Are Butlins right to refuse bookings from solo travellers?

Some paedophiles / perverts are genuinely that blatant though. Some bloke at my local pool was arrested as he was hanging around the kids Friday night fun pool session. Spent a lot of time in the changing area turns out he was filming children getting changed in the cubicles next to him.

True. Like the way that some people get sarcastic when others point out the bleeding obvious. I don’t get it. But we’re all different.

Who cares? The point is still the same, there are many things one may not ‘get’ but the point being made is that we’re all different.

Like how some people are painfully pedantic to the point of missing the obvious. I don’t get it, but we’re all different

It's a family break holiday, for families. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Carrying on like you are being persecuted because the world won't bend to your every whim is getting really old.

There’s family friendly, and then there’s family breaks. They aren’t the same.

Sounds reasonable.

Single adults are often banned from places with kids like parks for example.
it is because some single adults ( particularly men) will go to watch, prey on, groom children. That’s just a fact.
if they want to ban single adult men which is clearly a sensible safeguarding policy then they have to also ban single adult women due to equality law.

there’s adult only weekends at butlins so she can go on those!
or wait till she has grandkids one day and go again then

”safe” adults undermine child safeguarding in general if they argue against rules in place to protect children as they themselves do not have ulterior motives.

Entitled families?
Who the hell is entitled at butlins?

If they say it's ok because she seems like a lovely lady, how do they say no to the 60 year old dodgy blokes? They can't be subjective about it, it's a blanket rule. Or what happens when families start complaining that there are more middle-aged singles than families on their family breaks? Most are able to easily understand and follow that rule. Other options for her. I don't feel sorry for her because she's bringing ridiculous and entitled.

Well, good for you

While I think it's unfortunate for this woman, I imagine the vast majority of single adults wouldn't want to holiday around paranoid and self-entitled parents.

Lots of children's attractions don't let single adults in, and I'm happy about it.

While I think it's unfortunate for this woman, I imagine the vast majority of single adults wanting to holiday around large groups of children aren't people I'd want near my dc.

Yes, there are lots of things you can't do as a single person. You can't go to centerparcs, can't go on certain types of holiday, can't go to certain restaurants. I wanted to go to a nice restaurant for a big birthday but I couldn't book as a single person, even if I ate at 5pm. I have also been moved in a bar that does pizza type food. I was at the end of a very long table. There was a group of 8 at one end and me at the other. This is where the staff put me. A 2 adult 2 children family came in and sat at a table perpendicular to mine, next to where I was. The mother asked staff for me to be moved, all within my earshot. The staff were absolutely lovely and moved me to the bar itself. Ironically it was a bar that is mainly adults and you don't get many families in there.

There are various trips I would like to go on but can't due to my single status. What really boils my piss is being told to go on singles holidays. Nobody tells married people they need to go on holiday only with other married people. Ditto telling me to go on singles holidays where I would have to share a room with a stranger. None of the people suggesting this would dream of sharing a room with a stranger! I regularly stay in doems and these very same people say they would never do that. They are very adept at telling me to share an Austrian double with a random person.

They are quite right to ban the lady and she is quite right to feel upset. The weekends they have suggested as an alternative will probably have a completely different vibe and not be what she is looking for.

It’s for families only, so she doesn’t qualify.

People might argue that she’s doing no harm and won’t spoil anyone’s fun by being there. And that’s probably true. But we can’t always have our own way. Sometimes adults get told no and I think that’s right. The same way the adults in a family would be told no if they tried to book in to an adult only resort/hotel. Nothing wrong with letting families and children be the priority sometimes.

Its Legoland Discovery centres... the majority of the time you need to have a child. They have special times when adults can visit without children.

I think it's more to do with the reputation of Butlins, they became known for rowdy groups and lots of drinking. They've really tried to separate this over the years with their adult weekenders, which this woman could go to, and family weeks. The just for tots week is great as everyone has to have small kids, so there's no loud, late night parties keeping people awake. I do feel sorry for her though but you can see why they've done it.

I'm in the Skegness page and I feel really sorry for the lady, she seems lovely

I can kind of understand why Butlins have decided this but also it's kind of stupid to think child molesters only travel alone

^Exactly. Cinemas don't screen parents for child sex offenses either.

Centerparcs don't want single people simply because they don't make any money from them. Ditto Butlins. Nothing to do with safeguarding.

This is a bit sad, she looks like the kind of nice lady who when you are in a busy cafe and end up sharing tables would talk to your kids and give you 5 minutes headspace from talking about moshi monsters or whatever the lastest obsession was!

When did they bring that in? I’ve been to centre parcs alone three times.

Probably also to do with profit. They make way more money by letting units to a family (on drinks, entertainment, toys etc) than to a single person.

I also think it's weird someone would want to sit around watching other families. Maybe it's not only paedophiles who would do that, but I'm guessing the percentage wouldn't be zero.

Surely you can see why they wouldn't want single men hanging around a family holiday park, but they can't say 'no single men' so they say no single people.

I'm pretty sure there was some horrible incident at Legoland that led them to decide that single adults couldn't go there either.

Whether the underlying motive is money-driven or safeguarding-driven is irrelevant if the outcome is the same. A business has a right to set its own rules, providing they are within the bounds of the law and not discriminatory.

I feel sorry for her - although I suspect she is trying to recapture some past magic that doesn’t exist - but it’s just a fact of life. When my ex-h and I went on honeymoon we chose an adults-only resort because that was the vibe we wanted. We were only in our 20s and nothing against children, we just wanted a place that would arguably be a bit more quiet, secluded and relaxing for us.

I think it's fair enough for Butlins to say that family breaks are for families. People freak out about lone adults being present in playgrounds or other child focused places, I don’t see why Butlins is any different.

Most families can only go at certain times of the year and Butlins is usually fully booked at that time. Single people taking up limited accommodation during the only times families can go is unreasonable. And obviously Butlins won't want them to do it as they lose money on a single person compared to a family.

That’s a poor comparison. Travelling alone isn’t a ‘type’ of holiday, it’s a type of traveller - e.g. solo. Because sometimes it is the only option otherwise you don’t get to go on holiday at all. Like eating alone isn’t a ‘type’ of dining.