Butlins- anyone been - anyone have any advice?

[lisalisa]

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we went to skegness last september. have previously been to centre parcs, but with 2 los we're now priced out of that market.
my summary of butlins was 'working men's club - on - the - sea'; BUT we all loved it!!
there was a shop at skeggy; also free DVD rental & all sorts of little extras you don't get at CP.
how old are your family?

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Fantastic for children, stayed at bognor last year for 3 days.

It's very noisy & in yer face, but your kids will love it. Couldn't fault the small childrens play area, very clean etc.

My only problem with it was that there are franchises there which are dear ie; burger king/costa coffee instead of small individual cheaper shops.

Think holiday in Blackpool instead of quiet fishing village in Cornwall

Oh and there is a shop, think its a spar/costcutters but IIRC it doens't sell bread etc. Had to go off site for that.

I remember going to Bognor Butlins after a few trips to Center Parcs and being shocked that we had to leave the car in the car park and unload from there, instead of taking it to the accommodation, which was a real hike. I've never been back but if I did I'd pack really light.

Went to Butlins at Bognor since In Laws paid for the whole family to celebrate Ruby wedding. Kids loved it and if they're happy we're happy though wouldn't be the kind of place I would have chosen myself. Everything about it is cheap and cheerful. We had gold accommodatiion which was good but half-board. I thought the food was awful - stodge and chips with v unappealing healthy options (drippy lettuce and white bread rolls). But having said that we did have a great time and I would consider it again though trying Centre parcs at half-term.

Friends went to one with their 3 LOs & I don't think they'll be going back. They just didn't like it & thought it seemed quite rough. Not sure which one they went to as it was a while ago.

Costa coffee sounds good - most places tend to sell rubbish coffee!

If you want any info on the Bognor area ask away lisalisa - I'm local!

DD's karate club did a three day course at a sports centre in Bognor every whitsun & everyone stayed at butlin's. We went once & booked the cheapest accomodation, because we'd left it a bit late - we had a supposedly double sofa bed in the front room & bunks in the bedroom. Luckily there were actually 3 beds in the bedroom because I ended up sleeping in there as well - the sofabed was (a) too small & (b) sagged in the middle, so DH kept rolling on top of me. And the safety rail on the top bunk was broken - luckily DS was 14 & he slept up there. Some of the other people who'd booked more expensive cabins had very nice accomodation. The swimming pool was good -DS spent most of his time there as he was a bit old for a lot of the kids stuff & a bit young for the adult. DD of course was at her karate most of the day.

cheap and cheerful is a good description. we jokingly called it WMC on the sea, as it was our first impression. tbh, in the first hour i would have happily gone home again if it wasn't for the los. it was the generally large and tattooed people i'm afraid - v shallow i know.
However - once aclimatised we all loved it and have booked again for this year. please don't be put of by what i've said.

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I went to Minehead for a week last May and the kids (5 and 2) loved it. I was dreading it as I heard so many horror stories upon telling people where we were going.
There was a mixture of people/families - and some were rough looking/sounding (swearing etc) but no more than any where else you might go.
The gold accomodation I thought wasn't brilliant, needed redecordating and the sofa's didn't smell that fresh for example but was ok and the food was better than we expected.
We had a weekend in September and are going back again for 4 nights in May. For the kids its fantastic - especially the pool complex and all day/night entertainment. Just grin and bear it for them!