The Credit crunch is hitting the British Holiday Maker hard with the increase in Holiday Prices and the lack of funds that the average family have to travel abroad.

Here at in2town we Decided that we would find out why more and more people are now deciding to stay in England instead of hoping for late deals abroad and why after our research we found that more people are turning to Butlins for their family holiday. 

When it was suggested to me to review Butlins in Skegness, the first question I asked, “is there a Butlins in Spain, with warm weather, a nice warm sea to swim in and great entertainment for me and my family to enjoy” to my disappointed I was bluntly told no!

The disappointment of not being taken to the airport to fly to a nice warm country to collect my nice duty free soon turned to delight when I received a nice warm welcome on my arrival to the Skegness Butlins Holiday Resort.

What I was expecting was grumpy members of staff, old chalets like the ones on Hi De Hi, an old warn out Resort with little to do and entertainment that Simon Cowell would not let through to the first round of the X-Factor. And to be honest, I think a lot of people who have not experienced the wonders of Butlins do have that image firmly tattooed in their mind.

I would like to tell you a story as Max Bygraves once said, I would like you to clear your mind, “that was quick!” while I take you on the real journey of the splendours of the Butlins Holiday Resort.

When we arrived at Butlins, it was cold and the heavens had just opened but the nice Redcoat that welcomed us with a big friendly smile did not notice the heavens giving him a shower as he smiled and introduced himself while telling us about what the Resort had to offer. Now I am not being funny, but me, I would have been firmly in the office at the gate with the heating on staying firmly in the warmth and just waving people through the gates, but not the Redcoats at Butlins. The Redcoats are a different breed, they are friendly, dedicated and truly love their job and the holidaymakers, this made me realise that I was coming to a special place.

When we arrived at reception, we were given our keys and a packet of information about the entertainment that was happening during our stay and useful information about the holiday Resort and around the resort including a map. This information pack was a great help, especially the map because Skegness Butlins is a big holiday Resort and without a map you could get yourself lost.

I thought to myself, this is to good to be true, there has to be a catch, maybe everyone was being nice to make up for the accommodation that we would be staying in, but no, there was no catch, the accommodation was home from home. It was more like a luxury flat with all the mod cons that you would expect to see in a show home.

Butlins, which has made its name by offering affordable family holidays at a price you can afford, offers three levels of accommodation to suit every budget; Standard, Silver and Gold. Our accommodation was the Gold Accommodation, although we did have a nosey into the other accommodations when we met some nice holidaymakers from down south, and we were surprised how lovely all the accommodation was within the Skegness Butlins Resort.


There was only three of us staying at Butlins, my wife, my daughter and myself and this accommodation was more than big enough for us, in fact it would have still had plenty of room for five people with the three bedrooms that were decorated to the highest of standards. I started to understand why so many people year after year go back to Butlins as their preferred holiday destination.

There is a great deal to do for the whole family which includes: The Fun Fair, Adventure Golf, Splash Waterworlds, A Spar to unwind in, Amusement Arcades, Bingo, Shows, Pubs and Clubs and so much more to make this your ideal holiday.

As a reviewer you look out for everything, well to be honest it makes for good reading if you can pick up on things and let your readers no, like food was poor, accommodation was not up to standards and the holiday reps were not very friendly (Yes Holiday Reps, you know which ones I am talking about) but I could not find anything I could report back and say, “they really need to improve that, or they could do with changing this or adding this to make it a more enjoyable holiday” It was all perfect.

My favourite time of the day arrived, it was teatime, and me and my temple of a body, all 19 stone of it was ready to sample the delights of the Butlins Cuisine.

I knew I had them, I knew no one could be perfect, no one could offer a great resort, great accommodation and staff who were friendly and happy all the time, so I knew, the food, had to be the downfall, it had to be the faulty part of the resort, the food was going to be like school dinners, you know the ones, the ones that you eat under protest, or the ones you eat because you are starving and there was no chippy around or the teachers were standing guard at the gates, making you do a u-turn to the dinner room. But no, the food was amazing, the restaurant setting was like a small cruise ship, highly and tactfully  decorated with staff dressed so smart that sometimes you felt underdressed like you should have turned up with a dinner jacket.

There was so much food to choose from, there was food for everyone even the fussiest of eaters. My daughter who is the hardest of people to please when it comes to food enjoyed everything that was on offer, which nearly made me want to sell my house and move to Butlins for ever to stop hearing those words “I don’t like that” even though she has never tried it before.

Butlins had one last test to pass, the entertainment. We have all heard Mr Big Long Trousers Simon Cowell say on the X-Factor nasty things about Redcoats, but hey when is Simon Cowell ever wrong? All the time, I hear you say! Well you are right. The entertainment was amazing, I could not believe we were in the UK listening to such fantastic artists and great shows that the Redcoats had put on. I do not know how Butlins does it, how they find these talented young members of entertainment staff. Butlins had past the test, they had provided an amazing Holiday Package that was not only amazing, but it allowed people to go on holiday, cut out the jet lag, be entertained all day long, receive great accommodation and great food but most importantly, to have a holiday that is affordable to everyone.

Would I swap Spain for Butlins, now let me think about it, Butlins is the fraction of the cost of travelling abroad, the entertainment is better, you do not have to walk for miles to find a good restaurant and good entertainment, you do not have to spend a fortune to keep the children entertained, the answer is definitely a yes. For what a Butlins holiday cost compared to going abroad, you can have a number of holidays at Butlins in the same year with the money you will save, and you do not need to go to the same holiday Resort as Butlins also has Minehead and Bognor Regis to choose from.

If you are looking for a great holiday this year to keep the children entertained while you relax then you seriously need to look at Bullins, it will make your wallet and your family very happy.

So if any nice kind hearted Butlins staff reading this that would like to invite us back to one of their other resorts, all I can say is, bye bye Spain, Hello Butlins

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