Sun Sea Sand And Skyline (Butlins (Skegness))

Name: criple

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Butlins (Skegness)
Date:	30.06.02 (3865 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent Facilities, Kids Clubs, Swimming Pool

Disadvantages: Drinks Prices, Clubs get Full Quickly

Ask a 9-year-old if they want to go to Spain or Butlins and the answer will be 'Butlins' at least that's the answer my 9 year old gave anyway. We have visited Butlins in Skegness 3 times previously. I guess it's because there is simply so much to do for children of all ages that Butlins has to be the fun capital of the UK, even better than good old Blackpool!

Butlins used to have many sites scattered across the country and in the days of old when I was a child myself (I can just about remember) they were very cheep, cheerful and somewhat basic. Yes they had extra activities that a lot of campsites didn't provide (my dad used to love the games room, pool, darts etc) but the entertainment was provided simply by the redcoats and often had a lot to be desired.

A few years ago Butlins decided to have a total revamp. A lot of the sites that were previously Butlins now go under the name of 'Haven' another caravan/campsite company that also have excellent facilities. Butlins were transformed in to all action, fun packed resorts with facilities and entertainment second to none. In order to do this restructuring was needed and millions of pounds needed to be spent. This couldn't be done on every single site that Butlins currently owned and the result was that 3 resorts were chosen to carry on the Butlins name and re-establish Butlins as the number one British holiday provider. The resorts were Minehead, Bognor Regis and Skegness. Not the most glamorous sounding of places are they? Don't let that put you off, millions of pounds have been spent and improvements are being made every year. As we live in Manchester, Minehead and Bognor Regis are a bit too far for us so we always stay at Skegness; therefore this is the resort that I will concentrate my opinion on. I imagine that they will be pretty much the same.

***** GETTING THERE*****

Skegness Butlins is situated on the A52 from Skegness to Mablethorpe.
The main entrance is on the A52 Ingoldmells, Chapel Street, Leonards Road. With the addition of the Skyline Pavilion you simply cannot miss it. As you approach you will see a magnificent white structure with peaks almost like a range of mountains. It can take anywhere between 3-4 hours from Manchester depending on traffic and the route you take. A lot of the roads seem to be 'A' roads and not motorways which adds time to your journey.

***** ARRIVAL *****

As you approach the main gates you will be directed to where you need to collect your keys. The normal book in time is after 4.00 p.m. however Butlins have introduced a premier club for people who take regular holidays with Butlins. I am a Bronze member and to qualify you need to have taken 3-5 holidays in the last 5 years. Silver is 6-8 holidays and gold is 9 or more. This gives you certain privileges and the higher your status the better rewards. One thing that is the same for all premier club members is that you can book in from 2.30 p.m. onwards. You should therefore be able to book in quicker as there will be less people queuing. We arrived about 5.00 o'clock and our allocated check in desk had been changed. The keys were not there as they were being brought from another check in desk that I assume was used earlier. We had to wait around 20-30 minutes for the keys to arrive; this was the same for the other gusts as well. Once we had the keys we were given directions to our chalet. You cannot park directly outside unless you are staying in the deluxe accommodation so you will need to get a trolley for your luggage, as you may have to walk some distance. Lets open the door and see what we find?

***** ACCOMODATION *****

There have been some changes to the types of accommodation available; they range from Economy, Studio, Gallery, Deluxe and Toyland. Economy being the cheapest and most basic. You can go either half board or self-catering and we chose self-catering.
We stayed in Studio so again this is what I will tell you about. There were 5 of us in our party, 2 adults and 3 children although the eldest is almost 16. There are 2 bedrooms and a living room come kitchen that has 2 single chair beds. A settee and table were in the front of the room along with a portable size television. A word of warning if you are planning to take a Playstation or other games console, they won't work! There are no sockets for you to connect them to so you will be wasting your time. We did telephone and ask beforehand and it's always worth checking. If you want the luxury of a video recorder you will need to book a deluxe apartment.

One thing that is provided in any of your apartments is the bed linen. This can save valuable space in your suitcases. You will get pillows, sheets, pillowcases, duvets and duvet covers. You will need to bring your own towels in every type of accommodation except deluxe. Wardrobe space is limited to one small one in each of the bedrooms along with a bedside cabinet. This isn't too much of a problem apart from when you have someone using the chair beds as we did. As they are primarily sleeping in the lounge area they will have to share one of the wardrobes in the bedroom. You may find yourself temporarily living out of a suitcase. The beds aren't particularly comfortable and you can get a little hot and sweaty as the mattresses are covered in plastic.

