I have been to Butlins many, many times and admit that I am a member of the Premier Club....
Butlins are not that horrible, dirty holiday camps / open prisons that they used to be. Gone are the nobbly knee competitions and in come the Skyline Pavillions, keeping us dry and warm even when a mini tornado is outside.
ACCOMMtADATION There are 4 standards of accommadation which is either Self Catering or Half Board, where Breakfast and Evening Meal are provided with the price. The standards are quite good: Standard- basic but clean and cheapest Silver- mid range, nice interiors Gold- excellent, there's even a DVD player! Deluxe- the best rooms, your own parking space!
FOOD If you go Half Board, you eat in a sort of nicely decorated canteen! It's just basically a free for all with people wrestling for the biggest portions like they haven't eaten for 2 weeks. The variety is good, but unfortunately, inedible! i lost 7lb last time we went half board and, needless to say, we won't go again!
FACILITIES There are exactly the same facilities at each of the 3 resorts: swimming pool, fun fair, sports areas, kids clubs, Skyline Pavillion entertainment like puppet shows, evening entertainment, lots of shops selling loads of Butlins themed stuff- all in all a lot of potential 'mum, i wants' but remember you can get rid of the kids for a couple of hours at the kids clubs......
ENTERTAINMENT The entertainment is OK. Some nights you think 'Wow they were good'. Others, such as nights when Zodiac are on you think 'A performing bin bag could have done better!' A bit hit and miss really!
PRICES This is really where Butlins fall down the prices on resort are atrocious! About £2.50 for a bottle of Reef and roughly £2.00 for a pint of lager. I'm from the North of England (where I think booze is cheaper?) and these prices are really dear!
STAFF The staff on the whole seem to be either: 1. Foreign language students or migrant workers 2. Disinterested local people who hate tourists 3. People who hate working with people and shouldn't leave the house! 4. The Redcoats seem to be either super-friendly like they're on drugs or super-posers with an "I'm waiting to be discovered" air about them!
I enjoy Butlins, but in some respects it can be really rubbish! I'd recommend it to families and couples who want a cheap holiday.
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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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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
May 4th, 2004
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