There comes a time when you just need to get away from the same old four walls and our time had come last weekend. On the spur of the moment we decided to venture all the way to Blackpool and choose a Pontins holiday camp to stay in. With two small children it seemed ideal as they cater for people with young families.
We booked over the phone and the next day all the paper work arrived. The only thing that was missing was a map. I was a bit concerned because after driving all that way the last thing we needed was to be driving around Blackpool looking for the site!
We set off on Friday and five long hours later we arrived at Blackpool. The site address is actually LythamSt Annes so we followed the signs for this address. Unfortuantly we didn't realise that Lytham and St Annes are actually two seperate places and we was going the wrong way! Surely it wouldnt hurt
for Pontins to a small map in with the booking confirmation or even for it to be signposted!!
With the help of a friendly passerby, we finally headed into the front gates of Pontins. Booking in was dealt with very quickly and we soon had our keys to our chalet. Cars aren't allowed on the site except for loading and unloading and we was given half an hour for the car to be back in the main car park.
The chalet itself was about the same as Butlins. The front door opened to a room with a double bed and a TV. Another door let to another very small bedroom that consisted of bunk beds and there was a bathroom with a small bath and a shower. Although the accomodation was small, it was comfortable and clean.
When it come to explore the site, we could have stepped back to the sixties. All the building have a very old look about them and the only slighlty modern thing in sight was the UPVC doors and double glazing on all the chalets!
The site had a small swimming pool, crazy golf and go karts. There is a nice outside playground and for the under 8's there is an inside playarea. There is also a Little Tykes area for the under 4's although it seems that not much thought has gone into this as they was just a few toys behing a little fence. There is also an area where they show the Cartoon network and for older kids they have got Playstations and of course an arcade.
Another couple of suprises is the actual location of the site. About five foot from the back of our chalet was a railway line. I was slightly worried that trains would be hurtling past our chalet at silly times of the morning, but the trains are only small and you can hardly hear them. The other suprise is that Blackpool airport is just a stones throw away and it is the home of a mass of helicopters. Although these dont fly late at night, they do fly early in the morning and because they are so low, they are very noisey indeed!
The site is half board and the dining room is huge. It is self service so you can have as much food as you like and go up as many times as you like. Breakfast was served between 8 and 10 and you could have orange or grapefruit juice, cereals, cooked breakfast and toast. Dinner was served between 5.30 and 8. There was soup to start and there was four or five choices of a main meal each night plus a salad bar. There was a choice of hot and cold deserts such as spoty dick and custard or black forest gateau. You can help yourself to drinks from a machine. You can have tea, coffee or water. Although I thought the food was brilliant when you think how many people they are serving at the same time, I couldnt believe that the only thing that small children could drink was water. Surely it wouldn't hurt their profits that much by supplying squash.
In the evenings you could go to either the Queen Vic pub or to the Bluecoats show. We followed the signs and ended up in a building called a conference centre. I was totally disappointed to see that the room set aside for us holiday makers was a tiny skinny little room that was already packed out at 7.30. There wasnt room for buggies or prams and everyone was really crowded in. It turns out that the main funtion room had been privatly hired out as well as their secondary hall. It was very impractical and I saw so many people that had to leave with disappointed children because there wasn't any room for them.
Looking around the site properly, so much of it seems to be in a state of disrepair. They are buidling that are closed up and even a whole sections of chalets that had been shut off.
The total cost for a three night break for two adults and two children was £187. I thought that value for money wasn't bad considering how much food we all ate, but things like drinks in the bar were very expensive so I think they make a tidy little profit from different activites around the site.
My overall impression of Pontins is that it has changed massively over the past fews years. It stands out a mile that it is run by business men whos main interest is making a profit rather than giving holiday makers a good time. The site is fine if you want somewhere to eat and sleep but if its all day fun yuou are after, I think you may well be disappointed. I think if Fred Pontin could see the state of his holday camps in the 21 century, he would be cringing.
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I haven't been to Pontins since I was a kid, but I was disappointed with Butlins when I went there in 1999. I think the whole idea of the camps was for cheap family fun, but like you said, it's all for profit now. Great op :-)
flashpointz 30.08.2001 12:49
We used to book holidays at Pontins years ago, when my kids were young. Ideal for an inexpensive family holiday with loads on site to do, if and when the weathers crap.
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