Forest Holidays Reviews 

We had an excellent experience at Blackwood Forest with my husband and 2 year old. Our cabin was well equipped which was also clear in the room details when booking. The staff were all very helpful - including a special shout out to Anne who checked on us after we’d settled in and managed to get us some salt and pepper that we’d forgotten to bring for the dinner we were cooking. And to the cleaning staff who found my pillow I’d forgotten at checkout and kept it safe until we returned.
The forest was beautiful, we enjoyed walks, playing in the playground, the hot tub and a local restaurant during our long weekend.
Thanks for a great first holiday with our daughter!

Stayed at cropton from 27th to 30th March lodge no.46.Great upon arrival,everything clean but from Saturday morning the 28th we had no hot water and no heating error code up on their Samsung heating which was blocked pipe somewhere.manager came and brought us 4 small oil filled rads but didn't get hot water until Sunday late afternoon when they put the immersion heater on.They did bring us some logs for the fire and a bottle of prosceco and was promised a refund which we haven't seen yet,When I checked the fault code on system it was saying it had failed on the Thursday before us even getting there!

I recently booked an accessible cabin (no.1) in the Forest of Dean as I’m a full time wheelchair user and if it wasn’t for my wife I would have gone home the day we arrived. The only things that made it accessible was the wet room and hoist for the hot tub. Firstly the parking outside the cabin was on a very steep incline which made it difficult in a wheelchair. The kitchen was not accessible at all (not like another accessible cabin in Blackwood Forest). The bed was ridiculously high which made transfers on and off the bed difficult (being a paraplegic). There is only one bathroom which was absolutely disgusting (the photos don’t do it any justice) and in desperate need for refurbishment, I don’t even think it was cleaned before we arrival. There was faeces on the wall by the toilet and toilet seat which my wife cleaned because she didn’t want me to make a fuss. The sink was ridiculously small that you couldn’t even wash your hand in it. It would be great to have an en-suite in the double bedroom so others can use the toilet and not have to wait while the bathroom is in use like the cabin in Blackwood Forest. I’m not sure the hoist for the hot tub get’s serviced regularly as it was a bit temperamental and I get stuck in the air getting out of the hot tub. To be honest I feel that the whole cabin was in desperate need of refurbishment as it looked very rundown. I don’t understand why a log burner isn’t fitted, aren’t disabled people entitled to these luxuries as well? My wife reported these issues at the end of our stay and the staff looked shocked, were very apologetic. It’s such as shame as Forest of Dean is a beautiful place to visit and the staff at the retreat were great.

We came to glentress forest, Peebles on 10th of April for 3 nights. On arrival we received a warm welcome from 2 of the team. The lodge ( golden oak hideaway) was amazing, clean, modern and just what we were looking for. I noticed we didn’t have a hair dryer, I asked a member of the team for one, they delivered it within 10 minutes. They service was outstanding throughout. Highly recommend this amazing resort in Peebles.

Sherwood Forest . These cabins are getting really run down. We have been coming here for years but this year it was obvious that the cabins themselves are being bodge repaired to eek out as much profit from them before giving them a revamp. Gate fell off on the decking while we were there through rot and rust. The hot tub was chipped and outdoor furniture was on its last legs. The cabins themselves are also really, really dirty and, given you have the option to ask them to come an mop the floors when you arrive, suggests their cleaning between guests is minimal. The kitchen worktops were absolutely disgraceful. The dirt that came off them when I wiped them down on arrival was shocking! Forest Holidays have clearly cut costs from maintenance and cleaning. Again to ensure maximum profit. Given these are pretty expensive to stay in, I'd expect better.

Welcome cleaning pack wasn't in the cabin on arrival. No mention of it at check in. When we asked, we were told there was a delivery issue. We were told one would be available the next day. It wasn't. And again the next day after a 2nd promise. This was really poor communication and our frustration could have been averted, if they had just told us we weren't getting one. Or pre warned so we could bring some washing up liquid and dishwasher tablets with us. Really disappointed. Like I said, we've been visiting Forest Holidays for over 10 years now and this year was enough to make me unlikely to return ever again.

