Been there, bought the t-shirt, but wont be going back any time soon (Butlins (Bognor Regis))

Member Name: cazkins

Product:	Butlins (Bognor Regis)
Date:	12/09/08 (731 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value, great for kids, lovely buffet meals

Disadvantages: Adults may be bored after the first day like me

I was in dire need of some space away from the day-to-day routine and having seen a deal for a few days at Butlins, Bognor, I thought it would be a perfect getaway when watching the pennies. I took my mother along too as she needed a break... I can't say either of us felt like we had a 'holiday'.

-...:: The Price ::...-

Butlins offer lots of deals and their website is very useful for finding these and learning what's on when that suits you. We went for 4 nights at the end of July and it cost around £100 per person. I had to take into account the 3.5hr drive I had to do to get there, but for £100 I had the all-inclusive silver room deal. This means we got a room with two separate beds and a bathroom with shower. Breakfast and dinner were included in this cost and you are allocated your restaurant as to which price deal you choose. I was in the basic range, and yet the restaurant we dined at was fab. Food is served buffet-style for both daily meals and the variety was impressive. Being quite fussy eaters, we both found plenty of foods we could eat and the quality was good, nothing extra special, but good value for money none the less if you compare it to eating out at a different restaurant. Breakfasts included typical cereals, fruit, fruit juice, tea, coffe, and a range of hot options. Dinner varied each evening, but you had choices between traditional roasts, potatoes, chips, veg, rice, chicken, pork, chicken nuggets, hot dogs etc. After your main meal (of which you could choose what you wanted and go back for as much as you wanted) there was a small selection of deserts suitable for adults, ie. Apple crumble, and ice-cream cones for children. The restaurant was very busy however and filled with over-excited kids. When I asked for water on 2 occasions because the filter hadn't been filled, I didn't find the service to be very good. Half of them didn't understand what I meant by 'water' and the rest disappeared for water and never returned.
Also included in the price is your access to the main redcoat stage for which shows were arranged each day, the smaller shows in the pavillion and a range of activities (such as swimming). Unfortunately I can't comment on the outside activities as we never had the chance to try any of them due to the torrential rain we had all week, typical!

-...:: The Resort & Service ::...-

I thought the resort itself was quite impressive. On arrival you get a map to inform you exactly where everything is and a timetable of the shows on offer. The restaurant was clean and our room wasn't too bad for the price. Don't expect anything more than minimal, you do get what you paid for. The noise at night may get on your nerves if you're an early bird. We often went back to our room by 9 / 10 as there was nothing else for us to do and found that both children and adults came back during the early hours of the morning and didn't care who they woke up.
Around the resort are a couple of shops: a newsagents where you can purchase papers, snacks, cigarettes, lottery, presents and souvenirs, and also a corner shop which is perfect for those in self catering accommodation as fruit, veg, cereals etc can be purchased (though it wasn't exactly cheap!).
The entertainment was generally directed towards children & I do genuinely think most children would have absolutely loved it. There were lots of smiley, happy singers, dancers and characters. The bob the builder play area, outside sports area (for basketball etc) and the jungle gym also gives the young ones a chance to be active and burn some of the excited energy they all seemed to be buzzing with!
If you choose not to eat at the free designated restaurant for your evening meal, there is a traditional fish&chip shop, along with 2 pub restaurants and a couple of other eateries, like a pizza house, where you can go. If you're a bit older and fancy a few drinks or some dancing, there are pubs and an adult-only place for clubbing.
Although the service in the restaurant wasn't great, service elsewhere seemed to be very good. When we first got into our room we found the TV didn't work. I called customer service and a very helpful guy came straight over to fix it. When he couldn't, he disappeared. We thought that's the last we'd seen of him, but alas, two minutes later he was back with a replacement TV!

-...:: Overall ::...-

You get what you pay for, but when you consider the price of meals and accommodation these days you do seem to your moneysworth. We found that the best part of the trip were the buffet style meals in our restaurant. Other than that, we were bored most of the time and ended up playing on the 2p machines for several hours. The childrens entertainment didn't appeal to us but we did watch two very good acrobatics performances in the pavillion (about ½ hr each) which were amazing. We watched one performance on the main stage which involved a lot of dancing and singing which was okay but we eventually got fed up of it. Depending on when you go though, you may get a semi celeb there in addition to the usual redcoats. The week after we went Chico was performing there. You should be careful when you book and check what entertainment is on to adapt to what you're looking for. There's a lot for the kids, but if that's not your thing you don't want to end up on a week with Bob the Builder and hundred of screaming babies. They do offer adult weekends too so it is a bit flexible to accommodate age ranges.

Summary: Good budget break