Summer vacation is in full swing here in Europe! This year, Covid set back a few plans we already had in our summer vacation works (oh, Sardinia). With Covid restrictions slowly being lifted in Germany, we were finally given the green light a few weeks ago to travel within the country. Most recently, European borders for EU residents opened back up for travel.
Family friends invited us to join them to one of Centerparcs’ indoor waterpark resorts in Germany. We have visited one of their other resort in Saarland in February of this year. We enjoyed our visit to the Bostalsee indoor waterpark; we made a pact to try other waterparks around the EU to enjoy together. For this visit, we visited the Centerparcs Hochsauerland in Medebach, Germany. Psst… when you click on their site, there is a section on the bottom where you can change the language to your language of preference.
This was our first overnight weekend getaway since Covid started, so we were hesitant about how this trip would pan out. Still overly cautious about Covid, I packed a few extra essentials such as masks (which we usually never have had to pack before for other trips), as well as several hand sanitizers and Clorox bleach spray. Tis the new life, eh?
Check-In
When we arrived at the resort, the staff directed us to their Drive-thru check-in; it’s also located in the parking lot where we park our car. Upon check-in, we were given our room number and green watch bands for each person to wear during our entire stay. This watch is your room key and can be used to pay for things during your stay (obviously charged to your account). We had reservations to stay for 2 nights and 3 days.
Since our goal for our entire stay was to enjoy the indoor waterpark with the kids, we were surprised to hear we were only guaranteed a 3-hour time slot at the pool during our entire stay! This was a shocker for us! We had no idea this was the new rule when we booked our stay! Our friends, who booked their stay before Covid, mentioned they had not been informed of this as well.
Obviously, with the new rule, due to Covid, they were only allowing 200 people in the waterpark at a time. Besides the guaranteed 3-hour time slot for the one day we had to reserve, we were informed we could attempt to get in the waterpark at the Aquamondo reservation desk for the other days. This reservation desk is where the water park is located and where we can see if there are availabilities for any other days.
My friend and I were able to set our reservations together as a family for the next day (Saturday) for our allotted 3-hour slot. We then walked over to the Aquamundo reservation desk and asked if there were any slots available today (Friday). We figured since people were still checking in, we would have some luck for today. Sure enough, they did! We were able to reserve for 3 hours that day from 5p-8p (they close at 9p). Happy dance! We had two days to enjoy the water park. Unfortunately, Sunday was full, but the staff told us to try on that day as people may cancel or no-show at the last minute.
Aqua Mundo and Activities Around the Resort
When you walk into the Aquamundo, you feel like you are walking into a tropical island oasis. This is also similar to the other Centerparc we went to at Bostalsee. There are various plants everywhere along with stores, a market, and restaurants. This is also where the indoor activities, such as indoor Putt-Putt and arcades are located.
Check-in time was 3:00 pm. We had time to kill, so we walked around the resort, checked out our villas, and the kids played at one of the resort’s many playgrounds. The resort offers several playgrounds in different locations, and they are amazing, including the huge obstacle course playground, Aventura 2.0! Several activities are also offered. Some of the activities are included/free, such as the children’s petting farm. Other activities that are not free are bowling, indoor archery, Putt-Putt, and many others. You can find those activities on their site. We found the resort had tons to offer!
3:00 pm rolled around; we picked up our vehicle from the front parking lot and drove it over to our villas to unload our belongings. Once we unloaded, we had to drive our vehicle back to the parking lot, where it will stay for the remainder of our trip. With that, there’s lots of walking involved at this resort, unless you rent out bikes or a golf cart.
The Villas
The villas where we stayed were amazing! We stayed at one of their Comfort villas and it was good for our family of 4. Here are a few photos.
We packed our own bedsheets as we weren’t sure we would need them; however, the resort provided them for us. Just be sure when you book, sheets are included; sometimes, European Airbnb or hotels may not provide sheets for guests unless you’d like to pay extra. We also brought our own bathroom towels and soaps as they did not provide those (I believe those are also extra). We also packed our own towels for the pool.
