when we started all those years ago. However, a strong no2 on my priorities with this type of holiday is hot tub! Therefore, hot tub not working then I think a refund against the £800 holiday cost is due. I’ve asked and they say a firm No so I have to vote with my feet

Hope you all get better service

This relates specifically to Keldy in Yorkshire.

The cabin and location were fine but there was issues which I did try to list in the requested review but surprise, surprise i was "unable to continue the survey based on the information provided" Obviously they don't like honesty. My complaints where as follows:
1st, The access road is awful. This seriously needs addressing before someone's vehicle is damaged.
2nd, The "one size fits all" internet option. I would have been prepared to pay a little extra for better WiFi but not £60 for 4 nights for a whole lot of features I don't want or need.
3rd, Not enough towels. We are advised to shower before and after using the hot tub therefore towel for pre hot tub shower, towel for getting out of the hot tub, towel for post hot tub shower, ergo 3 towels per person needed for one hot tub session. We had one towel each.
4th, (and this is the biggie) Noise! It is requested that noise levels be kept to a minimum after 10pm, which is great but, until when? To be more specific, I don't appreciate being woken at 5am by barking dogs! This is wholly inconsiderate and totally unacceptable. I came here to have a quiet, peaceful, stress free holiday, not to be woken at stupid o'clock in the morning by annoying dogs owned by selfish dog owners. My suggestion, either get them in check IE, no noise before 7am or better still have a separate section just for dog owners so they can annoy each other and not disturb us more considerate normal people.

As the requested review was apparently reject, hopefully Forest Holidays will read this and take heed.

From start to finish our Forest Holiday experience was fantastic! A friendly welcome and easy check in. Cabin was spacious, fully equipped and clean. We ordered a welcome pack which was full of amazing goodies/delicious food and drink. The decking facilities and heated hot tub were wonderful. It was super easy to order takeaway from the cabin and the food was excellent quality, piping hot and reasonably priced. The cabin manager visited us after the first night to check we were happy and to deal with any problems. A sticking front door lock was rectified within 30 minutes by the in-house maintenance team. This was exactly the relaxing holiday we had hoped for and enjoyed walking our dogs in forest: we will return!

As long time guests at Forest Holidays clearly we love it. We go as two couples with our dogs and the set up suits us perfectly. The locations offer different experiences locally but on site is consistently of a high standard.

Lovely cabins allowing for a multi generational family holiday

Peaceful and quiet, well maintained, great location

Highly recommended :)