Disaster from day one
Pre ordered logs not delivered
Lodge not clean
Many faults reported - but staff did come out to fix
Booking not made for bike hire
Cafe not open at 9am
Tired lodges need updated
Most of all the hardest part was getting hold of head office or anyone after the holiday
Lots of emails to different people no response
But never gave up and in the end did get 40% back
For me lack of being able to get hold of anyone was stressful and no one answering phone
Shame as nice settings

We recently stayed at Blackwood Forest, Hampshire, our 3rd stay which has always been great.
The location is amazing and the staff on site are really lovely

During our stay, the hot tub broke down and was repaired promptly by maintenance staff, who were professional and helpful. However, following the repair, the hot tub had a very strong chemical/bleach smell. We were not advised not to use it, and after using it for approximately an hour, both of us developed significant skin irritation and burning, which lasted for several days afterwards. Our swimwear was also visibly bleached and damaged.

On our return we raised a formal complaint and were advised a response would be provided within 28 days. It has now been nearly 2 months and despite sending a follow-up email we have received no response or acknowledgement.

Given that this involves a potential health and safety concern, we are disappointed by the lack of communication and care. Such a shame as we have previously had a good experience

Me and my partner had the most wonderful stay at the Garwnant/Brecon Beacons site in Wales for our anniversary. Firstly the staff were incredible, I spoke with Madison the day before we were due to arrive and she was so kind and attentive, even asking for the reason we were staying. Upon telling her it was for our anniversary, she made sure there was a bottle of prosecco waiting with a handwritten card, so so thoughtful! Check in was so easy and the two ladies on the desk were incredibly kind and welcoming. The lodge itself was lovely and clean, you had all the equipment you could need to self cater. We had the pleasure of meeting Damien who is a credit to the team, really attentive with maintenance, went above and beyond to try and get the HDMI port working for us, catching up with us as we were heading out and about for a nice chat and genuinely being kind and welcoming. The walks around the site were stunning and was overall such a lovely place to be. All the staff are such a credit to Forest Holidays, we had the best time and we will 100% be back!

I haven’t been to stay at the lodge yet but I needed to come and write a review for the customer service element!

Long story short we needed to amend our dates and luckily we paid the flexible amendment fee; but regardless - the lady I got to speak to was so lovely, friendly and helpful.

Her name is Amanda and she was super helpful with recommendations when it came to choosing when to rebook and also which cabin to choose!

It’s not often you get cheerful and friendly people on the phones nowadays so I really just wanted to show my appreciation.

Thank you Amanda! We can’t wait for our stay now!

I booked a cabin a month ago and received my confirmation link shortly after. When I checked the details, the information about the cabin was completely wrong. Since then, I’ve emailed several times asking for clarification on what has actually been booked, but I haven’t had a single response.

I’ve also tried calling their helpline repeatedly and no one ever answers. At this point, they’ve taken my money, may have booked the wrong lodge, and have made no effort to communicate with me at all aside from automated sales emails trying to get me to buy extras for my holiday.

So I haven’t even gone on the trip yet and my experience has already been extremely poor. Unless things improve drastically, I won’t be booking with this company again. Fingers crossed there really is a lodge waiting for us when we arrive.

We will definately not be staying at Forest Holidays again after myself, my friend and my 11 year old daughter contracted hot tub folliculitis from the poorly sanitized hot tub at cabin 47 at the Sherwood Forest location. We paid £1650 for a 4 night break in February half term week and sustained severe itching and nasty rashes over our bodies where I myself had to take antibiotics to tackle the bacterial infection. We wrote a complaint to customer services and 3 weeks later didn't even receive a reply which is absolutely disgraceful. We will now be escalating this!

