Wareham Forest Lodge Retreat

Many lodges amongst the trees 2 km from Wareham forest, nice place and surrounded by countryside. The staff are very helpful and friendly, and the price is start from around £93 per night for the smaller lodges. They are very modern and recently built with good insulation and currently all have gas boilers, but that may change when they are outlawed! Some of the bigger ones have hot tubs, and the larger lodges are four bedroom, so suitable for larger family groups or gatherings.

Booked to stay here last minute (literally 10pm the night before) after spotting on Google Maps. My goodness me what a little gem of a place! Received a phone call prior to arrival to confirm check in details and allow us entry with the car. Greeted on arrival by pleasant reception staff and given detailed instructions on parking and newly installed heating controls. Arrived at the lodge and it was perfect, immaculately clean, beds made and towels folded. Everything we needed was provided, fully equipped kitchen with washing machine and dishwasher. Tea towel, washing up liquid, sponge and even two dishwasher tablets also provided. The bed was comfy and the electric fire kept the lodge warm enough for us. The shower was wonderful with easy to use controls and perfect pressure. Only observation was around the oven, it wasn't intuitive to use and we could not get the fan to work but it did cook our food which was the desired outcome. Appreciate that fire safety is high for these places but the fire detection system was located above the oven which meant that if you open the oven door fully whilst cooking it set the alarm off and it was too high to silence manually. We got around this by gradually opening the oven door to dissipate the heat. Every single member of staff we encountered were polite and friendly and everyone made the effort to say hello/good morning. This is one place we will definitely be returning as it was perfect for us, for a queit secluded weekend away. If you are looking for a noisy, rowdy holiday park with entertainment and activities this is not the place to go. Absolutely perfect.

It was just the most perfect tranquil holiday I have ever had. The accommodation is so comfortable too. So many things to do, but they are a short car journey away, or there are walks to do around the countryside. We loved it so much we asked if we could stay longer but sadly it was all booked up. I would stay here again in a heartbeat. Ohhh forgot to say it's dog friendly too and there was a welcome pack just for the furry 💗

We have stayed with Darwin at a different site previously, however, the standards of our lodge (37) was very different to our previous experience. Sadly more con's than pros. Pros: - Good location with plenty of things to do in local area - Quiet and peaceful around lodges - Large hottub Cons: - Ensuite very mouldy and sink temperamental with blockages - Lodge has high trees/bushes down the side and makes the ensuite and main bedroom very dark all the time - Main bed very uncomfortable. We flipped the mattress which according to the labelling should have been done at the start of July. Sadly this didn't make much difference as it still ended up sinking the middle - Mold starting to grow in the corners of the main bedroom - Considering the large window wall in the lounge is a main feature, the windows could do with being much cleaner. There were finger prints everywhere and the top looked very smeared - No anti bac provided and the dining table had crumbs on it on arrival. Just the overall cleanliness felt below expectation and if anti bac isn't provided, how are previous guests cleaning up after themselves? Would expect that to be provided at a luxury lodge. - The hottub filter at the start of the trip looked like it was the wrong size as it kept coming out. This was sorted, however, we then felt the chlorine was insanely high the last few nights. Also, 1 minor annoyance but the lights just stayed red in the hot tub. If you tried to change it, they just flickered - An overall feeling that things need a bit of TLC. We did not complain at the time of our holiday, as we felt these issues shouldn't be issues a customer needs to raise when paying £1500 for a week away in a "Luxury" lodge. There is no way you could miss the mold and this is obviously a standard the site have accepted. There wouldn't of been much that could of been done, other than being moved to another lodge and then this would be someone else's problem. Sadly, by the end of the holiday we were looking forward to leaving as it wasn't too relaxing. Having looked a previous reviews, perhaps it's just this one lodge that needs redoing. The majority sound lovely, however, if you get given the keys to 37, this is what you can expect. Sadly we won't be returning to Darwin.