Need help-cheap holiday ideas UK

Io07

Hello lovely people!
I'm tearing my hair out here, please help!
Need to book a 3-4 night break over the weekend of 2nd august, for various reasons, thats the only break we can have this summer, but as its school hols, everywhere is full up or so expensive!:(
We will be 4 adults and a 6 year old, and travelling from the midlands.
I have looked at center parcs, bluestone and manor house hotel,
love the idea of manor house and its activities ( pluse full board, so no cooking for me!), but v v expensive/ no availability.
Any ideas welcome!:D.
Thanks again

saving-mad

What area are you looking at and what sort of budget have you got? https://www.lastminute-cottages.co.uk is a great place to look a little closer to the time

greenface

As above but there is cheap and there is value for money . Anyway price wise center parcs and blustone are very rarely cheap in the kids hols . Private holiday home owners like to get full weeks booking during the kids hollybobs too .

davenport151

A bit more info would be useful. Budget? By the sea? City break?
Try looking for independantly run places in the area you would like to visit. Do a search online. We came across our holiday stay this year by doing that.
Or try places like Haven, Park resorts etc for last minute availability.

Io07

Thank you for your replies!
I was hoping we could get a cottage or caravan, self catering will be fine, for around £500, and perhaps a 2 hr drive from birmingham. Not fussed about city or seaside, as long as there are things for the little one to enjoy!. Could go further, but as neither of us will be able to take the friday off, we wont reach till late in the evening, so for centerparcs, etc thats literally a whole day gone.
Will take a look at those links, and thank you esp to the member who pm me.

Millysunflower

Have you tried Ribby Hall? It has pools and craft activities and our friends love it there. We have been to bluestones and are looking at the manor house so I think we're similar ish!

Or try hoseasons? You can sometimes get a deal with them.

Last chance saloon try owners direct and see if you can get somewhere that's been rented out mon-fro and you can have the weekend.


Amy

saving-mad

Also look on eBay, we advertise on there occasionally.
Sadly our cottage is available from the Saturday to Friday, I would do a short break but it only sleeps 4, and its within your budget.

kingfisherblue

Instead of The Manor, consider The Ashbury. They are sister hotels and you can use the facilities in both. The Ashbury is cheaper and we found it quieter as well.

When you take into account how much you will spend on food (especially if you eat out), activities and days out, I thought the Ashbury offered excellent value for money. We needed very little spending money, just enough to cover the costs of craft items and some drinks.

p00hsticks

I know it's more downmarket, but have you considered Pontins ?

http://www.pontins.com/offers-late-deals/summer-holidays/

Io07

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Instead of The Manor, consider The Ashbury. They are sister hotels and you can use the facilities in both. The Ashbury is cheaper and we found it quieter as well.

When you take into account how much you will spend on food (especially if you eat out), activities and days out, I thought the Ashbury offered excellent value for money. We needed very little spending money, just enough to cover the costs of craft items and some drinks.

Thanks kingfisher blue, did try the ashbury, but no availability there for the weekend I want.

kingfisherblue

p00hsticks wrote: »

I know it's more downmarket, but have you considered Pontins ?

http://www.pontins.com/offers-late-deals/summer-holidays/

Definitely downmarket, and best avoided in my experience! We tried Pontins at Brean Sands (Somerset) last year. It was dreadful, so bad that we were actually given a replacement break by way of apology. The break was shorter (two nights instead of four), but supposedly on the same terms as we had booked last year.

We went last weekend, and the break had been downgraded from Club to Classic. The shower didn't work and I had to request a maintenance visit twice before we had any hot water in the bathroom. It was finally fixed at teatime the day after we arrived.

The park itself had supposedly been improved, but two of the gokarts were in a dangerous condition. The crazy golf course was overgrown with weeds, and the surface was shoddy and had potholes.

The children's play area did have new equipment though, and my son enjoyed playing on that.

I did report the gokarts, but staff were not interested. The manager said that he would sort it out, but they were still for hire that afternoon, several hours after he had been to see them.

OP, it might be worth checking with the Ashbury closer to the time in case of cancellations. Otherwise, could you try Stay, Play, Explore? It was a toss-up between this and the Ashbury for us (and if you do try it, I would be interested to see what you think ).

http://www.goleicestershire.com/short-breaks/stayplayexplore.aspx