The WaterPark (Aqua Mundo)
After settling in, we changed and walked over to the waterpark for our first-day slot from 5 pm to 8 pm. Thank goodness we were given a villa close to the pool; my friend was able to book hers closeby when she booked in February. My husband was not given the option to choose our room location as we had booked last minute, but we were grateful we were given a villa nearby; otherwise, we would be lugging our beach bags around and walking further than we’d like.
The front desk told us to arrive 5-10 minutes before our reserved time for check-in. Once we checked in, we were each given another band (blue) to enter the waterpark and bands to use for the lockers. Once we checked in and swiped our blue watch, we followed signs that directed us to walk into the family dressing room. The dressing room is one big dressing area for the entire family with lockers. There are rooms to change into, but be aware, you may see some nakedness here among different ages and genders (it’s Europe, we are used to it by now, lol).
Once you pass the dressing area, the bathrooms are available right before you enter the waterpark, along with showers. Inside the waterpark, we set our belongings down by the kid’s play area and enjoyed our stay. We finally understood the limited time slots and agreed the time slots were needed. The indoor pool was much nicer without the crowds and lines for the slides. We did not have to wear masks inside the waterpark but, of course, tried to maintain social distancing at all times. The other nice thing about this waterpark was, we were also able to bring in our own food.
This particular Centerparc had 5 slides (one was closed), and they were spread out into the park area. There is a lazy river (our favorite part of the park) that goes into an outdoor area (toddlers, babies must have lifejackets provided by the park). There is also a kid play area, a baby area, a hot tub (which was closed at the time due to Covid), and a wave pool. The food court is also available but limited hours (at least it was not open Friday when we went, but open on Saturday).
We enjoyed the evening in the park and lasted close to 3 hours, so it was perfect. Upon leaving, we dropped off our blue watches and locker bands at a drop box on the way out. We headed back to the villa and enjoyed dinner. We were also able to grill (you can purchase one there), and we roasted some marshmallows. Since daylight hours here in Germany are almost until 11:00 at night in the summertime, we were able to enjoy the night outside with friends.
Additional Adventures
The next day, we used our reserved 3-hour slot at the pool from 10 am-1 pm; again, we had to check-in 5-10min before our reserved time and be given the blue bands. We enjoyed our 3 hours in the park and then rested back at the villa. The husbands and kiddos walked over to the Aventura 2.0 (huge obstacle course playground on top of a hill overlooking the resort). Sadly, I was too tired and stayed behind. Once they returned, we enjoyed some family indoor 13-hole Putt-Putt (this you’ll have to pay extra).
Sunday, our final day, check-out time was 10 am. We packed our belongings and headed out to another adventure, more on that later. Before checking out, I made sure I bought my postcard souvenir, and we took some more family photos.
Final Thoughts
Overall, we enjoyed our stay at CenterParc Hochsauerland. Despite the rule for only 3 hours guaranteed time at the pool for your entire stay, we still found that we could get in on other days, except Sunday, but we didn’t really try as we had other plans. Our friends stayed an extra day and were able to get in the next day for a time slot, so I feel you can still try to get in on days you don’t have set reservations.
Amenities were great; there is a grocery store in the resort that I felt the prices were very reasonable as they would be on the economy as I bought some ice cream and drinks for our stay. There are tons of activities available; however, there is no lake for paddle boats as there was at the other Centerparc we went to. The playgrounds are amazing, and the villas were very clean. Most of all, the indoor waterpark was wonderful! It was clean, the staff was great, and the crowd’s Covid limitations were just right.
Regarding Covid restrictions, the resort is excellent about marking arrows for people to follow, setting hand sanitizers in different locations, and having signs everywhere reminding people to keep their distances and wear masks. Each person had to carry a shopping basket before entering any of the stores as this helps the staff keep tabs on the number of people in the store. Masks are required indoors, except the water park. Walking around the resort, everyone was pretty good about following the resort rules for Covid.
All in all, we had a wonderful time! We can’t wait to visit the other Centerparcs location; I’ve heard they have several locations in Germany and France, the Netherlands, and Belgium! On to our next adventure! Till next time! Bis zum nächsten Mal!
26.06.2020-28.06.2020