Wwyd? Aib selfish over holiday?

[Tractorprincess]

Long and short of it is we'd like to take the dc abroad this year but can't afford it.

We usually go to a lovely holiday apartment or cottage in the UK, 5*, very home from home, beach on the doorstep, short walk/train into town with more beaches, shops and restaurants, but, we have to make our own fun with games on the beach, day trips, picnics, walks, meals out etc.

We could, for the same price go to a butlins style holiday park in a caravan, accommodation wouldn't be as nice, not in so nice area and beach not so near, but there would be more 'entertainment' for the dc. A pool onsite, and children's activities.

I've never been anywhere like that and I know what I'd prefer. Wondering if the dc would prefer the latte and I should embrace this type of child friendly holiday?

To be fair Devon cliffs looks fairly nice, although quite expensive on their website compared to what we'd be paying for a cottage.

Is there much around the holiday park in Devon cliffs if we wanted to venture out?

Hendra is super. We loved it there - chilled out and no obligation to join anything you don't want to. We had a day at Healeys Cider Farm and then went to Newquay a few times.

I really see nothing wrong with Haven or Parkdean either. They are fine - good standard accommodation, everything in one place if the weather is crap. Entertainment is a bit dodgy but if you accept it for what it is, a family friendly resort, then it is absolutely fine.

Look at Ruda in Croyde Bay as well. Lovely location, site is brilliant, even the cheaper caravans are spotlessly clean and good standard.

Trecco Bay Parkdean resort is a huge hit with kids, but it's definitely got the rowdy guests. Activities, park, splash pad and pool are all good for children though. 30 minutes down the road from Cardiff.

Devon Cliffs is near Exmouth, which has a great beach, plenty of seaside things to do. You can also visit Crealy if you have a car for a day out/smaller children theme park, that's great fun (although perhaps not in peak season).

I adored Butlins as a kid. Best holiday ever. But I was a joiner in as a kid. I loved the different activities.

I also think Butlins is brilliant of you have kids with a wide age range.

Butlins is shit! Use park dene resorts instead and skipsy sands is nice x

Devon Cliffs is nice but don't be alarmed if you hear gunfire, the army have a firing range up on one of the cliffs.

You can do day visits to Butlins and see what you and your kids think.

Butlins style - no way on earth!!!

Will your children like the entertainment/activities? We tried these sort of holidays with DS on a couple of occasions but with one memorable exception (when he was only 2) he hated the entertainment and dancing and games etc and refused to join in. We soon went back to quiet cottages without many "extra" entertainment options.

I also meant to say that we still sometimes stayed on caravan park type places as they were often chepaer and the pool could be useful on wet days but we didn't really do any of the activities, just used the caravans/cabins and a base from which to explore as usual.

We had some success with 'Go Active' breaks (part of hoseasons) as the places were always quite chilled and activities were more of the 'outdoor' type. They weren't that cheap though we did get some reasonable deals by going to places not very near the beach (though still within 15-20 mins drive)

It's interesting that the people saying holiday parks are shit are the ones who don't seem to have actually gone to any holiday parks!

I went to one by accident once. We were touring in our motorhome, hadn't booked anywhere and spotted a campsite marked on the OS map not far from where we were planning to go walking, so decided to turn up on spec after our walk.

When we rocked up, it was a bloody massive holiday park with about 50 camping pitches. They were all in regimented rows, mostly occupied by enormous touring caravans with awnings the size of the average semi-detached house. Both sides of the valley were crammed with endless rows of ... I don't know what they were really - chalets? It was like a 1960s housing estate.

It had all the bells and whistles though, bars, restaurants, cabaret, chippy, pool, overpriced supermarket and direct access to the beach. It was also the most expensive place I have ever camped, £28 pn, and you had to pay for electricity whether you used it or not. A couple who arrived just after us were cycle touring with a tiny tent, they were charged £28 too.

