Are Butlins right to refuse bookings from solo travellers?

[KimberleyClark]

This woman used to take her son, he has grown out of it but she still wants to go on her own but Butlins Skegness won’t accept her booking on “family breaks” - she can only go on the adults only weekend breaks. Safeguarding reasons apparently.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9eerp43v12o

YANBU - ridiculous
YABU - they are right.

My niece has cruised for years with her husband and, at the time, pre-school age children.

And? Not sure what your point is. Children are allowed on cruise ships.

Every afternoon my wife would have a different spa treatment and the lovely Spa manager would gift the same 'mini' treatment to my daughter. Every trip we take, no matter where in the world, as she is very racially ambiguous - she always gets the "wow, she looks exactly like my daughter!" by staff and gets special treatment. That's exactly what happend here with the Spa Manager. Shes also one of those kids who has 'been on this planet before'. Her grandmother died of cancer a month before she was born. She never got to see her first grandchild so we gave her the name which means 'my mother has returned in you'. So appropriate!

Kid are allowed on crusie ships unless its an "adults" only cruise

Is you saying that kids are allowed on all types of crusies if that the case, you are very wrong!!!

Well, safeguarding is a bit of a ridiculous rule when they don’t DBS check their staff or the fact that the majority of children are abused by someone in their own family. if they can’t offer single supplemented accommodation due to loss of income they should say that.

Why can't she just book into a seaside hotel or a country cottage?

Other peoples' children aren't responsible for providing her with a vibe.

Why can’t she advertise as a free child minder for a family who wants to go to this resort? Then she would get to go where she wants, a family would get some help with their kids? Everyone wins…..( even Butlins who get an extra customer).

She really needs to move on with her life and try other holidays.We also don’t know the full picture.She would have more fun with friends the same age as her now.

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.

Yes, how dare people with children book family breaks. So entitled!

Yes, I know that, thank you….I was responding to OP who said she regularly cruised with a line that allowed children but she’d never seen anyone under 18 on it, that was all. I know perfectly well that adult only cruises don’t allow children! The clue, after all, is in the name.

Nah, it's not safeguarding reasons. It's about money. They lose out on money when one person takes up a whole unit. Plus all the food and extras additional people would spend while there. If they actually cared about safeguarding, they wouldn't allow all-adults group bookings either, but they do (up to 4 guests).

She needs to move on like her family’s tastes and wants.

I would not like to go and spend my time at a holiday camp with loads of screaming kids

There is more to see and do than a bloody holiday park! It’s not like it’s the ONLY place to go on holiday!

She needs to get a grip and book somewhere else for a change

@Auburngal She's going there because it holds nice memories for her. Not because it's the only place to go on holiday. A lot of people are sentimental about things and places.

I'm an adult, but I still like to walk through the caravan park I spent most of my childhood summers at because it brings back good memories. (Can't afford to buy one though because they cost more than my house!)

It's just an odd place to go without children what's she going to do why there, go in the play areas in the day then dance at the kids disco then sit and watch a kids magic show. Strange

I've just read the article.

This woman has been offered, by strangers,to tag onto their family booking but she's refused!!

No, she wants the Butlins policy to be changed.....well I say tough !!!

Then surely she can go on any of the weekends/weeks that aren't geared around kids?

It wouldn't be the same. It's the family atmosphere that means something to her.

There are easy ways around this, but she's not interested in that. She's taking issue with the policy as if is a personal attack on her.

Unfortunately for her it's not up to Butlins or other families to create the atmosphere. Your subsequent post is correct, she's taking a policy that applies to everyone personally.

The thing is, Butlins will allow 4 middle-aged men without children book a family holiday there. But not a solo woman. So, their safeguarding policy is bullshit. I think it's fine to challenge it on that ground. But she's also being disingenuous with her motives.

Both the BBC and Butlins need to state much more clearly what the policy is. Butlins considers age 15+ adults for the purposes of booking rooms, and if Waite is a single parent with one child, and has been going on the same Butlins "family breaks" for more than twenty years, then presumably she was going with him when he was over 15, and even over 18. If he wanted to go with her at 22, would that be OK? What if she remarried and wanted to bring her new husband? It's fine to have rules, but they should be clearly stated to (1) avoid confusion for the potential guest and (2) eliminate the likelihood, and even the perception, of potentially unlawful or unacceptable discrimination if there is none. If the policy actually is that everyone is welcome except solo travelers, it needs a better explanation than safeguarding.

Solo travellers without children are not allowed to book on family holidays.
But 2-4 adults without children are allowed to book family holidays.
Convicted paedophiles are not allowed ever, however, Butlin's doesn't do checks on their guests, so nothing is actually stopping convicted paedophiles from booking family holidays.

So, if you're there to creep on children, just take a friend with you. Great safeguarding policy. 👍

This woman has had lots of offers from families to tag onto their booking, in her own accommodation and she has turned them down. She wants a rule change that means children could be put at risk.