Center Parcs has backtracked again after initially telling customers they would be kicked out of their sites on Monday out of ‘respect’ to the Queen, then informing guests that they could stay at their sites - but must remain inside their lodges. Now the holiday company has decided its accommodation will remain open for the Queen’s funeral on Monday, after guests were left fuming.
According to the latest development, guests will now be able to leave their lodges and walk around the Center Parcs sites. However, facilities will remain closed, MyLondon reports.
Center Parcs issued the clarification after guests tweeted the company expressing their annoyance. Guest Kim tweeted the company to say: "I haven't just seen a tweet saying that @CenterParcsUK are going to kick a family with 2 small baby's out of their park on Monday 19th. As a mum with a 3 month old I'd be absolutely traumatised, I know it's history but surely you can do something else!"
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Center Parcs replied: "Hi Kim We recognise leaving the village for one night is an inconvenience, we have listened and made the decision to allow guests to remain on village on Monday, however, the village will still be closed, so guests will need to remain in their lodges." They have made the same reply to everyone asking about it on twitter.
The company then clarified the situation in another tweet: "Hi Apologies for my wording, you will be allowed to walk around the village, but the facilities will be closed."
This provoked a string of puzzled reactions with Stickocelery saying: "Thanks Amy, will guests be shot on sight if they leave their lodgings or will there be some sort of warning? Probably best to let the mother in law head out first just in case!" Jimmy added: "You’re aware that’s literally a hostage situation then @metpoliceuk."
The villages are still set to close at 10am on Monday, meaning guests will not be able to use any facilities, and Center Parcs has offered a 17 per cent refund of the lodge cost to affected visitors.
In a statement, the holiday firm said: "Like many businesses we have taken the decision to close all our UK villages on Monday September 19. This decision was taken as a mark of respect and to allow as many of our colleagues as possible to be part of this historic moment. We have contacted all the guests due to arrive on Monday September 19 and offered them a number of different options. Our villages will be open to welcome guests on Tuesday September 20.
"The vast majority of our guests are either due to arrive or depart on Monday September 19. We have however reviewed our position regarding the very small number of guests who are not due to depart on Monday and we will be allowing them to stay on our villages rather than having to leave and return on Tuesday. The villages will still remain closed on Monday and we will be offering a discount for the lack of facilities available on that day."
Before the U-turn, guest Tracy Groome, 58, a consultant from Bolton, was concerned about where her party of nine would stay after she booked a seven-night stay at Center Parcs Elveden Forest in Suffolk. The trip - due to begin on Friday - cost more than £2,500.
She said: "I'm very sure it would not be what the Queen or the royal family wants. "I'm sure they will not want everybody who was due to go to Centers Parc on a holiday to have their holiday spoiled, and for them to have this stress of trying to organise something different." Glynis Meloy, 68, from St Austell in Cornwall, is booked to stay for a week at Longleat Forest in Wiltshire in a group of six people at a cost of £1,800 and had expressed concerns about how they would spend the day if asked to leave.
"If nowhere is open, what are we meant to do with all these people all day?" she said. "Not everybody's a royalist, not everybody wants to watch."
Mourning guidance from the Cabinet Office says: "Depending on the nature and location of their business and the tone of planned events, some businesses may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the state funeral, however this is at the discretion of individual businesses."
Center Parcs' five UK sites are: Elveden Forest, Suffolk; Longleat Forest, Wiltshire; Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire; Woburn Forest, Bedfordshire; and Whinfell Forest, Cumbria. Holidays at the villages start on Fridays or Mondays and last three, four or seven nights.
A spokesman for Butlin's said its resorts will remain open on Monday, with new arrivals asked to arrive from 3pm, two hours later than normal. This will "allow our team time to watch the funeral and pay their respects", he added.
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