New wave of holiday parks set to make a splash

Families looking for high-wire activity holidays in the UK next year face a range of exciting new options, says Sarah Turner

In the next few years, a wave of new holiday parks in the UK will open with new challenges in terms of activities and accommodation. In March, the Adventure Parc Snowdonia (adventureparcsnowdonia.com) plans to open a 106-bed hotel operated by Hilton with a spa, pools and hammam. But it’s the setting that matters most; an all-action site with ziplines, indoor and outdoor climbing walls and a lagoon with a surf break. Glamping pods will also be available.

Surfing of the more natural variety is also key at Three Mile Beach (three milebeach.co.uk) on Gwithian beach, near St Ives in Cornwall. Owned by Craig Burkinshaw, who founded globe-trotting Audley Travel, and his partner Joanne Le Bon, it takes inspiration from the Caribbean with the Pokémon-bright colours of its 15 beach houses. When it opens at Easter, it will be at the luxury end of the market. Private chefs are on tap and a series of food trucks will roll up, but in general it will keep a sporty vibe with surf lessons plus wetsuit and board hire (prices start at £1,150 per week in low season, rising to £3,100 in high season).

The Gateway at Peak in Derbyshire (thegatewayatpeak.com) is hoping to commence with its first phase in 2021 with an environmentally friendly take on activity holidays; there will be electric go-karting alongside zip lines, climbing walls, caving and trampolining as well as luxury lodges, hostels and a hotel.

Some of the UK’s resorts set to open in the next few years will use the sites of older leisure facilities. Southport Cove, near Liverpool, aims to revitalise the site of a former swimming pool. Plans submitted to Sefton Council include a wave pool with 6ft-high breaks, a 275yd beach and boardwalk as well as a hotel and spa.

Most ambitious of all is Valley Ridge (valleyridge.com) in Suffolk, covering 284 acres near Ipswich. On the site of a former quarry, next to a nature reserve, the project includes both lodges and a 350-bed hotel. Due to open in 2023, it’s overseen by Robert B Cook, who has previously steered both the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin chain. However, it’s the sports facilities that will define this project. There will be an artificial ski slope while lakes will feature a lazy river and wave pool as well as a children’s pool, alongside both hillside lodges and floating cabins.

Cook says: “The master plan for Valley Ridge is designed to work with the landscape utilising the site’s existing topography and its impressive lakes to provide the terrain for outdoor and watersports activities.”

When Billy Butlin started his first holiday park in 1936, the emphasis was on communality, but Britain’s newest ones will juggle that notion with people’s increased focus on privacy. Sport is likely to be the glue between the two competing notions.

These parks juggle the notion of communality with people’s increased focus on privacy

Surfing will be on offer at some of the leisure venues testing the waters in 2021