There is an ironing board provided and you can hire irons free of charge. If you're a stickler for neatly pressed clothes then bring your own, they are a basic iron with no steam facility. In fact my travel iron would have done the job better. I need an iron, as I cannot be bothered to iron all the clothes before putting them in the suitcase. You may think this a bit lazy but I cannot see the point in ironing clothes only to have to re-iron them when you get them out of the suitcase!

In the kitchen there is a standard si
ze cooker that has a combined oven/grill, please bear this in mind if you want to grill some burgers and cook oven chips at the same time, you can't! Oh, and don't do like I did and think that if you turn the oven to 200 degrees and leave the door open the grill will come on. I was trying to cook cheese on toast for half an hour and later realised that there was a separate symbol on the control for the grill, once I discovered this it cooked in five minutes.

You get a few pans and a casserole dish but no chip pan or toaster. Our chalet was equipped for 8 people so we had 8 plates, bowls, cups, glasses, knifes, forks etc. All the items were clean except for the glasses that I had to re-wash. The apartment itself was clean and tidy on arrival and you are provided with a sweeping brush if you can be bothered to clear up after yourself. There are wall convector heaters if you need them in the lounge and bedrooms but we were lucky enough to have reasonable weather. I did check them however and they were in perfect working order.
If there is anything missing or you are unhappy about anything you can go to the housekeepers office, which will be situated close to your chalet. We found we had no tin opener and they provided one no problem along with an iron and clean pillowcases after my daughter had a nose bleed! 10/10 for service and friendliness.

***** ON SITE FACILITIES *****

There are 6 housekeepers offices situated in each of the villages. Butlins accommodation is split in to villages depending on the type of accommodation you are staying in and if you are self-catering or half board. We stayed in Ocean Point. There are baby-changing facilities in each village and three launderettes. I used the launderettes twice but the weren't exactly cheep. The wash itself was £2.50 and took 25 minutes. If you want to dry your clothes (and most people do) it was 50p for 5 minutes! I think that rather expensive and after £1.50 in the dryer t
hings like towels and trousers etc still weren't dry. We did have one of those clothes maidens that you can hang on the balcony so I decided to finish them off outside as the weather was reasonably nice.

There is a nursery on site and your first session is free, you then pay £3.50 for every further session, surprisingly they also offer babysitting which is £5.50 per hour. Nursery is for the under 5's and this is also where any lost children will be taken.

There is a hairdressers, Odeon Cinema and plenty of places to shop for newspapers, gifts and groceries. The 'Everydays' supermarket is not that cheep however and if you have access to a car you will be much better going to the supermarkets in town. A pot noodle was a staggering 97p and things were more expensive in general. It's fine for emergencies but not for your weekly shop.

***** WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK *****

There are actually 8 places to eat on site including Burger King and Harry Ramsden's, Papa John's Pizza place is new for 2002. You can eat in the Skyline pavilion and the bars and pubs also. Pinewood Studios is a restaurant and bar that's a little more expensive than the others. The food chains are around the same price as the high street. I suppose it depends which part of the country you live in as to how expensive you think the supermarkets and bars are. As I am from the north and things tend to be cheaper than in the south, I think they are a little steep. You are looking at around £3.00 for a bottle of beer or alcopop. Ice Blast drinks tend to be a favourite with the kids and they have gone up from 99p last year to £1.09 this year.

There is a total of 9 places where you can go for a drink ranging from the Green Baize snooker club to the Swinging Shillelagh Irish theme bar. There are three main places for family entertainment, Reds, Skyline and Centre Stage. Jaks, is for the over 18's so if you can get a chance to esca
pe from the kids this, is the place to go.

***** ENTERTAINMENT *****

As I have just mentioned Jaks is for over 18's and the entertainment is a mixture of disco, karaoke, comedians and vocalists. The entertainment changes nightly and when you check in you are given a programme that lists all the entertainment in all the venues on a day-by-day basis. This helps you plan your holiday as you can see in advance which acts or on in which venue.

Centre Stage was my favourite and there are 2 bars and tables on the ground floor and a balcony without a bar. It does get full very quickly and if you want a good seat, or sometimes any seat at all you have to get in early. There is something different on each night and 2 of my favourites were Hazel Dean on a Saturday and Imagination on Thursday, both stars of the 80's that were a real treat for the adults.

Reds, was mainly a disco club for children of all ages and adults, a lot of the entertainment is provided by the Redcoats.

