Butlins - who has been? Advice please

Juliav_2

Hi all

Just booked to go to Bognor Regis Butlins in Gold accomodation. I have never been before. I have a 2 and a 4 year old. The website looks great.

Would love to get some reviews from your experiences.

Thanks

Julia

dannynixon

I went last year to the Butlins in Skegness with my son (who was 2 and a half at the time). He absolutely loved it and there is loads for them to do. We found the staff helpful and charismatic.

The only thing that drove me wild was the fact that there are hundreds of thos 50p bob the builder etc rides all over. Not necessarily for the money but for every turn of a corner, my son wanted to stop to go on one!!!

All in all we really enjoyed it and we were not disappointed. When do you go and how long are you going for?

TurnaroundSue

Hi - My friend and I went to Minehead last November for a long weekend to the X Factor tour and had an absolute ball. Our accommodation was next up from basic but was still really good. Had all the equipment, was lovely and warm and very clean.

We took our 2 children, both aged 9, and they really loved it. In fact, we had so much to do that we didn't have time to stop. Went breakfast and evening meal and to be honest there was so much choice and availability that breakfast kept us topped up til tea - so didn't spend any money on food during the day and the food was absolutely brilliant. Prices not to bad either in the shops.

Also you can go and have your photos taken which the actual sitting is free and then can buy which ones you like after. I think an 8x6 was only £4.95. We did shots like they do in Venture (we actually took over and told the kids how we wanted them to pose:o , but photographer didn't mind at all), but they came out brilliantly and were every bit as good as the Venture ones only ALOT, LOT cheaper. If you do decide to do this, I would make sure you do it early one in your holiday, as if you leave it til the end it might be too late.

Have a great time, relax and enjoy - it is fab:D

vixarooni

There is a programme called Redcoats on sky real lives (in the lifestyle section) About 5pm mon-fri.

It goes to minehead, skegness, bognor and wherever else.

I dunno if it portrays the "real" butlins experience cos it follows the redcoats as they do their work but it might give some indication. I hope it isnt a real indication because all they seem to do is entertain each other, and hope that the crowd find it amusing.

pulliptears

I went to Butlins in Skeg, probably 10 years ago now with OH and DS who was around 5 at the time. It was the start of the season and we had booked a flat for 3 nights. We arrived quite late in the evening, around 9pm and were given the keys to a flat in one of the blocks.

On entering the flat we immediately noticed the smell, it stank. The next thing we found was that the bathroom light didn't work, of course it was an internal room with no natural light, and being dark anyway I didn't notice the smashed bulb on the floor until I fumbled my way into the room barefoot....

The bedroom was filthy, the bedding was dirty, covered in hair, stains and what looked like blood. The heating didn't work. We headed to reception immediately, but by that time it was closed. We spent the night fully clothed and sat on a chair because nobody was brave enough to lie on any of the beds! By 2am we had several rowdy,drunken teenagers hammering on the windows as they walked back to their own apartments.

The next morning reception didn't seem very interested and it was only when I got progressively louder in the reception full of guests did they fetch a manager, who having inspected the room agreed to upgrade us to a top of the range caravan for the remaining 2 nights.

We got to the van and there was waiting a "V.I.P pack" of wine and biscuits. Lovely I thought, the van looked clean enough and the beds were better. Happier I pulled out the teapot to make a cuppa, the smell from the cupboard made me retch and within the teapot lurked 4 teabags, obviously from last season, and enough mould to keep half on the UK in penicillin for a month.

Seemed pointless to complain again and we spent most of our time off the camp, only returning to sleep.

