Butlin’s Skegness Review June 2014

We went on a guaranteed £15 per person Sun Holiday to Butlin’s Skegness for a weekend in June 2014. I have to say it was a long drive away but well worth it, especially for the price we paid for it. The boys declared it the best holiday ever, and my husband and I really enjoyed celebrating our 11^th wedding anniversary there.

Due to school and work commitments we were only actually there for around 44 hours – and 22 of those were most likely spent sleeping! Despite that, and deciding to take things easy we still packed in a lot of entertainment. Note we did receive a letter saying that we still owed £14 but this turned out to be a linen charge, which was easily taken off.

First impressions of Butlin’s Skegness

I haven’t been to a Butlin’s for a good couple of decades, and they have really modernised it in that time. In fact it was called Funcoaster World when I went! First impressions are vital and I was impressed with how beautiful Butlin’s Skegness looked: It was clean, tidy and fresh, with lots of gorgeous plants, trees and flowers.  All those colours and smells were just perfect for our Sensory Seeker. Our first and last impressions were of how friendly and helpful the staff all were, I think that can really make a difference to your holiday.

Gold Accommodation at Butlin’s Skegness

We were treated to a free upgrade to Gold Accommodation. Our first impressions of it were so good that I didn’t think we were going to leave the apartment. Especially given all the plug sockets for various devices. I really liked the heavy door, with a proper and lock and chain, it made me feel really safe in the knowledge that my children were secure whilst we slept.

It felt really homely with a separate living room area and kitchen. There was a good sized table with 6 chairs; this meant we could all fit around the table to enjoy eating together properly, as a family, like at home. The children loved that there was a big open field to play on just by the accommodation, visible through the window. My husband was impressed with the fact that there was tea and milk provided, and a dishwasher (with the tablets, he usually gets lumbered with cooking and washing up on holiday). The bathroom had a towel radiator and a complimentary toiletries pack. There were 3 bedrooms – a double and two twins. The main bedroom had an iron, ironing board, hair dryer and safe (which you could make your own combination for the lock).

Entertainment at Butlin’s Skegness

My husband had NEVER been to Butlin’s in his whole life (I cannot imagine that!), he was really impressed by the quality of the entertainment (as well as the amount provided). He is definitely keen to visit the other two Butlin’s resorts in Minehead and Bognor Regis. A lot of the entertainment is covered in the cost of the holiday – includeing Splash Waterworld, activities for the children, shows, and the fair.

Splash Waterworld at Butlin’s Skegness

The swimming pool is possibly the thing that really made it for our family. All our children have had swimming lessons and love fun pools. We have even been as far as Holland, as we heard that the slides were good! Butlin’s Skegness did not disappoint. With one non-swimmer aged 5 it can often be tedious with him not being able to go on much. He is old enough that he doesn’t want the baby slides anymore. But at Butlin’s Skegness there was a really good mix in their Splash Waterworld.

We loved the River Rapids and went on them again and again, as well as the Riptide family slide. There was also bigger, adrenaline pumping slides to keep our 10 year old interested.

I loved all the Sensory input around the pool in the form of lights, sounds and bubbles – again fantastic for our Sensory Seeker. There was even coloured lights in the shower area.

The changing area is unisex which made getting changed much easier for the 5 of us (with 4 being male). There were plenty of changing cubicles big enough for us all, and spacious lockers – these took £1 coins which you got back when you unlocked it. There was a large volume of people a the pool but we did not have to wait too long for anything. This is really important as our Sensory Seeker finds it really difficult.

Children’s Clubs at Butlin’s Skegness

Children are split into 3 Clubs depending on age: Get Busy – for 5-9 year olds; Club Red for 9-teens; and VIP for teens. Included in the price of the holiday there are free activities such as a craft, fun fencing and circus skills. Other activities had a charge but were really good value for money considering what they were (such as archery & fencing for only £5).

You can also buy a flexi activity pass which is £12 for 3 activities. Some of the activities, free or otherwise, need to be booked in advanced, whilst others you just turn up. Some are cheaper (half price) if done at certain times as part of the children’s club. My friend goes every year and her top tip is give your children a daily budget as to how much they can spend on everything.

There are arcades, bowling etc too and that way they can decide what the best use of their money is (although she steers them towards activities and away from arcades). There’s also plenty of shops in the skyline that sell toys, sweets, clothes etc that they can spend on too.

Shows at Butlin’s Skegness

Butlin’s have different club rooms, the main ones being Reds and Centre Stage, where the main acts are. We were treated to shows such as Scooby Doo Live, Storybook Panto: Beauty and the Beast and Animal Adventures, to name but a few.

There also opportunities to get your photo taken with the stars of these shows. The best way to determine what was on, when and where, was to download the Butlin’s App. Although I found that it was still difficult to get my head around all the different times and ages, in future I would plan what we want to see and when before we go.

There were a few clashes with wanting to do two things at once (popular shows) or with the different ages. I had been warned that we would have to turn up early to queue for a seat, we went during a term-time weekend and it wasn’t too bad. However, one of us had to leave to collect our son (aged 10) at the end of another event and were advised that we may not be able to get back into the building due to numbers – I could see this being more of an issue during the school summer holidays.

More Sensory Stimulation at Butlin’s Skegness

There was also shows in the Skyline and again we were pleased to see the sensory stimuli provided – such as bubbles behind glass. Other areas also included outdoor fountains that at certain times came on with different coloured lights and music. We loved the small outdoor beach area that was good for photo opportunities.

In fact the areas was so good that we did not actually manage to take those extra few steps onto the actual beach just outside the camp! As I said we were hardly there very long and there was so much to do, we only very briefly went to the fair. But we did all enjoy a ride on the carousel.

Food at Butlin’s Skegness

The self-catering facilities were amazing in our gold accommodation, with a good sized fridge, a cooker with  hob, microwave and toaster. There was no freezer (we usually buy in frozen chips and pizza from a local supermarket), which would have been helpful.

There were plenty of reasonably priced places to eat on site though. We ate at The Sun and Moon and found it to cost no more than what we usually pay when we eat out. The children enjoyed their meals and hurried back to play on the park (which is just outside and fenced all the way around) leaving us to eat and drink without having to worry if they were safe or may wander off. There is of course the option to go full board – I can only vouch for the food at Butlin’s Minehead, where it was amazing.

We had a very short but amazing stay at Butlin’s Skegness and the children cannot wait to go back to Butlin’s again. We missed out on loads as so much was provided and we were only there for a short time.

Here’s a video of some of my snaps – so that you can get an idea of what to expect

All words and opinions are my own.