During our recent stay at Villages Nature Paris, we decided to stay in a Premium Cottage. There are three cottage accommodation types available and even apartments. The Premium Cottage at Villages Nature Paris is a mid-range cottage. I thought this cottage would be the best to suit our needs.
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Our Two Bedroom Premium Cottage at Villages Nature Paris
As a family of four, we stayed in a two-bedroom premium cottage. The accommodation consists of a master double with a shower room. A twin room for the children. A bathroom with a full bath and shower combination and a separate toilet. The main living area is towards the back of the property. This space is open plan so is home to the kitchen and dining area. As well as the sofa which contains a sofa bed. Making it possible to have six people stay in this accommodation.
The living area has patio doors which lead to an outside space. Ours was decked and overlooked a lake area. We had loungers as well as a table and chairs. There was also an umbrella which was the perfect shade in the August heat.
The decoration of the cottage was light and airy. Blue, white and natural tones. I really liked its appearance. It suited its surroundings. I do wonder if it would feel the same if staying in the winter months. The below video is a tour of the cottage we stayed in.
Our Premium Cottage Location
We let Villages Nature Paris choose the location of our cottage. If you book your stay early and directly with Center Parcs you can select your cottage location for free. This is something that normally costs a fee. As we booked our stay last minute we would have had to pay to select our location. There weren’t many cottages left to choose from so we roughly know where our location would be. We were placed around one of the lakes near the edge of the site.
Where Do We Park Our Car?
Just like the Center Parcs in the UK, Villages Nature Paris is a car-less village. The main difference from the UK is there isn’t just one main car park. We were able to park our car in a car park right next to our accommodation. We don’t know if that is a perk of staying in a Premium Cottage. But this does make it so much easier if you want to use Villages Nature Paris as a base for day trips.
Should We Hire Bikes?
Villages Nature Paris is a huge site. So much bigger than any other Center Parcs we have experienced. After busy days in Disneyland Paris, we didn’t fancy walking around the site. So we looked into hiring bikes. But something else caught our eye. You can hire golf buggies in Villages Nature Paris. So we hired one for our time in the village and it made our stay so much easier.
For the size of the village, I would say hiring bikes or a golf buggy is a must. Apparently, before covid, there used to be a bus service around the village but this hasn’t been reinstated yet. Having some form of transport around the village is very helpful for those theme park tired feet. If you are staying in an apartment you are closer to the shops, restaurants and the Aqualagon. So a bike might not be needed there.
How Did The Premium Cottage at Villages Nature Paris Compare To Center Parcs UK Accommodation?
The Inside Space
Having only stayed in two-bedroom executive lodges at Center Parcs Elveden Forest we can only compare the facilities to them. The first thing that we noticed was the lack of toilets. There was one toilet in this cottage. I was assuming the master bedrooms en-suite would have one but it was only home to a shower. It wasn’t a problem as the toilet was separate from the main bathroom so it was always accessible. But this may be something to consider if staying with other families. But having fewer toilets means less water consumption which may be the reason for the design.
Apart from the electric hob, the only other way to cook was with a combination microwave. This was new to us and we really had no idea how to work it. Thankfully the instructions can be found on the TV. We still didn’t push ourselves too much. We only cooked pizza in ours, sticking to pasta the other nights of our stay. Food that can easily be cooked on the hob.
The TV didn’t have many English-speaking channels to watch. This is something I have never really thought about before. The hotels in Disneyland Paris offer some form of entertainment in English. We would put BBC World News on. The TV was a smart TV which I discovered wasn’t compatible with our apple devices. Apparently, there is a way to mirror your phone screen to TVs. If we visited again I would bring a cable so we could connect to the TV. That way we would be able to watch something from our Amazon Prime Account*.
The Outside Space
We could see our neighbours. Now, this might sound silly but in our experience of staying in Center Parcs in England, no matter what lodge we have stayed in you can’t see your neighbours. Yes, I know Center Parcs is a forest full of lodges but they are positioned so that you can’t see anyone else when using your back outside space. It didn’t cause us any problems it is just different. This could be because Villages Nature Paris isn’t set in a forest and the location of our Premium Cottage. We were overlooking a lake so all of the cottages outside space were facing it.
It was so nice being able to experience a stay at Villages Nature Paris. We would love to return to explore more. It could possibly be used our main base for future trips to Disneyland Paris. We also hope to stay at different European Center Parcs in the future too.