Never again.

adea

We are going to Butlins in Bognor at the end of August beginning of September.
This will be our 3rd time (went to Minehead the other 2 times.)
In my opinion it is brilliant for the kids. My girls love the soft play area and the one at Bognor has a train around the outside, so must be pretty big!
The age your two are, they will probably enjoy Bob's Yard as well, as this is designed with under 5's in mind.
Are you half board or self catering?
Food for half board is very yummy and there is a good selection.
If you are going self catering, my advice is to see if there is a tesco nearby and buy food from there as it is cheaper.
Remember to allow longer for cooking times as it is an electric oven.
We have always found the redcoats to be really nice,even when they have a load of kids tugging at their heels!
The swimming pool is nice, minehead had an area especially for little ones and if it is warm enough,there is an outdoor area too.
The entertainment is good, the skyline gang proved to be a popular show and the puppet castle was good also.

Hope this has helped,
Adea

Ada_Doom

O.K do not want to put you off too much but i did not enjoy our break at bognor butlins!

we went on an all inclusive meals offer and the food was some of the worst i have ever had, worse than school dinners. We went is september so it was very cold and rainy and as we don't drive we were a bit stuck in the pavilion which was a bit ropey i thought (srong smel of disinfectant and really bad fast food outlets)

But, if you asked my four year old daughter she would probably say it was the most fun she has ever had, dancing lessons with angelina ballerina, endless swimming and the Skyline Gang plus more chips and ice cream than she had ever had before.

I put my hands up and admit to being a grouchy old mum who likes her holidays a bit more wholesome and old-fashioned so we won't go back to Butlins but both my kids and OH loved it!! ( Mum has final say in holiday planning!)

Overthetop

I used to take my neices every year and they thought it was great as they took part in different competitions all week long, for me as an adult great to watch the children having fun but now they are older I would say Im not missing my annual trip there

ysoskint

Hello, I am heading off to Bognor Butlins in two weeks, we're going gold self catering!
Can anyone offer us any tips please.

thanks

Paparika

I used to work at Butlins Minehead, this was back in 1989 as a chalet monster (cleaner)
I wasn't impressed when i worked there but times change so in 1998 I took my two year old on holiday there, self catering.

being asked to put our own sheets on i thought was a cheek but did it anyway ( i used to do that as a job) the pubic hair weaved in the sheets was not nice, the big burnt iron mark on the carpet was off putting,

half the kitchen equipment missing, light bulbs in the dark hallway outside missing (we were on top floor) and this was one of the new refurbished flats, even though the wallpaper was peeling off the walls.

my son then fell down a hole, where someone had moved a post and chucked it on the ground, i complained they weren't interested.

I've never been back.

But your going to Bognor which was always the showcase camp, so should be a lot better, do leave the camp and use a supermarket as on-site the prices go up, as do most things.

check out your accommodation when you get there, take photo's of anything your not happy with, but remember if you are not happy do complain but the first night might be difficult as they have set signing in times when hundreds of you are trying to sort your accommodation out.

finc

Paparika wrote: »

I used to work at Butlins Minehead, this was back in 1989 as a chalet monster (cleaner)
I wasn't impressed when i worked there but times change so in 1998 I took my two year old on holiday there, self catering.

being asked to put our own sheets on i thought was a cheek but did it anyway ( i used to do that as a job) the pubic hair weaved in the sheets was not nice, the big burnt iron mark on the carpet was off putting,

half the kitchen equipment missing, light bulbs in the dark hallway outside missing (we were on top floor) and this was one of the new refurbished flats, even though the wallpaper was peeling off the walls.

my son then fell down a hole, where someone had moved a post and chucked it on the ground, i complained they weren't interested.

I've never been back.

OMG I'm worried now! We're going to Minehead in June in Silver+ accom. We've never been to Butlins before but got a fairly cheap deal and can't afford much more this year. We went to Pontins in Prestatyn for the first time in February and lasted one day before we came home . We paid for top accom there but it was truly awful and not enough room to swing a cat. I didn't think much of their entertainment, they looked more like they were trying to entertain themselves than the guests. It all smelled of 1970 IYKWIM and I came away more stressed than I went

Please someone tell me Butlins at Minehead will be better or I might not bother going.