Choosing Your Cottage: Comfort, Premium or VIP, and Is Preferred Location Worth It?
When booking a park such as Center Parcs or Landal, the first dilemma comes on the accommodation page: stay with the basic cottage, move up a tier, or treat yourself to VIP? And is the supplement for choosing your spot on the map a good idea or an unnecessary expense?
· 7 min read
The figures in this article cover the 33 parks we have studied in detail. The comparison tool now covers 595.
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The comfort tiers under the microscope
The big operators rank their accommodation by comfort level, but the scales are not shared. Center Parcs has four (Comfort, Premium, VIP and Exclusive); Landal uses comfort, luxe and luxe+. The points below follow the Center Parcs scale.
- Comfort (the functional essentials): the entry-level accommodation. The kitchen is equipped (with a filter coffee maker), but beds are not made on arrival: that is a paid option, except at Landes de Gascogne and Villages Nature Paris.
- Premium (comfort without frills): beds are made on arrival, a second television is provided, and the kitchen gains a capsule coffee machine (Nescafé Dolce Gusto). In some parks the Premium cottage even has a whirlpool bath.
- VIP (private wellbeing): at Center Parcs, VIP adds a bathroom with sauna, whirlpool bath and rain shower, beds made and towels on arrival, and bath products. Breakfast delivery remains a paid optional service. Center Parcs also offers an Exclusive tier above VIP in four parks.
Comparison table: what do you actually get at each tier?
| Feature | Comfort cottage | Premium cottage | VIP cottage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beds made on arrival | No (paid option) | Yes | Yes |
| Bath towels | Optional, €11.50 per person | Optional, €11.50 per person | Included (1 set per person) |
| Wellness | None | Whirlpool bath in some parks | Sauna, whirlpool bath and rain shower |
| Coffee | Filter coffee maker | Capsule machine | Capsule machine |
Features published by Center Parcs for its French parks (September 2026). Landal uses a different scale (comfort, luxe, luxe+).
Doing the maths: when is moving up a tier justified?
It is tempting to book a Comfort cottage and add options one by one: beds made on arrival, a towel set at €11.50 per person at Center Parcs, a kitchen kit bought in advance.
For a family of four, towels alone cost €46 (4 × €11.50) at Center Parcs, before the made-beds option. If the price gap between Comfort and Premium for the same dates is close to the cost of these options, Premium becomes the logical choice.
The preferred-location dilemma: should you pay to choose?
When booking, most operators offer, for a supplement, the choice of an area or a specific accommodation number on the park map: Landal charges €44 for a chosen number, and at Center Parcs the cottage preference option is also paid.
- Why pay? In the very large parks (Les Trois Forêts in Lorraine covers 435 hectares), some cottages are far from the central Dome and the pool. If you are travelling with toddlers or grandparents, being a few minutes' walk from the water park avoids spoiling your stay in the rain.
- The proximity trap: being right next to the central Dome means quick access, but it also puts you on the busiest route through the park.
- The choice for lovers of peace and quiet: a cottage on the forest edge or facing the lake offers more calm and a soothing view, at the cost of a short bike ride.
Compare the facilities, accommodation types and ratings of each park on our comparison tool.
Open the park comparison tool →Frequently asked questions
- Are beds made on arrival in a Comfort cottage?
- No, at Center Parcs it is a paid option in Comfort, except at Landes de Gascogne and Villages Nature Paris. In Premium and VIP, beds are made on arrival.
- Should you pay the location supplement when travelling with young children?
- It is one of the cases where the option makes most sense: it avoids long walks with a pushchair and swimming bags several times a day in the large parks.
- What is the main difference between a Premium and a VIP cottage?
- At Center Parcs, the VIP cottage adds a bathroom with sauna, whirlpool bath and rain shower, plus towels and bath products. Breakfast delivery remains a paid option.
- Is end-of-stay cleaning included in every tier?
- At Center Parcs, end-of-stay cleaning is included, but guests must still empty the bins, do the washing-up and gather the bed linen before leaving. With other operators, check the booking conditions.
The author
Edits hoprat and holds editorial responsibility for it. hoprat is operated by the company Yourachme, Belgian company number BE 0771.759.318.