I made sure I had a lovely long shower, we filled up our water and emptied our lav, even though they didn't need it, just to make sure we got our money's worth.

Anyway, I now feel qualified to say they're shit!

LakieLady They are not meant for someone either without kids, or whose kids will happily go walking.
They are meant for people with kids. The idea is the kids have fun, so it actually makes it a relaxing time for the parents.
And I have read enough threads on here with people moaning about how stressful hotel or cottage holidays are with a number of young kids, to know exactly why some parents choose these kind of holidays.

www.ladrambaycaravans.com/ladram-bay/
lovely place, you can camp, stay in a caravan, lodge with a hot tub, walk down to the (shingle) beach, safe cove, on site "pub" , cafe, evening entertainment, small arcade childrens club and out door play park, swimming pool. You can walk down to the little village. On site laundry. Wi fi little iffy the last time we went (2015)
We went for many years, 3 children, you can join in as much/little as you want, and it's a good base to visit other places
Oh- and the on site shop has everything you would possibly need, best holiday site shop ever.

We have friends who love ladram bay it looks lovely and is on my list

I've been spoiled with great value long haul holidays now we have 2 kids the eldest in school and looking at £3k for a week in the canaries I just can't bring myself to spend it.

I took the kids to Butlins February half term after having been multiple times when I was a kid. I still think fondly of those holidays more so than the foreign holidays we did when a bit older. There definitely is the rowdy rough round the edges crowd but my god the kids loved it and are desperate to go back.

I've taken them to a few nice parks too Beverley holidays in Paignton is award winning and hAve sea views. Rockley park in Dorset also really nice and has a man made beach. Both of those though were out of school holidays

Devon Cliffs is in exmouth which is a small beach town, it's about a 10 minute drive. Has cafes, shops, bowling, a couple of arcades etc. Not loads to do but a getaway from the park. As the pp mentioned Crealy is good too, lots of roses, animals, splashpark. Not sure if they still do it but when we've been you pay for your day ticket, get it validated inside and it's them free return for the next 6 days. It's clearly not a given but the weather has always been lovely when we've gone. Used to stay in the top spec caravans booked through Newmans, but due to the extra cost of going during summer holidays we've had to downgrade a bit! The good part of booking through Newmans is you get to pick you exact caravan, so no worries about getting something you don't expect on arrival!

I've also been to Butlins a few times, it's good for the kids and I like Haven and Butlins for different reasons. Prefer Devon though as it's more scenic and natural rather than the concreteness of Butlins

If you fancy abroad check out the european Centre Parcs. They're much cheaper than uK ones especially if you can get there near the start or end of the holiday. Sooner you can book ferries the cheaper they are. There are a couple of other brads that Ihave heard are good but can't remember their names although they are often mentioned on mnet and at least 1 is related to CP.

Have you had a look into eurocamp at all? I know it was cheaper for me to go for two weeks eurocamp in france then it was for one week cottage in Cornwall!

We have done two long weekends at a smaller Haven park and loved it. Free upgrade both times - this time we had an ensuite, a dishwasher and decking. We booked well ahead on a super cheap deal so the 3 night holiday including a few extras like climbing and archery was about £200. There were playgrounds, free craft and nature activities and the pool is really nice - kids went swimming every day. It was by a small beach and a nature reserve. We are hoping to go back again next year. Where we went a lot of people go on daytrips off site so even when they were nominally full in school hols (not really full as lots of owners clearly avoid half term!) it didn't feel crowded.

However, the full list price for that holiday would have been over £500, I would have been a bit annoyed to pay that much for it.

Have been thinking about Eurocamp but feel we've left it a bit late in the year to book as I'd want to do more research.

I know I probably sound like a right fussy snob, but the accommodation side of things really worries me. I've stayed in very basic old fashioned/tatty places before and I just don't feel like doing it these days.

When I look at Centreparcs/Haven type places, they are more money for 3-4 nights than we'd pay for a week in a holiday cottage, and I talk myself out of it.