When Center Parcs invited Raisingkids to try out their revamped accommodation at Elveden, Editor Catherine Hanly knew just who to take with her...a husband, small child and set of grandparents.

Ever since I became a parent, I've been thinking about going to Center Parcs. But it took a set of TV adverts to convince me. You know the ones – where a particularly photogenic family spends a weekend there, having all manner of great fun, before closing with a shot of the couple relaxing in the lounge with the kids fast asleep in bed? I wanted some of that!

And when Center Parcs invited us to try out their newly revamped accommodation at Elveden in Suffolk, I had a moment of genius – why not invite my husband's mother and step-father to join us? We could all play happy families in the woods – and we'd even have a set of babysitters on tap. Cunning.

We booked a three bedroom Woodland Lodge and spent the next few weeks happily surfing the Center Parcs website and brochure, only slightly bamboozled by the sheer range of activities on offer. In the end we decided to book a few restaurants, a morning at the spa and some children's activities via their new advance reservations system online and then see how the weekend panned out.

Having pre-registered our party of five online, arriving at Elveden on Friday afternoon was easy – just a five minute queue in the car before we were handed our keys. If you pre-book a VIP experience as we did, you get to drive to your lodge anytime after 1pm, unpack and then return the car to the car park. Otherwise the village gates open at 3pm.

Once you've disposed of your car for the weekend, it's time to get on a bike. Many guests bring their own, but we'd hired ours – one with a trailer at the back for our supremely lazy five-year-old who refuses to cycle herself. Then it was off to explore Elveden.

We'd heard a lot about the domed swimming area and I have to say it didn't disappoint. I was dragged in there within minutes and spent much of the weekend either bobbing up and down with my daughter when the wave machine came on, or sluicing down the water slides and rapids that whizz in and out of the building. Great for kids of all ages – and the playpens all around the pool area were handy for parents of younger children.

My mother-in-law, Truda, has pretty demanding standards when it comes to holidays and she was delighted with our lodge. The new makeover by designer Tara Bernerd meant it was comfortable and contemporary with all new fittings and fixtures and a smart outdoor patio area with a barbecue. But the icing on the cake was the first morning where the woods outside our lodge revealed ducks, rabbits, pheasants and even a baby deer.

We could have used a takeaway service or self-catered – the village supermarket was well-stocked and reasonably priced – but we chose mainly to eat out. Friday night was spent at La Sapiniere – a revolving restaurant at the top of the hotel here. This was fine dining and considering every one of the eight courses included a glass of wine, pretty well priced at £50. The next night we went more casual trying out the new Café Rouge which had just opened, which was buzzy and fun.

It certainly helped that the weekend we chose enjoyed the first good weather of the year. That meant we could enjoy taking a pedalo out on the lake and make good use of the adventure playground as well as having breakfast outdoors to the sound of birdsong every morning. The one brief rain shower of the weekend allowed us to try out the Sports Arena where Emily spent five minutes strapped into a harness in the jump zone, bouncing her little heart out on a trampoline.

On the final morning, I managed to sneak away and spend a few hours at the Aqua Sana spa which was a little slice of five star heaven. By the time I'd been pummelled by water-jets in the outdoor hot tub and enjoyed a blissful massage, I was ready to sell our place in London and move here lock, stock and barrel.

If I'm making it all sound idyllic, then I'm doing a good job. We found simply nothing to complain about. Yes, it's a bit pricey – but well, you get what you pay for and here that's family fun, cheery staff, excellent facilities and happy, exhausted children, parents and grandparents at the end of it all. What more could you want?

For more information about Center Parcs, click here.

• A theme park convert in Spain
• Back to Butlins
• Childcare on tap in Scotland
• Click here to return to our travel section
  
  
• The Buggy Blogger - life's never dull with three kids