Forest Holidays Reviews 

647
TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

2.7

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 91 reviews, most reviewers were unhappy with their experience overall. Many people found the lodges and cabins to be tired, dated, and in desperate need of refurbishment, citing issues like broken furniture, damaged fixtures, and general disrepair. Customers frequently reported problems with cleanliness, encountering dirty accommodations and unpleasant smells upon arrival. Additionally, many experienced issues with amenities such as cold or broken hot tubs, faulty showers, and non-functional appliances, which often went unresolved by staff. Reviewers also expressed dissatisfaction with customer service, citing poor communication and a feeling that their concerns were not addressed, leading some to feel the holidays were overpriced for the quality received. Conversely, a small portion of people appreciated the beautiful woodland locations, finding them peaceful for relaxation and walks, and some found the staff to be kind, friendly, and helpful.

What people talk about most

Facilities

People report ambiguous experiences with facilities, with some reviewers praising the beautiful cabins,... See more

Holidays

Consumers find holidays to be ambiguous, with many reviewers expressing disappointment due to issues like... See more

Staff

Customers had ambiguous experiences with staff, with many reviewers praising the staff for being kind,... See more

Location

Reviewers highlight positive aspects of location, often describing it as beautiful, scenic, peaceful, and... See more

Quality

Customers consistently note ambiguous experiences with quality, with many reviewers expressing significant... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Location super, stunning, amazing! But lodge very tired, needed a lick of paint, new furniture( collapsed settee) some linen thread bare and frayed.no heated towel rail or washing machine/ dry... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Gorgeous cabins at the Garwnant site in the Brecon Beacons, genuinely lovely woodland setting, and the staff on-site were kind and helpful, that part was great. However, during our stay we ran into sa... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

I have stayed at multiple forest holiday lodge locations, all have been lovely, clean with beautiful scenery. My most recent had an unfortunate incident happen, which unfortunately wasn’t handled the... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

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 w... See more


Company details

  1. Self-Catering Accommodation

Written by the company

Discover the ultimate stress-free staycation at one of 13 inspiring UK holiday locations. Relax and reconnect in your very own cabin with a hot tub. Whether you’re looking for a family adventure with your dog in the great outdoors, an unforgettable group getaway, or a romantic retreat for two.


Contact info

2.7

Poor

TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

647 reviews

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No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

Hasn’t replied to negative reviews

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2.7

All reviews

(647)

79 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Everything as expected

Everything as expected. Group of 8 woman celebrating a 40th. Had the pizzas delivered to the cabin on the first night , good value.made good use of the hot tub. A good time had by all.

July 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Glentress Forest

Lovely stay in Glentress forest in July. We were given the only cabin that is in direct sunshine all day. The facilities were good and the food was nice. We happened to stay when there was a mini heatwave so having that cabin was great. We found all the staff to be very helpful and attentive. Couple of niggles is that the Wi-Fi is none existent so you have to pay for the upgrade at £60 for 4 nights. The in cabin app to order food was down and our phone signal was out so couldn’t phone down the order. The site roads are not great with the being very gravelly and full of potholes which caused me to lose my footing a couple of times. The on site shop is extremely over priced for the few food items it has in there. I wouldn’t recommend this site for people with mobility issues as some of the roads ate very steep. A great place if you love biking with a few trails. All in all a good stay and would recommend

July 7, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The location was great

The location was great. The staff were very friendly and helpful.
The lodge we stayed at was very quiet and spacious inside. Our dog loved the walks in the forest.
We went for a nice quiet drink at the pub.

June 30, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great family time

Great family time. Love the forest walks, Love that the retreat is open for drinks and food, even get it delivered to your cabin. Cabins are spacious, very clean, warm in the winter, cool in the summer with a well equipped kitchen. Hot tub is cleaned and inspected every day. Staff are friendly and helpful. Good knowledge of the surrounding places, walks and things to do. You can do as much as like, a busy time or just relax. Would recommend.

July 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent stay at the Forest of Dean

Our first time staying with Forest Holidays and we stayed at the Forest of Dean in June/July and had an excellent time. The lodge had everything we could have asked for, especially the hot tub, and we relaxed as soon as we got there. Would highly recommend Forest Holidays and looking forward to staying there again.

June 30, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Amazing!

It's was peaceful and just really lovely. Staff was kind and friendly aswell. My kids enjoyed it especially the hottub and been able to see the deers in a morning. The forest was lovely to walk through, we didn't even cover half it's massive! Will definitely be coming back. So deffo a must if you enjoy the nature and peace. The cabin was absolutely beautiful!

May 2, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The perfect holiday.

Another fantastic stay at forest of dean, already planning our next. This was our 3rd stay and it never fails to impress. From the check in to check out this place does not disappoint, the staff are friendly and always happy to help. The accommodation is an haven, you will leave being the most relaxed you have ever been.

July 18, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Epic times at epic lodges

I’m loyal to the brand because you know what you’re going to get. We are heading to Beddgelert next month and this will be our 9th or 10th stay overall in 3 years. We always stay in a Golden Oak or White Willow lodge and they are always spotless. The staff on site are always super helpful welcoming you as if you were part of the family. We stayed for a full week in June in Delamere (which is alour personal favourite) and indulged heavily in the food and drink on site all of which was fresh and delicious. We can’t praise Forest holidays enough and will always recommend them.

June 20, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Cancellation excessive cost.

