Butlins: "Hello Noddy and Big Ears!" (Butlins in general)

Member Name: mreyre

Product:	Butlins in general
Date:	31/08/00 (399 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loads!

Disadvantages: Be prepared for a quick evening meal!

I have just returned from a wonderful 4 day break at Butlins in Skegness, along with my wife (we are both 26 years of age) and our daughter Lucy (who is 22 months).
We are both teachers, so we have to take our holidays in the main school holiday time, but don't like paying high prices because of this.

I looked on the Butlins website about 2 weeks prior to the date we wanted, and booked over the phone by credit card. The half board apartment for 4 days coat £177, including cot hire for Lucy, which we thought was an excellent price. As Lucy was under two, she was actually free, but Butlins often have special free child places anyway.

We weren't sure exactly what to expect from Butlins, having heard some negative opinions about it (even on this website!), but we had a wonderful holiday there and didn't want to come home!

Upon arrival to the site, we were directed to a car park (left off the main roundabout), which was completely full and very uneven, which initially put us off. However, we took the initiative and went back to the roundabout, taking the other exit. We were then able to park in a completely empty car park, nearer to the check-in desk! Therefore, my suggestion is to ignore the staff on the front gate!

Check-in was at 3 p.m., but we arrived about 12 o'clock to find our bearings and explore the site - just tell the staff on the gate you have booked in. A queue started to form about 2.45, so I joined it and was served straight away. A good thing about this system, is that only one member of your group need check in, so children are not getting bored.

We were in Apartment 18, Headland Grove, Pacific Wharf, which was really handy to all the facilities, but without being too noisy. The Pavillion was in one direction and the beach was right behind us. We were also able to park the car directly opposite, which was useful.

The accommodation consisted of: 1 room with a double bed, TV, kettle
, wardrobe, table, iron and board, a bathroom with sink, WC and bath (which we had requested), and another room with 2 single beds and space for Lucy's cot. The rooms were very clean, bright, spacious and comfortable, with plenty of hot water. The walls even had pictures on them, like hotels!

The meals (breakfast and evening meal) were satisfactory, with a range of choices. Our daaughter even had the same size portions as us! We were allocated a set time for meals: 8.00 - 8.20 for breakfast and 4.45-5.20 for evening meal. This was ideal for us with a small child. I believe the mealtimes are staggered accordingly. We had 2 main criticisms of the restaurant:
1) The choice of children's meals were very limited indeed, with chips on the menu every night, with no sign of vegetables.
2) The waiter/waitress whip away your plates whilst you are still on your last mouthful of food - on several occassions I was still eating when my wife's plate was whipped away from her, we then counted about 5 seconds before the waitress pounced again. I know they have a job to do, but they could slow down a little bit!

There was loads to do on site, the "Splash" swimming complex has to be the highlight (don't forget the 20p for the locker though), which has all manner of water slides, a jacuzzi and 2 safe play areas for the little ones.
The Pavillion was also great, with shows going on all the time for the kids, and plenty of shops, with Burger King and Harry Ramsdens. Noddyland was very popular with our Lucy, she said hello to all the characters and played in the Noddy car, having a great time. She also loved the Little Tikes Nursery, which has 3 rooms in for under 5's to run around in, including a big soft play area. Most of the Dad's were sat there reading the papers whilst the children played on the slides.

We also left Lucy in the Nursery for a couple of times (which was free)- the staff were very friendly and g
ave our child loads of attention in a professional way. The Nursey also offers a Babysitting service at night, but at £5 an hour, we thought this was a bit steep, so we took it in turns to go out at night to see the shows, which were of really good quality.

We also played crazy golf, went on the fairground, played ten-pin bowling and went on the exclusive bit of beach which is at the back of the site.

We did go into Skegness one of the days, just out of curiosity, but there was really no need to leave the site at all, there was plenty to do. The site seems to cater for all ages of children, but we noticed they were particularly "geared up" to the needs of under fives.

Summary: