Forest Holidays Reviews 

June 2026
Location was scenic and very peaceful. Accommodation was tatty, dirty and in need of a total refurbishment. All the woodwork on doors and skirting was stained, warped and split on the bathroom doors. The silicone was mouldy in the bathrooms. The floor was filthy so we didnt want to be barefoot. I don't believe they ever clean under the sofa!! In the ensuite water was seeping between the flooring, unknown if it was coming from the toilet or shower, gross! Was permanently damp in there.
Walls, light fittings, alarms had cobwebs, dirt marks and dead bug marks. Glass in windows filthy, blinds broken. The whole place very run down and dirty.
We had a hot tub, it was nice to use it for 15mins at your own risk, the chemicals were so strong it over powered the experience. My silver jewellery has been tarnished black by the experience, way too much chemical used.
The airgun and archery were great. Friendly and fun instructors (run by an external contractor!)
We hired bikes, child's one not as described and way too small, one adult bike only had one working break, particularly dangerous considering the terrain, the second adult bike had damaged gear levers, in essence very poorly maintained and limited our usage and enjoyment of day 2 plans ( they said they had no other bikes to offer).
The TV remote didn't work properly and TV frequently blanked out, reception so poor mean't it was very frustrating.
The beds were at least comfier than they looked and ample storage for a weekend stay although returning home everything feels damp.
A 3 night stay at £880 (excluding bike hire and activities) makes this place hugely over priced and not a place we would return to.

I wish we’d have checked Trustpilot first!
Sadly I cannot fathom how Forest Holidays can be shortlisted for an award, when our recent experience included the most dusty, cobwebbed, grubby doors, windows, curtain rails, window cills, door frames, skirting, that I’ve ever had the displeasure of staying in.
The cabin was tired, in need to updating (as well as a thorough deep clean), the lower part of the curtain near the stairs stank of dog pee, the sofa seat cushion was ripped (not by us), the hoover was full to capacity and stank, therefore unusable (clearly had been in this state for months) with no spare hoover bag to rectify the situation (not that I go on holiday to empty an overflowing hoover from months of previous visitors).
The beds were comfortable, the bedding clean and suitable, toilets clean - the door did not lock into a metal housing, only into the wooden frame - deadlock therefore not usable - lots of ‘play’ on the door, definitely not ‘secure’, someone could easily kick the door in. The outside areas were grubby, covered in cobwebs and unkempt. The BBQ secured to the wooden balustrade of the balcony (I know!) was warped and did not sit flat, therefore anyone using a BBQ tray would be at risk of it sliding off! (We didn’t risk using it!).
The decked area around the hot tub had not been swept/cleaned in possibly years. The hot tub water tester attended daily, unannounced, just let themselves in through the gate with zero regard for our privacy or the fact that we had a large dog with us who would’ve jumped to our protection, had he realised before we jumped up to close the door!
The TV volume didn’t work, it remained at the same level regardless of increasing or decreasing on the remote - the noise was tinny and the picture quality was awful. The ‘hot tub info’ video did not work - hence we had no idea when another staff member was going to test the hot tub water.

The grounds were beautiful if you look past the overgrown foliage, offering up dangerous bramble runners everywhere - not to mention the fallen tree blocking one of the walks - clearly having been there many weeks - and the fallen branches partially blocking other pathways on walls around the grounds. Such a shame - as long-time supporters of Forestry England, we had high expectations of Forest Holidays in collaboration with them. But no - not anywhere near the same level of care and attention to Deerpark as other Forestry England sites we regularly visit (and live near).

The staff were lovely, helpful, apologetic about things that they should not have to apologise for, because things should not be in this state int he first place. Our weekend away to escape busy jobs and lives, was tainted by the huge disappointment of our experience at Deerpark. I emailed my complaint 4 days ago and have not even had an acknowledgement, let alone a response. They will not be getting our vote for any awards, as for us, it was sorely lacking basic cleanliness and falling below even the most minimum of standards. We were sucked in by the photos on line, by the location and reviews, and by the collaboration with Forestry England. How could it have been so poor?

We stayed with Forest Holidays in May and unfortunately experienced several issues during our stay which left us extremely disappointed, especially considering the cost of the holiday and the expectations attached to the Forest Holidays brand.

Following our stay, I submitted a formal complaint via email to both customer service addresses provided and have since sent multiple follow-up emails over the course of several weeks.

What has been most disappointing is not just the original issues we experienced during our stay, but the complete lack of customer service afterwards. We are now approaching the end of June and despite repeated attempts to contact Forest Holidays, I have not received a single acknowledgement that my complaint has even been received.

I have tried to resolve this privately and fairly, but being completely ignored for this length of time is unacceptable.