The Skyline Pavilion hosts many of the eating-places and shops etc. but is also a place for fun in itself. They seem to have geared it more towards families with young children with regards to the entertainment provided. Puppet shows and Noddy were regular acts and tot's discos. Circus and Illusion shows also seemed to feature strongly. The Pavilion is a brilliant place as it is all under cover. If it's raining outside, it's not in the Pavilion. It is the gateway to many of the bars, amusement arcades and shops. You really have to see it for your self in full glory.

***** ACTIVITIES *****

There is a funfair that is free to all guests and I think you only have to pay for the Go-Carts. Noddy's Toyland has rides for the younger ones. There are outdoor play areas and an array of sports facilities, including Archery, Fencing and Aerobics. They still run the kids clubs and this year they are better than ever. They are sp
lit depending on their age, 5-8, 9-12 and 13-16. They are very well organised and again you are provided with a booklet detailing all the activities available and at what time. Some of the activities coincide so you need to plan in advance which ones to take part in. You may also need to book in advance some of the sports facilities like the archery as they can be quite popular.

My kids decided to do football coaching, world cup football and archery. There are many other activities if you're not in to sports like arts and crafts and stage school. You need to join the Fox Kids Club and get yourself a membership card for some of the activities but you can do this by seeing a Redcoat if you miss the induction.

On some days they show free kids films in the Odeon and pantomimes are on in the Centre Stage. Again, plan your days as the football coaching is at 10.00 a.m. and so are the free kids films.

One of the most attractive features has to be the swimming pool. I am not really a swimmer myself but there is so much to do. You are in a sub-tropical atmosphere and there is a wave machine, shallow children's play area, Master Blaster raft ride, Space Bowl, bubble pools etc. Height restrictions apply to some of these and an adult must accompany children under 8. You will need a 20p piece for the lockers. There is an outdoor pool weather permitting and some extra features depending on which resort you stay in. At Skegness there are 3 Speed Flumes.

The changing rooms are communal and split between male and female so be prepared for tantrums from the children if they get embarrassed easily. I had a few choice words off my daughter that I cannot repeat!

***** IN AND AROUND SKEGGNESS *****

There are plenty of shops, pubs, and supermarkets in Skegness town. If you have a car it is very straightforward to drive in to the centre although traffic can be busy at times. There is a free bus that runs from the resort at c
ertain times of the day so don?t feel that you have to be cocooned on Butlins the whole time. On a Sunday there is a massive car boot sale not far from the site that is really worth a visit. There is a funfair called Bottons near Skegness Beach and we got the kids an all day wristband for £6.00, this was very good value and they certainly got their moneys worth. Parking was good at £1.00 for up to 3 hours.

Fantasy Island Funfair is just up the road for Butlins at Ingoldmells and you need to buy tokens for 60p each. Some rides are 3 tokens. It is combined with loads of market stalls and boasts to be the biggest traditional indoor and outdoor market in Europe!

Mablethorpe is about 40 minutes drive away and is a nice little town with plenty of appeal and a good beach.

One thing we enjoyed was strawberry picking, which was about 10 minutes away form Butlins on the route to Mablethorpe. You could buy pre-picked or pick your own and at just 70p per pound it was well worth it. They were the best we have ever tasted and we had to call there again on our journey home.

Lat but not least for all you Internet buffs out there, I did discover an Internet café in Skegness town. It was £1.80 for 30 minutes but was enough to stop my emails mounting up.

***** OVERVIEW *****

I think Butlins is an excellent place for a family holiday; there are lots of things to do in and around Skegness and mountains of things to do on the site. This opinion is already very long and I could not possibly tell you all the activities available, you'll have to go and check them out for your self.

We stayed for a week, Friday 21st June to Friday 28th June and the basic cost of the holiday was over £400. However we only paid £245 for the 5 of us after all discounts had been applied. This did include a 20% discount for being in the premier club but there are some very good discounts available anyway.

I would recommend Butlins to
people of all ages, as there is something for everyone. The teenagers can wander off on their own and you can have a break form the youngsters when they are off doing the activities. Good value for money and a bit of an improvement on the days of old.

Butlins offer holidays at different times of the year including Christmas and New Year and they also have themes breakaways for families and over 18's only. They have special events at Bonfire night and they even host concerts from some of the stars of today.

Another thing the kids like was you seemed to be surrounded by some wildlife. There were Ducks nestling outside the chalets and Rabbits hoping around all over the place. Of course there are plenty of Seagulls around and my last piece of advice is this, don't park under the trees! You will spend all weekend washing your car as it will be full of SH**

I just hope you don't think my opinion is! lol

Summary: