All five Center Parcs locations will shut for 24 hours from 10am on Monday (19 September) "as a mark of respect" to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who died aged 96 last week, and to allow the operator’s colleagues to be part of the "historic moment".
Center Parcs said guests due to arrive on Monday should not travel and should instead arrive on Tuesday. Affected guests can cancel for a full refund, or accept a discount. The park operator said it hoped guests would "understand its decision to support our Queen on her final journey".
However, Center Parcs’ social media feeds were inundated on Tuesday with complaints from affected guests, many of whom have already committed to additional travel plans and expense.
"Very angry about this," read one response to the Center Parcs Twitter account. "We are not travelling directly to you, so this has left us stranded half way up the country without accommodation for a night. 30% offered is nowhere near close enough to covering the extra costs."
Another said: "Absolute shocker of a call. It’s a bank holiday, so I presume you also closed your sites for the Jubilee, 29 August, 2 May, etc? People have saved, planned, booked and paid for travel. Serious rethink needed here. You’ve not considered the bigger picture for hundreds of people."
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Center Parcs said: "Following the announcement of the date of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, we have made the decision to close all our UK villages on Monday 19 September as a mark of respect and to allow as many of our colleagues as possible to be part of this historic moment.
"Guests who were due to arrive on Monday 19 September should not travel on this day, though we will reopen on Tuesday 20 September and be ready to welcome our guests then. We hope our guests will understand our decision to support our Queen on her final journey."
The operator added all affected guests would be emailed on Tuesday with the impacts for their holidays, and their options.
