You won't get bored at Butlins! (Butlins (Skegness))

Member Name: jo1976

Product:	Butlins (Skegness)
Date:	16/08/09 (219 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to do, great fun family entertainment, good standard of accommodation

Disadvantages: Limited choice of food outlets for self-catering guests

Having just returned from my third holiday at Butlins in Skegness, I thought I needed to explain just why my family keep going back and why we'll no doubt be going back in the future. Butlins is without doubt the most famous and original holiday park in the UK, with the Skegness site joined by parks in Minehead and Bognor Regis. For anybody who hasn't enjoyed the Butlins experience, guests stay in chalet accommodation within the park and lots of entertainment and facilities are also provided, most of which is included within the cost of the accommodation (with just a couple of exceptions.)

-Accommodation-

On previous visits (Easter 05 and May 07) we have stayed in Standard self-catering chalets which include, as you'd expect, a basic living area with a small kitchen area and bathroom in addition to the two bedrooms. These chalets were more than adequate for our Mon-Fri breaks and we were perfectly comfortable during both stays. This year we stayed in a Silver half-board apartment (get us - we must be going up in the world!) This was mainly because the small difference in price between standard/silver and self-catering and half-board meant that it was much more economical for us to go on a half-board basis, particularly given the vast amount of money we'd ended up forking out on food on previous visits.

Our Silver apartment included two bedrooms, a living room with kitchen area and a bathroom (with shower, no bath.) The chalet was a much newer block than our standard accommodation had been, with bright painted wood slats on the exterior and simple but comfortable and clean interiors. The accommodation was much more spacious than standard had been and, for that reason alone, I think we'd be reluctant to go back to standard accommodation for any future visits. We also had free 'housekeeping' included as part of the silver accommodation, although that seemed to consist of little more than changing the bins and replenishing the loo roll. Maybe one year we'll upgrade to Gold accommodation - which also includes complimentary towels, an iron (you must be joking!) and meals at the 'Yacht Club'!

-Food-

As a mum getting tired of the daily grind of rustling up meals for the family, the food was the thing that I was most looking forward to! We ate in a canteen-style restaurant called 'Coral Beach' which was run on an 'all you can eat' basis, although the food was served up by staff rather than being left to help yourselves - probably to curb the worst of the excesses! I have to confess that certain members of our party did manage to go up for seconds *blush* and the evening that Chocolate Pudding with custard was available saw me almost on the verge of being sick as I staggered out of the restaurant. (Through blatant over-eating, not because the food was so vile, I hasten to add!)

Breakfast was partly on a help yourself basis (to toast, cereals, drinks) with hot food (traditional fry up) served up at the counter. There was plenty to set everybody up for the rest of the day and for lunch (which is not included) we only needed to rustle up a couple of butties to see us through until our evening meal - although beware this is served between 4pm and 6pm so it might seem early to some. It was ideal for us, as the boys tend to have their evening meal around 4pm anyway and we were always amongst the first wave of guests eating, which was handy as the restaurant can get very busy although we never seemed to have any difficulties finding a free table or highchair to use.

As a vegetarian, I have become accustomed to my meal choices being pretty limited, even in the finest of restaurants so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the restaurant offered at least two veggie options every evening, as well as fish and chips (which I do eat) and jacket potato/salad options too. Even better, I found that the meals available were actually things that I would choose to eat and, on some evenings, I was literally spoilt for choice (hence needing to go back for seconds, to try the alternative!) I ate Stir-Fried Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce, Vegetable Lasagne, Vegetable Curry amongst others and have to say that I genuinely enjoyed every meal, almost as much as I enjoyed not having to cook for anyone!

The food was not 'cordon bleu', by anybody's standards, and would probably be accurately described as hearty family fare with roast dinners available every evening as well as other classic British and international dishes. These are meals mass-produced for very high numbers of people so there was something a bit school-dinnerish and the set-up and the menu, especially as there were 'dinner ladies' (and men) serving up the meals! I'm one of those people who have very fond memories of school dinners and the whole family enjoyed their meals too - even my other half who is a notorious fussy eater!

The choice for the kids was fantastic and for the very youngest children, Butlins have introduced an Annabel Karmel range of meals, based on some of her popular recipes for babies and toddlers. My two year old was not totally impressed with all of the Karmel range, which was a bit of a relief otherwise I might have felt obliged to rush out and buy her cookbooks on my return home! He tends to prefer his food to be in distinct categories, rather than mushed all together into an indistinguishable sauce or as part of a pie, as many of the recipes seemed to be. Nonetheless, he ate like a little king during the break and the Karmel range is a real bonus to parents of little ones. This was a major advantage over our self-catering experiences where the only kids' meals available consisted of things served with chips, chips and more chips! To be fair, Butlins have also introduced the Annabel Karmel range into the Sun and Moon pub too, so there should be a little more choice available now.

