Booking Butlins on the cheap!

oldmandave

Rachie_B wrote: »

Of course,but if you haven't got the cash and have the points

then may as well use them !

true, Problem I had was that I wanted to stay in the Shoreline hotel, 5 of us so that was 2 rooms, worked out at a lot of Clubcard points, hence using the discount.

I believe there is some discount available until the end of June.

Rachie_B

oldmandave wrote: »

true, Problem I had was that I wanted to stay in the Shoreline hotel, 5 of us so that was 2 rooms, worked out at a lot of Clubcard points, hence using the discount.

I believe there is some discount available until the end of June.

I see

we stayed there in 2007 ,it's lovely isn't it

mummytofour

I think Bognor would be good. Its right on the beach and a short distance from the station, get a taxis for ease of finding the place.

I wish you the most amazing luck, have a fab time. x

mummytofour

Just to add that the sun do butlins £9.50 holidays and I think there is a promotion starting next month?

Rachie_B

mummytofour wrote: »

Just to add that the sun do butlins £9.50 holidays and I think there is a promotion starting next month?

yes that's right

for holidays in Sept & Oct

blue_monkey_2

We are just bacl from Butlins with Sun Holidays and it would have worked out the same price to book a last minute break to be honest. They had a week in silver SCreduced from £1100 to £500 in their shop last weekend. If you are prepared to go the same or next day you can get some real bargains.

I too would veer away from the Big Weekends as everyone will be drunk and there may not be as much consideration for your friend.

You have to pay £10 to secure ground floor accomodation even if you have a disability but I am told that if you show your Blue Badge you can get this refunded.

All of the apartments on the ground floor are accessible as are all of the clubs, restaurants and entertainment venues. If you look on the website and choose 'Book Now' it will give you the number to call for guests with a disability.

There are always lots of people in wheelchairs at Butlins because it is so wheelchair friendly and accessible. I would suggest not staying in a caravan as they will not be as accessible and tight for space for you all, you can get some real bargains on the holidays outside of the school holidays, try for late September as the weather will still be half decent. We paid £170 for 3 days on Sun Holidays for silver accomodation and we could have got it for this price has we booked late online.

I hope your friend is on the road to recovery soon.

Don't forget that he is entitled to a free train travel pass, ask on the disabilities board for this info, that will help the pocket a little.

blue_monkey_2

As an example you can currently get break this weekend with Butlins for £134 silver self catering in a 2 bedroom apartment, or £203 for DBB. Standard: DBB 2 person room £103 and SC 6 person/3 bed apartment for £163.

Choose when you want to go and book late - there are always spaces available when the kids are at school, get the food option if you can as it'll save you money when you are there - £103 for DBB - we spent more than this on food alone in 3 days!! That is a bargain!!

jonnyjackov

Thank you all for your fabulous advice, and kind thoughts, and to blue_monkey for the info about the rail pass. Will look into that now, never knew about that, and never realised there was a disabilities board. Obviously, we are still learning a lot about these major life changes, but my mate is dealing with it surprisingly well, and we laugh about stupid things just like we used to. It's his birthday next week, and his friends have clubbed together and bought him an disability scooter, which he loves, as it gives him a lot of his independence back. When I woke up this morning, he had scooted off to Asda to get some bacon for breakfast, rather than having to wake me up to take him. He's over the moon, and still a decent driver too, even using just one hand:)

Just realising I am babbling, thanks again for all the great tips, will look into all your advice now and see what I can find. One last thing, is the food ok. Hadn't really thought about DBB. Also possibly one of the hotels may be nice, though a bit pricey, but maybe we'll find a deal.

Cheers, John

dmg24

Food is pretty good in Bronze and Silver, certainly passable for a long weekend, and in Gold it is v good. It often works out cheaper (and better quality) than using the pay restaurants/ fast food outlets onsite.

blue_monkey_2

dmg24 wrote: »

Food is pretty good in Bronze and Silver, certainly passable for a long weekend, and in Gold it is v good. It often works out cheaper (and better quality) than using the pay restaurants/ fast food outlets onsite.

DMG, have to agree, we are going to add the dining option before we go (it seems you can do this now in their new brochure). We ate in the Yacht Club this time as we have always dined in Ocean Drive but to be honest, I did not think it was worth paying more (we paid on the day). The food was exactly the same (except the Carvery, but I have seen a carvery in Silver/Bronze) but with more fancy dressings and less people and for that we paid about £16 more. I spent all of my time worrying that the kids would spill something or make a mess, also the chairs would not pull right into the table because it is on a big stand and so the kids could not sit at the table. So, I've had my 'Gold' dining experience and next time we are back to Coral Beach and Ocean Drive where I do not spend the entire meal worrying that my son is screaming or DD is dropping food all over the place when she eats and not being able to eat my meal in peace!!

OP, you sound like you are giving him all of the support and friendship to get through all of this and that really is most important. Get yourslef over to the benefits board and make sure he, and you, are getting all of the help financially that he needs. If you are going out somewhere then you'll usually get free or reduced admission as a carer (not Butlins though I am afriad), please do not be she in asking. All of the big theme parks offer this. If he needs a grant for adaptions and the like then get one. Post a question asking what he will be entitled to and the lovely people on that board will be happy to help. You can also get a cinema pass, your friend pays £5.60 for it and if he takes a carer to the cinema then he get's in free when the carer pays. Make sure he is claiming DLA too. If you are his main carer then you could get carers allowance. Unfortunately they do not tell you all of the help and information that you need to get all of this help, they let you find this out on your own. Good luck.