I have stayed 7 times at 4 different Forest Holiday sites in the last year, although the sites are in lovely locations, I will not be returning to any Forest Holidays site, due to the lack of customer service I received after a terrible stay at Deerpark back in January.
I have had to wait 42 days to get a reply from their customer service, even though their automated reply ensured a reply in 21 days as stated by them in their automated email reply. I had to email again and call to chase why I hadn’t had a reply to be told they have a new system and it was taking longer to reply to complaints.
Eventually I received an email and was offered, quite frankly a laughable offer of compensation to extend the 15% off discount of a future stay until Sept 2027, all customers are offered this discount after a stay to encourage rebooking and free early check in and late check out.

The cabin I stayed in No. 1 was next to a cabin No. 2, having building work on it, from 8am-6.30pm everyday I had to endure drilling, sawing, hammering, building rubbish and workers all over looking my decking and hot tub, so I didn’t feel comfortable using the hot tub until the workers had left for the day. Their work vans blocked my car in and I had to ask them multiple times to move so I could get out and to be able to park back in my parking space.
This cabin should never have been allowed to be let out that week.

On top of that on the first evening of my stay there was a power cut with the fire brigade and power company working behind my cabin until past 2am in the morning, then power came back on around 3am but there was still no WiFi or TV until lunchtime the following day. Later in the week there was more power distribution when the power company completed the work.

I have had to wait 42 days to get a reply from their customer service, even though they stated in an automated reply I should have a response in 21 working days. I had to call to chase, to be told they have a new system and it was taking longer to reply to complaints. I asked why an email was sent explaining this to be told yes that should have happened shouldn’t it.

I was offered quite frankly a laughable offer of free early check in and out on my next stay and to extend the date of the 15% off discount of a future stay until Sept 2027, all customers are offered this discount after a stay to encourage rebooking.
This should have been felt with at the time when I complained onsite to the site manager, but felt he fobbed me off by saying there was nothing he could do about it and said to email the Customer services.

This was my second break with Forest Holidays. The first was Elveden in the winter of 2024 and more recently at Blackwood Forest with my wife. The staff onsite at both these resorts are friendly and welcoming and the cabins are well positioned, there is plenty of space between each cabin and you aren’t overlooked.
However, I won’t be returning for a third visit as there seems to be a common theme between them which is enough to stop me visiting again. The cabins are tired and worn and need a refresh but the real problem for me was the lack of cleanliness and maintenance.
My latest visit included:
On arrival we were met with dirty worksurfaces, the dining table was covered in crumbs and food. The sink still had food and greasy food remains around the bowl. Even the toaster had breadcrumbs all over the top. The oven and hob surfaces were all smeary, as if they had been wiped down with a dirty cloth. One of the saucepans looked like someone had boiled rice in it and it had boiled dry. The black charred marks were still visible.
The bathrooms had toothpaste splashes around the sink area from previous guests and the black mould in the shower had been growing there for a while by the looks of it.
On the maintenance side of things, the back door to the decking area was sticking at the bottom. You couldn’t open it without giving it an extra push with your foot. The curtain rail above the same door was not attached properly and fell down on me one night while drawing the curtains, there are missing screws to hold it together. We tried to watch the tv one afternoon but it kept switching off every few minutes, a black screen with “loading” would appear, and take a minute or so before it started working again. Very frustrating! There was a broken safety catch on the second bedroom window, typically where young children may be staying.
I could go on, there is more, but I think you get the picture. The whole cabin felt dirty and neglected. I could have complained about all these things but I was only there for four nights and to be honest I wanted to get on and enjoy my holiday, not have to deal with all these issues. The amount and type of problems show a real lack of concern. With an early check in and paying to bring my dog it worked out to around £200 a night for a four-night break at this time of year here in mid-March, and I’m more inclined to spend my money elsewhere. It’s a shame but I won’t be going on a Forest Holiday again.

would not recommend based on most recent experience. although have had positive experiences in the past.

we stayed at Keldy forest at the beginning of February, on arrival the cabin was not ready at the check in time of 4pm, when we did get the key, the floor was still wet and therefore we had to wait until this was dry before going in.

the heating was very cold on arrival, the hot tub was at 32 degrees. on arrival we were told the hot tub may not be ready for a few hours (not problem but should advise prior to booking this is the case), we tried to use the hot tub at 930/10pm, we couldn't as it was still at 34 degrees. we asked for maintenance support through the tv, no response.

there was no manuals for any of the kitchen appliances, maintenance did come out to help with the oven, he couldn't answer the query, said he would get a colleague to come back, no one ever did.

the hot tub remained at a temperature we were unable to use on the 3rd and 4th days, sitting at 34 degrees.