I think, having tried both options, Half Board is by far the best and most cost effective option. We spent a small fortune on meals 'out' in 2007 - either out in Skegness town or within Butlins - and the food we bought was rarely anything other than 'okay.' The choice of food venues in Butlins is quite limited with the best being Papa Johns, which offered a pizza/pasta buffet for a set amount but the food was certainly nothing to write home about and there is a limit to how often you want to end up eating pasta and pizza! Other options include a limited range at the Sun & Moon 'pub', a fish and chip shop and Burger King, so not brilliant for anybody who doesn't like chips.

-Facilities and Entertainment-

After all that food, luckily there are lots of activities and facilities available to burn off all those extra calories! One of the main reasons we always end up going back to Butlins is that there is so much available to keep the kids amused, regardless of the unpredictable British weather and most of it is included within the cost of the accommodation.

One of the most popular facilities is the Splashworld indoor swimming pool with lots of water slides which is free of charge, other than a small charge for lockers. My kids aren't particularly confident swimmers so we preferred going on to the beach, which can be accessed straight from the Butlins site, and went paddling in the sea instead!

Our favourite feature was the totally free fairground which, although small with only five or six rides, kept me and the kids occupied for hours. Most of the hard-core white knuckle riders would have gone over to Fantasy Island (which is a just a short walk away from Butlins) so the queues for the free rides were surprisingly small. There are a few other attractions within the same area that would appeal to older children/teenagers and these incur a small charge. They had a bungee-style trampoline available for £5 per go - leading me to say "£5! What do they think this is? A holiday camp?!" My husband is a softer touch and forked out for my six year old to have a go and he absolutely loved it. The pair of them also went on the go-karts for another £5.

The really young members of the family are certainly not neglected and they have their own area known as 'Bob's Yard' which includes four small rides ideal for tiny tots (little spinning tea-cups, ride on cars, aeroplanes and ladybirds) all free to ride. There was also a daily show featuring Bob the Builder and some of his friends which had my youngest entranced.

There was also a wooden fort-type climbing construction close to our appartment which was suitable for kids from about four up to ten year olds (although our two year old had other ideas.) For those rainy days, there are plenty of indoor arcades (two penny shovers, anybody?) along with a soft play area, seperated into different sections according to age/height, which helped to keep the little ones safe and having fun, regardless of the weather.

The (in)famous Red Coats are around the site in abundance and are every bit as tacky, cheerful and cheesy as you'd expect them to be. They host a lot of the shows in the giant Skyline Pavilon which is the centrepiece of the whole site and where most of the indoor facilities and entertainment is housed. This arrangement is ideal as it creates a real focal point and means you aren't constantly wandering across the site to get to different attractions - a major bonus in wet weather.

There are shows featuring popular children's TV characters and photo shoot opportunities with some of them (including Ben10's Four Arms, Bugs Bunny and Barney.) The evening entertainment was surprisingly high profile with shows including popular acts from Britain's Got Talent and the X-Factor. We did contemplate going to one of the shows but one glance at the size of the queue outside the venue, at least two hours before the show was scheduled to start, and we just turned straight round and went to one of the other venues. We actually ended up watching 'The Legends of the Oche', instead (!) which my husband was quite pleased about as he has been a fan of Eric Bristow (one of the darts players starring) since childhood.

The main entertainment venues were 'Reds' and 'Centre Stage'. We did spend some time there in the early evening and my youngest thoroughly enjoyed the toddler disco. Where else can you relive the 'Superman' song nowadays?! The drinks are probably averagely priced with, for example, Carlsberg costing £2.95 per pint, Southern Comfort and lemonade £2.60 and a J20 £2.05. The major drawback with the main venues was the lack of air-conditioning. All of the venues became uncomfortably hot and stuffy and we ended up leaving earlier than expected on some evenings because it was just unbearable.

-Cost and booking-

This year, we paid just over £600 for a family of four for a four night break in a Silver apartment, booking online and including the cost of travel cot hire. Prices seem to fluctuate wildly, dependent on whatever offer or promotion is available at the time of booking.

In 2007, I actually saved up Tesco Clubcard points and used their deals vouchers to pay for the entire cost of the holiday which was a nice reward! Unfortunately, the Deals vouchers are only valid on the full brochure price (which is a lot more than the cheapest price you would be likely to pay) so it is only really worth using Tesco vouchers if you have enough to cover the cost outright. To book using these vouchers you have to do it by phone using the details sent by Tesco.

I think Butlins is an extremely good value holiday option for families, especially those with younger children. Teenagers would probably want to go somewhere more 'cool' but there is still plenty to keep them out of trouble too. I suspect we'll be going back until our two boys start refusing to come with us!

Summary: We love Butlins!