To ask if you'd recommend Butlins holidays if you've been?

[lorettalemon]

My friend and I have been thinking of having a few days away but are on a bit of a budget and would prefer not to go abroad this time.

I haven't been to a Butlins before but the self catering options, to save a bit of money, fun activities and the fact it's not terribly expensive looks really promising. I've heard some people make quite snobby remarks about it and suggesting it's awful.

I'd be very grateful if anyone who has been can tell me what it's really like - is it as clean and smart as it looks on the website? Is the food in the restaurants and cafes nice? What sort of people go - as in could it be a rowdy party place, or is it a nice environment?

Thank you in advance!

My DC love it, of the three sites we prefer Skegness as its smaller and has a nicer atmosphere. We always stay in the premium accommodation, the kitchen is well equipped and the one time we went self-catering we did a click and collect order from the Tesco down the road from the park so picked up our food on the way to check-in. We've gone half board the other times.

They do have their problems, as does every place that caters to mass groups of people but in my experience they are very quick to put things right when you bring it to their attention.

It's not a five star exclusive resort, you're not going to get platinum-grade anything and if you go into it expecting that then you'll be disappointed but for a quick, easy get away with the kids it is perfect. A little bit plastic-fantastic, slightly naff in places, but lots of fun and so many of the activities are included in the overall price.

Don’t, just don’t.

I used to go to Minehead with my Dad when I was a child (1 week during term time) & had really fond memories BUT we only used it as a base to explore Exmoor, the coast line, local NT properties etc. We’d have breakfast, go for a swim & then be out all day, have dinner go for a walk & then to one of the quiet bars.

We went for 4 nights/5days in October half term & left before dinner on day 4. I can’t really describe why it was awful it just was, even the dc didn’t massively enjoy themselves.

It's a shame as it sounds pretty awful. We had in mind something more resort like (but U.K. based) because my friend isn't so well and wouldn't manage a city break - i was looking more for somewhere I could drive us to, bring food to save a bit of money and everything is in the immediate area.

Are there any caravan parks or nice cabin type resort places anyone's been that they would recommend - preferably in the south of the country as my friend lives on the south coast and I'd need to pick her up en route

Never been to Butlins I've done Pontins Camber sands and the accommodation was awful even though we upgraded to the best they offered. Noone had cleaned it, there was dirty linen and bath towels laying around. we were self catering and the cooking utensils had old food in them. The kids loved the entertainment, I'm not a very clean person but coming back to that room every night was awful.

Just get an airB&B in a nice town

I do feel I should add all of the staff that we interacted with were really lovely & friendly & their customer service was second to none. The food was quite good considering it’s mass catering.

Me and my primary children go every year. They love it and it is an easy option me. I get a lot more holiday than my dh so i take them on my own. We go catered. We have always done skegness and never left the site. because skegness is grim This summer we did minehead and i prefer the set up of the site.

Atm they have a massive sale on. I priced up next summer and it is cheaper than the best price i usually get booking the day before we go. Im booking for minehead and this time we will venture off the site. I always take bleach wipes and have a little wipe round of the room. Anecdotally, there are much more smokers at Butlins than centerparcs.

HOWEVER, I wouldn't go without children!

We did centerparcs this year as well, and i much preferred it for me, as we cycled all the time and it is in the woods etc. But my dc both said they preferred the entertainment at butlins.

Potters in Norfolk has excellent food and a good selection of activities. If you are London way then it's about 2 hours away

It’s full of scrotes I honestly wouldn’t bother.

Kids love it. At Skegness there's entertainment all through the day, shows in the evening, a fairground, swimming, cinema, outdoor activities like football and mini golf, the beach is right next to the resort....I could go on. I did the cheapest dining option and yes it is loud and chaotic and a bit like a school canteen but the food is fine.

Similarly the accommodation is not 5 star but I've always found it clean and adequate. It's not a luxury holiday but it has everything that kids will enjoy. After several holidays abroad my ds still says he prefers Butlins. Don't really get the snobby remarks tbh, it is what it is. Cheap and very cheerful.

We went to minehead. The new style chalets are really nice but not cheap. We did the catered restaurant once for breakfast and dinner. We paid for the better plan but it wasn’t that nice. I know people, who go to the adult only weekends and love it. I imagine it’s lots of drinking etc. I wouldn’t go if I didn’t have dd. Not my thing.