Having had to cancel a week's break due to illness, the cancellation charge was over £500. Being regular users booking two to three holidays per year with Forest Holidays, I mistakenly believed I was a valued customer. Wrong. Be warned. I was offered a future booking with strings attached, but I'm not sure if I will still be here, thus the cancellation.

August 13, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Lovely relaxing place friendly staff…

Lovely relaxing place friendly staff but the cabin was a huge disappointment paid alot of money to stay in the golden oak. It was filthy breadcrumbs on top of toaster a poo stain down the toilet.
Tables was sticky I had to wash the table. Everything was dirty and cobwebs in places you wouldn't get them like on the ovan. In thus cost of living crises paying this much money over 1300 I expected luxury. But our family holiday was ruined die to being cabin was dirty and not looked after. My children one who is autistic found it very uncomfortable

July 25, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Had a great time so peaceful

Had a great time so peaceful. Staff were brilliant. Nice and clean. Over all a great experience and would return. Better food options needed but couldn’t complain have had worse.

May 1, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Thorpe Forest…

We’ve had many visits to the various locations of forest holidays.
This was our first to Thorpe Forest.
Upon arriving we were greeted by a young woman who was very friendly and smiley, the next lady who gave us the cabin keys was very nice and knowledgeable and informed us of activities that may be of interest.
The cabin, this was mucky on the outside with soil of the entrance steps and had dirty windows, the decking was rotten and we were slightly concerned that we would fall through it while we were in the hot tub!
The hot tub was immaculate, perfectly fresh and clean and the hot tub guy who was maintaining was also lovely. The cabin inside was tired and not maintained great, cupboard doors in the kitchen had been screwed through the facing and didn’t fit properly, plus various other little things.
The linens were clean and beds were made correctly. The sofa was clean, maybe new, which was lovely because we’ve had a really gross smelling one in a previous cabin.

The really bad points-the kitchen smelt really bad of dog wee, like really bad fresh, just happened kind of stink-so really not nice.
The shower head in the main bathroom jet washed your skin with no way of changing the power or setting.
A truly Wonderful quiet location, a negative point was that we noticed a really bad smell when sitting outside on the decking, which we figured out was coming from the strange bags of dead wet bugs hanging on the trees in the forest.

Overall:
staff rating 4*
Cabin maintenance 1*
Cabin cleanliness 2*
Location 5*
Hot tub 5*

The prices keep rising but the cleanliness/maintenance are definitely getting worse.

July 18, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

Was quite disappointed when I arrived at the lodge. Very peaceful location, shaded by trees, but everything looks so tired. The lodge was very dark inside despite arriving mid afternoon on a very sunny day. Completely overshadowed by trees. Cleanliness wasnt great, cobwebs inside and out, the cooker and barbecue were both greasy (There was a rat scavenging on it!). Fourth bedroom had no bedside table or shelf, no where to put a drink/book or glasses etc. The kitchen wasnt very well thought out, some utensils that youd expect to find were absent, and there was no freezer! Only a small bottle of washing up liquid and a JCloth, completely useless when trying to get a barbecue clean before leaving. Hot tub was lovely and serviced every morning. Probably wont go back, was expensive for what it was.

July 4, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Stayed in lochside cabin 30 at…

Stayed in lochside cabin 30 at strathyre.

Cabin was clean, comfortable and well equipped, staff were friendly and helpful, take away food was quick and good quality, location was ideal being close to the water with a trodden path down to the water, near to calendar and a lovely welcome for our dog.

Worth noting that in July there is no view of the loch due to vegetation and there were bat boxes on the cabin above the upstairs bedroom window so we had bats in the cabin and could hear them squeeking and scrambling about all night outside. Didn’t spoil our holiday at all and we had a great time but might be useful to know.

Had a great stay and would come back!

July 4, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Garwnant Forest Holidays

Garwnant ! My cabin was clean and very comfortable myself and Rocky spend a month there. It was lovely. All the staff were friendly and polite and nothing was too much for them. The cafe food was also very good from sitting in to take away! The little shop will supply a few necessary evils such a goodies lol. We actually did a bit of painting Mother (71) and Daughter (51) and we were chuffed with our efforts. Would I come again? Of course making plans for next year. We found special quiet paths of park, for our dog and he now walks lead free! His recall is superb. Thank you to the crew at Forest Holidays.

June 23, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Price rises just before booking

Looked to book a cabin and received a price I was happy with. But I needed to book time off work. Visited 90 minutes later and the 4 night break had gone up by £280. Terrible experience and it’s not that desirable that I would magically find the extra money.

July 17, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

We recently visited Thorpe Forest and…

We recently visited Thorpe Forest and lasted just 2 days before packing up and coming home! Upon arrival at our lodge we went inside and it was filthy dirty. Cob webs everywhere, when you attempted to open windows you had to put your hands through the cob webs! The bed was broken and again dirty. The outside furniture was broken. All in all the property was tired and in need of some refurbishment / upkeep

The Trim trail walk was so disappointing. We got half way round and then had to dodge the multiple black sacks dog owners had thrown on the walkway! This was close to the roadway and several staff passed by and made no attempt to clean up the mess. I agree it shouldn't be down to them but they should then look to control the situation

We asked for a parasol for the decking and was told this is not available for health and safety reasons.

We tried to order products at the shop but were told these are not available but they had not updated their pricelist as it would mean laminating a new sheet.

The final straw for us was when we were told there may not be any water for 12 hours!

We lodged a complaint but have been told not to expect a response for 21 days!

July 7, 2025
Unprompted review

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