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Scotchman Lane, Flaxton, York, England YO60 7RG
+44 1904 468791

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User Reviews

Lodges in the Middle of a Forest

by Gemma_C

Sunderland, United Kingdom

February 10, 2010

Best of IgoUgo Griffon Forest Lodges are just on the outskirts of York, only a short 10 minute drive away from Monks Cross. They are set in the heart of 100 acres of woodland, and you can use the lodges as a relaxing break, or a base for venturing into York and ...Read more Griffon Forest Lodges are just on the outskirts of York, only a short 10 minute drive away from Monks Cross. They are set in the heart of 100 acres of woodland, and you can use the lodges as a relaxing break, or a base for venturing into York and the surrounding area.

Turning into Griffon Forest you drive along a drive with speed bumps. This drive feels like it goes on forever, and does take about 5-10 minutes to get along it because of all the speed bumps! On the way we did see some squirrels though and this happened the majority of the time we drove along the drive way.

Check in isn't until 4pm but we got there early around 2pm. I went to reception and said I knew we were early, but I heard there was a big Asda nearby and asked if we could have directions. The man gave us a leaflet explained how to get there and took down our number, saying if our lodge was finished early they would ring to let us know! Whilst we were shopping at about 3pm we got a call to say we could check in if we wanted to, by the time we got back it was just about 3:30pm but it was still nice to get in that bit extra early.

We were given our lodge keys and the swipe card to use at the nearby Tykes Restaurant for 10% discount. You are given 2 maps, one of the lands and one showing the lodges and they explain how to get to your lodge. I was immediately stroke by the number of lodges near reception and the road, as the hot tubs were quite often overlooking the road. I'm always amazed at places such as these as to why they can't put up a bit of bamboo fencing or something to give people some privacy, especially considering the 'cheap' lodges aren't actually cheap at all! The premier lodges are situated off in small cul de sacs and we were pleased with the location of ours. Our hot tub did overlook a lodge in the next cul de sac along and because it was winter and the bushes and trees in-between were bare it didn't provide much privacy, however thankfully the lodge next to us was empty (it appeared it was getting maintenance as we often saw the handyman going in during the week).

Going into our lodge it was nice and warm, and very welcoming. As you go in through the door there is the sitting room area and the kitchen, which lead through to a bathing area and the bedroom. It was a large open plan lodge with big beams over the top and was very homely. It wasn't done out with Ikea furniture like other lodges we have stayed at in the past, and it felt very homely and relaxing!

There was a small box of chocolates on the bed and a bottle of champagne in an empty ice bucket. It wasn't just cava either which made a nice surprise. There were also 4 roses in a jar on the kitchen table, I was expecting a bit more than just 4 slightly wilted roses but not a big deal.

We were in our lodge about 15 minutes when a man turned up to explain how to use the Jacuzzi bath, fire, hot tub and TV. He said 'there should be some instructions for the Jacuzzi bath but... oh there isn't.' Concerning the fire he said 'well it's pretty much self explanatory...' and he actually only showed us how to use the hot tub. This turned out to be slightly annoying as later on we wanted to turn the fire on but couldn't for the life of us figure out how! We gave up in the end and the morning after on the way out for the day we asked reception to check it for us, when we came back it was turned on. We later turned it off and well, we couldn't get it back on again. It would have been nice to have some instructions on how to use the fire, Jacuzzi, hot tub and TV but these were nonexistent.
The TV had free view and the man said 'some sky channels.' To view the Sky channels you had to switch to analogue, but the reception was so poor you couldn't watch them! Again we queried this at reception where they said 'oh because it's in a forest the reception can be pretty bad....' So I don't understand why they have the option if you can't watch them?

The flat screen TV was on a wall in the middle of the lodge which could twist round to face the living area, or the bedroom and bathing area. This meant you could even watch TV in the large Jacuzzi bath, however on an evening if we wanted to snuggle up and watch a DVD, it meant looking up towards the TV. I hate TV's on walls so this was quite annoying, but not too much of a problem.

The 6ft Jacuzzi bath in the corner was just HUGE. I've never seen a bath so big before! Unfortunately this only got used twice by us. The first time we left it to run but didn't realise half way through the hot water had ran out, so it was luke warm and we didn't last long in it. The second time we ran it, then stopped it for 20 minutes to allow the water to heat back up, then carry on filling it. It was nice... but all the effort it took to fill the thing did kind of spoil it and it was much quicker to hop into the hot tub outside!

You are provided with lots of fresh clean towels, which was good for using the hot tub, shower and Jacuzzi bath! You are also given robes which was a nice addition I haven't had at other lodge parks before.

There wasn't a daily maid service which was a big surprise as this is often offered at other lodge parks. The booklet said you could ask for a service and they would tell you the prices, but especially for a premier lodge I'm surprised it's not included.

I had a really nice relaxing break here. The hot tub was really nice and overlooking a forest it was inevitable we could come across wildlife! I put some bread out on the grass area next to the hot tub decking, and sitting there we had pheasants, blue tits, robins and gray squirrels coming over to eat! At night time it's really nice to sit in the hot tub, especially when it's a cold winter night; it's very hard to get out of it!

Overall I had a really nice time at Griffon Forest, however I have also stayed at other lodge parks in the past and, whilst it was a very nice lodge and site, I can't see why people pay the expensive prices it charges! During peak time in the summer it can cost nearly £700 for a Monday to Friday break in the lodge we stayed in. We only paid £300 and this was with a 10% discount offer through work and a special reduced price for January. I can honestly say I wouldn't personally pay nearly £700 for a stay here, as there are other lodge parks all over the country which are just as nice and not nearly as pricey.
Visit GriffonForest.co.uk for more information, or you can book through Hoseasons.co.uk Close

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