For my valentine’s present, my boyfriend decided that he wanted to take me away somewhere nice just the 2 of us. Unfortunately for me his family were all going away for a long weekend and he was expected to be there, so instead of a nice relaxing romantic weekend, we all went to Butlins in Bognor Regis (when I say all of us there was a total of 12 including myself and my daughter).
Bognor Regis is a small town by the seaside, and is only an hour and a half from London by car.
It has been years since I went to Butlins and all has changed since my last visit. I will try and explain the best I can as I’m not to sure of prices as my darling partner paid for everything.
*** Accommodation ***
We stayed in what was called Barracuda place, a 2-bedroom chalet that sleeps 4 people. There was 1 double bedroom; the other bedroom had 2 single beds. Either end of the chalet was a bathroom with toilet, sink and shower. This meant that each bedroom was on-suite (quite a novelty for my 6-year-old daughter). Both bedrooms had a TV (with no remote control) and a small table that held a kettle and complementary teabags, coffee, sugar and powdered milk. The accommodation was fairly basic, but was fine just to lay your head at night.
*** Food ***
As we were staying half-board, we got our breakfast and dinner for free, by showing a small card. The food was buffet style and included a wide choice; you could go up, as many times as you liked until you were full!!! The only problem with the food was that it mainly contained chips for the children’s choice, and if you didn’t get in the dining room when it first opened then the food was sometimes cold with little choice left.
Lunch times were left to your own devices. In Butlins, itself there was a Burger King, Harry Ramsdens Chip shop, a café, and approximately 5 pubs that all sold food, so you wouldn’t go hungry. The town was also a short walk from Butlins, with a number of fast food outlets, cafes and restaurants.
There were a number of things to keep you occupied during the day. These included swimming (which we didn’t do because it was to cold), adventure playgrounds both indoor and outdoor, a small funfair, swing yard and crazy golf. Again the beach is only a 10-minute walk away. The redcoats were also around to keep you entertained and were often found showing around special visitors including the power rangers and noddy!!!
*** Evening entertainment ***
All the pubs had different entertainment at night, including big screen TV’s for the live sport action (so my boyfriend didn’t miss the all important Chelsea V Preston match), karaoke etc.
There were also 2 clubs: - Redcoats was a small coats that provided light entertainment including comedians and singing and Centre Stage which was a bigger club that we went to every night, they showed shows for the children, had a dance floor and showed tribute bands and the like.
We saw a tribute band called Near Say that sang… you’ve guessed it Hearsay songs!!!
We saw a magic show, bands singing music from the 70’s and 80’s and the best of all we saw the special show of the weekend……….
Bananas in Pyjamas!!!!!!!!!!
*** Overall Verdict ***
For a long weekend, Butlins is the ideal place to take the children, but be prepared for lots of expense. The side stalls alone were on average £2 a go!!!
I personally wouldn’t like to spend any longer than a weekend there, but purely because I like to go abroad!!!
Marks out of 10, I would give Butlins an 8.
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Advantages: A quick and convenient short break, lots of fun and plenty for your money. Disadvantages: Self catering is an expensive alternative if you eat on the camp.
MandyMinx 22.05.2003 (30.06.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Butlins
Advantages: Great fun, lots to do, well themed, brilliant location, very atmospheric Disadvantages: Expensive on site, get fat from all the drinking and junk food.
Trixie_Firecracker 12.05.2005 (12.05.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Butlins
Advantages: Lots to do, great fun family entertainment, good standard of accommodation Disadvantages: Limited choice of food outlets for self-catering guests
Feb 24th, 2002
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