I wrote a complaint on the 9th Feb and sent via email, we arrived on the 9th Feb. I got an automated response to say we would get a response within 3 days, I followed up on the 18th Feb as still had received no contact. still to this day have received no contact from the company to address any element of the complaint.

very poor showing on customer service front and therefore would strongly not recommend.

We have just stayed for 3 nights over the weekend at the Forest Holiday lodges in Strathyre with our 4 year old and 20 month old and truly had the best time. Thankfully we got lucky with the ever changing and unpredictable Scottish weather and had a dry weekend with some sunshine. On arrival, the staff are very welcoming and friendly and we were impressed with our lodge. Very spacious and the heaters kept us warm and cosy (and the log burner fire of course in the evenings) for no extra charge they can provide you with a fire guard, high chair, travel cot and bed guard which was ideal for us with the little one.
We booked the Little Wild Ones nature walk which is aimed at children aged 2 to 5 and the ranger, Pauline, who takes it is wonderful and great with the kids. Our 4 year old absolutely loved it and the wee one was happy splashing in puddles and getting muddy! My husband and I even found it interesting learning about the local wildlife.
The Loch that it's next to is really scenic and great for skimming stones (and feeding the ducks).
The food was lovely, the portions were very generous and you can order a delivery to your Lodge which we did, making dinner time so easy after a long day of adventuring.
The local town of Callendar is also worth a wander about, it has a fantastic bakery there.
Overall, I'd highly recommend going there. Even if you don't take kids it's also a pet friendly place with loads of local hikes and cycle tracks. Or for a weekend away with a group it would be great with the hotub and the retreat put on Quizzes and lots of other activities as well.
We will most definitely be back.

Just returned from a wonderful week at Blackwood Forest Holiday staying in Silverbirch cabin 40. We booked last minute and for midweek so got a good deal. The cabin was lovely (although I could see the cleaning was a little rushed e.g. the coffee table wasn’t wiped over completely but nothing really bad and a few hairs on the shower floor from the previous occupants). The rooms and outside all looked well maintained and we thoroughly enjoyed the hot tub both in the morning and evening after. Long walk through the Hampshire countryside. The setting was beautiful and all only an hour from London direct from Waterloo station. The staff were all very friendly and incredibly helpful. We misunderstood the website and thought our cabin came with a Nespresso machine (it didn’t) but the staff brought round some ground coffee for a press free of charge. There was also a problem with their booking system so our free shuttle bus transfer booking didn’t register correctly. However, fortunately the staff sorted that all out for us as a taxi costs £35 one way to the station for a 10 min journey since they have to come from Winchester). The one small gripe I might have is setting up the TV and getting my WiFi single sorted but that could well be my own illiteracy when it comes to to a new TV remote.

While the location itself is lovely, I’m afraid the overall experience did not reflect the £1,882 price paid. The accommodation felt closer to budget level than premium, which makes the cost difficult to justify.

There were also several specific issues:

Our evening meal on the first night was delivered cold and approximately an hour late.

Breakfast quality was below expectations for this price point. £13 for 1 sausage, 1 bacon, 1 egg , 4 slices of mushroom and a small pot of baked beans.

We paid nearly £50 for a guided woodland walk that, in reality, did not offer meaningful added value over what we could have done independently.

I also booked a checkpoint game for £25, but this was never outlined or facilitated by staff, so it did not take place.

On one evening we were asked to vacate our table due to a pre-booking for the quiz, despite there being no indication that the table was reserved when we sat down and ordered drinks.

Most staff were friendly and polite, which we appreciated, but overall the experience did not align with the premium pricing.

At the very least, I would have appreciated a refund of the £25 for the checkpoint game that was never delivered but customer service are non existent. Complete radio silence.

We stayed in a Golden Lodge at Deerpark Cornwall from the 9th February for 4 nights.
On arrival we noted water seeping up through the floorboards in the kitchen area. We reported this and the maintainance person stated it was over vigorous cleaning. We also reported that the hot tub wasn’t warm enough. Again it was reset but was still too cool.

After two days we reported the same issues again the same response was given but the seeping water continued. The hot tub temp was raised again but with no noticeable difference and was still too cool.

These two issues spoilt our holiday and were not resolved by staff nor were we offered alternative accommodation.

On return home I submitted a complaint via their complaint section on the website. I have waited 14 days and heard nothing…

Disappointed customer.

We often stay in lodges and choose local to where we live due to having a pet dog. We were very happy with the surroundings driving in. However we were met by staff that were rude looked too busy and brushed us off. We went to the log cabin that was un clean, dirty glasses, dirty plates, dirty floors and sofa , I always like cooking, home or away, I wouldn’t have cooked in this kitchen.. we looked around for items to clean ourselves, we had a dustpan no brush a mop no head. However we made the best of it. We went for food the first night at the cafe and it was ok, not great but ok.. we were sternly told by staff to put our friendly dog on a lead walking around the forest, I asked even for a wee outside the lodge and he said always.. the beds were uncomfortable.. we chose to make the most of what we had paid for off the site and just come back to the lodge to sleep. The last night I thought, we hadn’t used the hot tub as no mats or extra towels to dry ourselves, let’s make the most of it, go get a cocktail each, to be greeted with a lovely menu and 3 bottles of shake it when you want to drink it and 3 cups of ice.. I woke up cleaned to a standard that was better than I walked in, stripping the bedding, placing towels all together, sweeping a floor, washing the sides down, sofa down, cleaning all the plates and cutlery as it was filthy.I think it will be in better standards for the next family.. the added extras that we always do such as archery, axe throwing was limited to one day. Very disappointing to leave a bad review. We won’t be staying again.

We've visited various FH sites since 2013, and despite escalating prices, have enjoyed 7 or 8 visits. This year we chose their Keldy site and we were looking forward to the usual level of luxury, cleanliness and great facilities. We were very disappointed to find an extremely dirty cabin (including splattered toilet, hand prints and unidentified spillages up walls, dust and cobwebs everywhere, overflowing ashtray) and an overwhelming and unpleasant solvent smell. We reported this on arrival and the member of staff on reception came to clean the toilet, but could give no explanation or solution to the solvent smell.
On night 2 of our 3 night stay, the hot tub would not switch on, there were no lights or jets. I reported this through the QR code on the TV menu at 6:11pm. My husband went to the retreat at 8pm to look for staff and there wasn’t anyone available. We were unable to use the hot tub, one of the main facilities that we’d paid for. Maintenance staff did come to fix the hot tub on Sunday morning, although we only know this because we saw them, there was no apology or follow up at all.
I had pre paid an additional £40 for a late checkout (2 extra hours) so that we could use the hot tub before we left. I confirmed that this had been noted when we checked in, but on the Monday morning staff knocked on our door 3 times and said they didn't know we had late checkout. Then the WiFi to the cabin was turned off at 10am, the original checkout time. We felt rushed and like we'd overstayed our welcome.
Having spent over £1000 on the initial booking and add on purchases, we were expecting a much better experience and returned feeling very disappointed.
To add insult to injury, I have emailed all of this to the only email address FH offers and have received no response at all, despite 2 follow up emails. I also tried to call and after 30 minutes of waiting for someone to answer, had to give up.
It's been a winter tradition to visit FH for a treat weekend, but we'll be finding somewhere new and I'd encourage others to consider the same - if you're lucky you'll have a lovely weekend at an FH site but if you're unlucky and something goes wrong, it appears they really don't care.