I am posting this review in the hope that someone at Forest Holidays will finally investigate my case, acknowledge my complaint, and provide the level of customer care I would have expected from a company of this reputation.

I would appreciate someone from Forest Holidays contacting me regarding my outstanding complaint as soon as possible.

We were attracted by the lovely ads about getting away from it all but our peaceful forest experience was ruined by a large family of drunks nearby who played loud music and swore all day. We complained about the antisocial behaviour but the company's phone call to the party concerned - not even a visit - didn't have any effect. Rather than listening to bird song, we heard non-stop 'f' words and rap music all day. Hardly relaxing. Overall, a very expensive price tag for a Butlins experience.

My family and I stayed with Forest Holidays for the first time last year at Deer Park in Cornwall. We traditionally take a week away each March as it coincides with both my wife’s and my birthdays, as well as our wedding anniversary, so it is a particularly meaningful trip for us.

Our stay at Deer Park was absolutely wonderful and left us with a very positive impression of Forest Holidays. We enjoyed it so much that we were excited to book again this year, choosing Strathyre for our 2026 visit.

While the location itself and the staff on site were excellent—everyone we encountered was friendly, helpful, and professional—we were unfortunately quite disappointed with the condition and readiness of the accommodation, which is ultimately the core of the experience we are paying for.

Prior to our arrival, I called a couple of weeks in advance to confirm that a stairgate would be available, as we were travelling with our toddler. I was informed that stairgates come as standard in the cabins we had booked. However, upon arrival after a full day of travelling, we found that no stairgate had been fitted. This meant we had to closely supervise and carry our toddler around the cabin until a member of maintenance was able to come and install one.

We also discovered that the fridge door was not functioning properly. Unfortunately, we only realised the extent of the issue the following morning when the fridge was not sufficiently cold despite being full of food. This left us uncertain about the safety of the food we had brought with us, including expressed breast milk which, regrettably, we had to dispose of. As you can imagine, this was extremely upsetting for my wife. After some effort we managed to get the door to close temporarily, and maintenance later attended and repaired it.

Additionally, the dishwasher would not work despite us carefully following the printed instructions provided in the cabin. It took several attempts to get it to run properly, including trying to wash dishes that had been left inside from the previous occupants. Again, maintenance had to attend to resolve the issue.

One of the highlights we had planned for the week was a full day of cycling with our toddler. We intentionally chose the day with the best forecasted weather. However, upon arriving to hire bikes, we were informed that only trailers were available. Both the website and signage at the bike shed indicated that child seats could be hired, which is why we had planned the activity in the first place. Our toddler refuses to sit in trailers, so unfortunately the activity was not possible and we had to abandon what had been a carefully planned day.

Finally, we also noticed several damaged skirting boards in the cabin. While this might not normally be a major issue, with a curious toddler exploring the space we were constantly trying to prevent her from touching exposed or sharp edges.

Overall, we left feeling quite disappointed with the standard of the accommodation during this stay, particularly given how exceptional our first experience with Forest Holidays had been. It has unfortunately changed our perception compared with our previous visit.

We stayed in Lodge 10 and had a lovely experience. The owner was around when we arrived and was so helpful in recommending this around the Coleford area and made the effort to get to know us.

The lodge was clean, the site was quiet and the staff was so friendly. Whoever we came across was more than willing to help, including the guy who came to test the hot tub, he took the time to explain to my 3 year old niece what he was doing which was so lovely.

We have already booked to return and can’t wait! Not sure why the reviews aren’t reflective on this but the lodge and site was clean and tidy, well maintained and welcoming.

We can’t wait for our next trip! Thank you so much!

Forest Holidays used to be a certified B Corp, an indication of high social and environmental values. Forest Holidays 'decertified' as a B Corp in early May. Despite this Forest Holidays is still listed as a member of the 'Travel by B Corp' coalition. This is misleading the travelling public and unfair to companies that are still certified.

Gutted
We bragged about our first holiday with Forest, Deerpark in Cornwall taken 2 yrs ago. Booked a lodge for 6 - 4 travelled and we had a fantastic time. Location right over the river, views of all the wildlife on the river. Birds by the dozen. The cabin itself was fab - had everything you could ask for. In view of this we persuaded 2 friends to join us for 3 nights 22-24 May Deerpark again. Well,could not believe the cabin. No 11. It looked as tho nobody had been near it in abt a year. Cobwebs all at the windows, looked unloved. Hubby & I had the twin downstairs. 1 friend had main bedroom the other the 2nd twin. Main bedroom friend said the shower was so difficult to turn on in fact a bath was run instead the first night. You had to be a midget to see yourself in the mirror to shave or do hair - not really impressed. 2nd twin was ok obviously had to come downstairs for loo or use main on suite upstairs. Two curtains were hanging off railing(small gaps) in top bedroom looked 'dossy'. Our twin downstairs was fine, altho mirror was situated very low had to bend knees, but apart from that ok. Our bathroom shower was superb - easy peasy to use, hot and plenty of gusto. The towel rail was always hot as well...such a bonus nothing worse than using wet/damp towels to dry off. The kitchen had everything but you had to be a genius to work out how to use the oven. Eventually found directions pasted to a cupboard door. Overall ok. Outside on balcony so disappointed. Tall shrubs and trees hiding the river view so could not see any wildlife activity at all. Heard a lot but saw zilch. The hot tub was lovely but a side panel kept falling off. A nuisance & lots of wires sticking out bit scary. This lodge definitely requires some light maintenance work. For the money you pay it did not seem to be good value. Felt so let down after boosting the place & dragging them along, to find this. One consolation were the birds. We had brought seed & they were up real close to eat - with Mr Robin eating off our hands. Delightful. So overall, don't think we shall be booking again any time soon.

I recently stayed at the Sherwood Pines location, and to say the experience was disappointing would be an understatement. For the premium price Forest Holidays charges, you expect a baseline of cleanliness and attentive customer service. We received neither.
Accommodation & Hygiene:
Upon check-in, the cabin was frankly filthy. We discovered thick layers of dirt, dust, old food and dog hair left under the sofa and beds. It was incredibly unhygienic.
It took four separate requests and a 36-hour wait from our first complaint before the underneath of the sofa was finally cleaned properly. Spending the first day and a half of a holiday chasing housekeeping is completely unacceptable.
On the last day I always strip the beds because I like to be helpful. I discovered blood stains on my mattress protector and some other staining on others. I also accidentally kicked off the shower trap lid and was horrified to see matted hair and mould.
Accessibility & Communication Failures:
The lack of organization extended to the activities. We had booked onto the quiz night. While I understand events get cancelled if numbers are low, we were never notified. I had to help two disabled family members struggle all the way to the Retreat, only to be turned away and told it was cancelled. The staff had my contact details on file, failing to send a simple text or call to save vulnerable guests an unnecessary, painful trip is a massive oversight.
Management Oversight:
To top it off, I raised all of these significant concerns directly with the manager this morning. I was promised a follow-up call later today. It is now evening, and I have heard absolutely nothing.
The outside environment is beautiful, but the actual management, upkeep, and customer care at this site are severely lacking. I am still waiting for the courtesy of a response.

Staying in the Forest of Dean cabin 76 & the cabin is very worn! The Hot tub door to the controls is broken and if my child caught their leg on it getting out of the hot tub it would slice their leg open!Considering the price we paid also if you stay in the forest cabins make sure you drive a monster truck because the pot holes on the roads to the cabins look like they’ve previously been used to test anti tank mines! really disappointed, how hard is it to put some stones in the holes to prevent serious vehicle damage to customers who are paying top dollar to stay! My advise! I wouldn’t book again

Sherwood Forest - We tried to contact the company before about upgrading our lodge as we could see loads for sale still. No response from email, you can't call them at weekends or bank holidays. We thought we'd then just ask when we arrive and was told by the check in lady no you have to go through head office.
We arrived early the check in lady said she'd come get us when the cabin was ready, she didn't tell us where to go or where to wait etc so we sat in the cafe, she didn't come and get us when it was ready.

Cabin 35 wasn't clean, floors were wet, smelt like dogs. Baring in mind we have a dog and pay extra for that I do expect it to be clean otherwise what are we paying for. The oven was dirty, the cutlery and plates were to. The dishwasher smell made me gag and it also tips forward when the doors open. Mould, sofas were ripped etc

We had on off issues the first few days with the hot tub heating which they did come out and fix.

The main bedroom bed was the worst bed i have ever seen, the mattress didn't fit the bed frame and it was so hard, and squeaky i couldn't actually sleep on it and slept in the single bed.
The quality of that cabin is below standard.
I couldn't use the app because after day 1 it stopped working.
It says someone will knock and check how everything is. No one did.

On the plus we ordered a takeaway Indian to the cabin which was nice.
The other staff were really friendly and helpful we came across. It's good for dogs because the balcony is secure and there's loads of places to walk.

With that cabin it's not worth the money your spending to have a nice weekend away.