@Yetanotherwinter you sound like a really nice person....

If it’s just the two of you I would have a search on Hoseasons and look for lodges or cottages somewhere nice and quiet. A couple of books and some DVDs and some wine or gin and just stay in or just walk the local pub rather than a holiday park. X

Me and DH went to Haven in September. Just the 2 of us, great value had a great time, right on the beach.

I've not been for around 6 years now but we used to go to the Skegness one a few times for a break, we always stayed in Gold, Premier Dining and paid for Sky passes, plus extras like out of hours pool use, they had little boats you could hire in the pool. Also some of the sports were good, archery etc. We did use to have a good time, you do have to muck in a little, we did see aggression in the queue for the entertainment, pretty much every time we went, hence buying the Sky passes (think that is what thy were called) but my daughter always made friends.

Go to one of their music weekends .. we had an absolute blast !!

Don't go to butlins.

I could try to give a PC answer but to be honest and frank (because I wish someone had for me) it's shit. Reasons it's shit:

The people. Sooooo many weirdos.

The constant noise.

The accommodation is so run down. It's a rip off.

The people.

The resort is fairly clean. Except the rooms which are grim.

The people.

If you're going as 2 adults without kids, I'd recommend doing one of the over-18s adults -they're themed and you won't have kids running around. I'd recommend Butlin's in Bognor and staying in one of the hotels. If you don't want to stay in a hotel, then I'd recommend anything in the Gold or above accommodation available.
If you're going with kids, it's brilliant, if you're going without kids, we've had many happy holidays there.
Would also say that Bognor is the best camp in my opinion, Minehead is also nice - although the Diner there is not so good. Skegness is the camp I would least want to go back to. Bognor is the only camp to have hotels too.
Don't listen to snobby people who think they know how Butlin's is just because they once went in 1992 -it's changed a lot since then.
One thing I would say though is that the food can be expensive if you're eating out for every meal, so maybe take a few snacks with you.

We went on a tot week, we originally had a silver bungalow and i paid to upgrade to gold the next day. My DS's feet were FILTHY within 5 seconds of being in there. Gold apartment was lovely, cleaned daily and i smashed a glass by accident, text the cleaning number and they were there within minutes.

I love Butlins! We got to bognor each may and have a brilliant time. It's nit pretty or posh but kids live it and the food is good

Great if you have kids. I wouldn't go without kids.

@pinksparkleunicorns you come across as a bit of a snob. Sure, some people who go to Butlin's can be weird - but that is true of any place where there are lots of people.
Moaning about constant noise at a holiday camp? That's weird behaviour in my opinion! It's a fricking holiday camp, do you expect everybody to be silent? Weird.
Not all of the accommodation is run down - you just have to know which apartments to stay in.

My kids love Skegness one. We do silver accommodation self catering and it’s great for them.

We did the half board meal plan once and really liked it, felt more like a holiday!

@lorettalemon what are you and your friend hoping to get out of the weekend? i.e relax or do activities or just have a nice catch up?

I have been to Bognor twice with my DD and she loved it! The second time I gave her the choice of Disneyland or Butlins and she chose Butlins! We stayed in the hotels and I thought the food was quite nice. There is loads of entertainment for children and I enjoyed it because she did. I would never go there without a child though, if you and your friend are going on your own, I would recommend a city break somewhere like Leeds or maybe a short break in Brighton.

We've been to TLH Derwent Hotel in Torquay - that's quite resort like has pool, sauna, steam room, entertainment all day, half board with clean rooms - a bit like Premier Inn rooms, nothing fancy but good enough. 3 nights in January half board for 2 people is £230ish I think on Booking.com for the 2 of you. Its probably all the food you will need as its 3 course dinner and unlimited breakfast. It's good fun and by the beach and there's a little zoo in Torquay with penguins on the beach. If you've got a car Agatha Christie's Greenaway is driveable. Also bowling on site. I'm not that well either and found is really easy.

We are also going to Holiday Inn Express in Bath in January - that's £50 for the 4 of us per night including breakfast. It's 10 minutes walk into centre or you can drive and park in centre. Lots to do there - Roman Baths, spa, Sally Lunns, etc.