I stayed at Forest Holiday Norfolk earlier this year and had a really lovely relaxing stay The cabin was very clean and had everything required. My friend and I enjoyed a few walks with the dogs.
We visited a village called East Harling and stumbled upon a lovely cafe “The Old Coaching Inn”which had recently opened and served the most delicious cakes and pastries thoroughly recommend it will definitely be going back

We are regular Forest Holidays customers and have always had very positive experiences across multiple sites, which is why we chose to contact them directly regarding our recent stay at Strathyre before leaving a review.
Unfortunately, despite sending a detailed complaint on 17 April and following up several times (including via social media), we have not received any acknowledgement or response at all.
Our stay itself was disappointing and did not reflect the “Golden Oak” premium experience we paid for, particularly as it was for a special occasion (birthday and anniversary). There were multiple maintenance issues throughout the cabin, problems with key facilities such as the hot tub, and a safety concern where our daughter cut her foot on a raised metal edge at the entrance.
I want to be clear that the staff on site were excellent and responded quickly when issues were raised — this is not a reflection on them, but rather on the overall condition of the cabin and the lack of response from customer services.
We chose not to leave a negative public review initially as we know this is not the usual standard, but given the lack of any response, we are now hoping this may prompt someone from Forest Holidays to make contact and resolve the matter.

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Disappointing experience and no response to complaint

We’ve stayed at Cropton Forest with Forest Holidays several times over the past few years, but unfortunately our recent experience has left us very disappointed.

During our stay in February 2026, we went on what we understood to be a well-signposted walk in the forest. However, the signage was unclear and insufficient in several places, which resulted in me becoming lost with my dog. This was stressful and took away from what should have been an enjoyable experience. For a location that attracts visitors unfamiliar with the area, clear and reliable signage is essential—especially where mobile signal may be limited.

This isn’t the first issue we’ve encountered. On previous stays, we experienced problems with lodge cleanliness, a faulty bath tap, and on another visit, a malfunctioning smoke alarm that went off throughout the night. This was particularly distressing and disrupted our stay significantly.

I raised these concerns directly with Forest Holidays via email but have not received any response, which is disappointing in itself.

While the location is lovely, the repeated issues and lack of customer service mean we are now hesitant to return. I hope improvements are made, both in maintenance standards and in responding to customer feedback.

Had a lovely time at Ardgartan. Location is great and staff could not have been nicer or more helpful. The recurrent comments from others are however true. The cabins are in a somewhat sorry state now. We've been coming here for ten years but hadn't been for a couple of years. Some of the issues with the cabin we noted the last time are still there. The cabin is much more sparse and items of furniture such as freestanding lights have been removed. Things have been notably worse since they were taken over in 2022 by Sykes and it feels like a bit of a golden goose to them, an asset that is going to get flogged for the money until it falls over. I genuinely do like forest holidays and have never had a holiday that I didn't enjoy. I wish I could say it was perfect. There is an elephant in the room though and anyone reading these reviews would see the issue.

I have not taken my stay yet but I had a booking issue which has been dealt with today by Sheila from customers services. My sincere and grateful thanks to her for her help and understanding. She must be a credit to your team. Lesley Lester.

We have never holiday with Forest Holidays before so this was our first time. First impressions, when we walked into our cabin It had just finished being cleaned as it was only 4 o’clock but the Strong smell of dog wasn’t pleasant to be greeted to. We do not have a dog and I believe a pet friendly cabin was all that was available when we booked, which I thought wouldn’t be a problem as other places I have stayed normally charge more for pet friendly accommodation to allow for extra cleaning but I’m not sure this is the case here! The recycling/bin was very dirty and smelly, it clearly doesn’t get washed out between stays. The dishwasher being integrated was very loose in its housing, whenever we opened it it almost was dropping out of its space. The shelf on the door of the fridge that you keep your milk in was very loose. It looked as though a screw had been already been put in the door to help with this but it was still very loose and I was a little bit concerned that my milk was going to fall out, luckily it didn’t but it is loose enough that it could be a problem. Under the unit in the kitchen were extremely dirty I can appreciate that maybe not every time somebody leaves a clean needs to be done under the cupboards but it was quite a buildup so maybe if it was done every few stays it would prevent this. The blinds were thick dust and the window frames were extremely grubby. I can appreciate it is a lodge with wooden windows etc but these things could still be a lot cleaner than they was. Lots of cobwebs throughout which again it’s a lodge in the woods but it wouldn’t have been as bad as it was if it was dusted regularly! There was also a hole in the decking by our hot tub. When we returned home we received an email for feedback on our stay, I click the link but it didn’t work so I sent an email just to say the link doesn’t work in that email but Nobody got back to me. A couple of weeks after I got another email to say please share your feedback with the same link, I clicked it again and it still didn’t work so I then sent an email direct to customer services to which again no one replied! I can not believe the customer service from such a big company! As you can tell from all of the issues pointed out I would rather not wish to holiday with forest holidays again.

Honestly too bad to summarise. Kids and partner upset at advertised activities eg bike riding not being available - poor service and average chalets. Will never go back. Found the CEO email and made a direct complaint - no reply or even acknowledgement, which tells you everything. Avoid.

Awful. Of the four days we stayed only one day that we could use the hot tub because of ‘maintenance’ issues. No one was interested in rectifying or even apologising.

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!