Butlins Minehead

just come back from Butlins Minehead, what a fantastic holiday, kids loved it, have booked again for next year. PLEASE DO NOT GO ON THE BAD REVIEWS.... we read them and was worried, but it was brilliant. Accommodation first rate, lovely, fully equipped kitchen. bedrooms suitable for both my boys. entertainment brilliant. something for everyone. very impressed, plenty of places to eat if you are self catering, and a local tesco a 5 min walk away.

1 reader found this review helpful

Just returned from 7night stay at Bultins Minehead with my 4year old daughter and a friend with her two children. We had a great time there was plenty to do and watch that you didnt have time to get board. The swimming pool is great and caters for all ages they even have an outside paddling pool with slide which is great for the younger kids on a nice day. The entertainment at nite varied depending on where you went, we tended to stick to Reds which had a variety of things on from tribute of Madonna to the real Chico, the only fault i had with reds was you had to be there early if you wanted to sit down which ment you had to queue some nights depending what was on. The red coats are brillaint nothing is to much trouble for them what ever you ask they are always happy to help even entertaining the children when you were queuing for red which was a great help. We went half board and i can honestly say i can understand after reading some reveiws what the big problem is with the polish people that work in the restaraunts they are very polite and take great pride in there work, we enjoyed the food there was something for everyone even the fussy of eaters would be able to find something to eat.
We stayed in a sliver appartment wich was very clean and of good standard. The drinks are price which is what i expected but they do a big beaker for the kids which cost £3.50 when you first buy it then £1.95 every time after that for a refill which can be anythin from pop to slush puppies. All in All we had a great time so much so that my daughter didn't want to come home and as asked when we go again, i would recommend a holiday at butlin to any family because no matter what the weather there is always something to do or entertain you.

Have just returned from a party weekend....... the party atmosphere is fantastic!!! The standard of accomodation is absolutely DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

We rang on the day that we set off to pre-book a baby cot - "we have loads of them - just pick one up when you arrive" said the friendly voice at the end of the phone. Less than 5 hours later, we arrived at the resort to find out that they had no cots at all....
Our Silver apartment was filthy and stank of cigarette smoke. The kids feet turned black when they ran around on the crispy carpet. On the plus side, the bedding was clean and the beds comfortable. An additional bonus was that our eldest daughter enjoyed catching a cockroach and keeping it as a pet in a box....
Food at the Ocean drive 'restaurant' is very poor - the cheapest stuff you can buy. It was also all lukewarm - great for the kids to eat but absolute heaven for food-poisoning bacteria. We upgraded to the Yacht Club for all of our meals - this cost an additional £15 per day for two adults, one 4-year old and one 18-month old, but well worth it - the food is much better quality, well cooked and served hot. The ice-cream was a joke - more like white frozen water - even our 4-year old wouldn't touch it, but fortunately there are many other excellent deserts.
Entertainment is quite good for the kids - The 'Bob-the Builder' yard kept both children amused for an hour each day and the puppet shows and other activities filled in another hour or so each day.
The swimming pool was excellent - not the cleanest I've ever been in, but not bad. Most of the door locks on the changing-rooms were broken, but once you got the hang of changing with your bum pressed against the door, it was OK. The layout of the pool area is superb - with lots of shallow areas to play in, slides for the young ones, warm shallow pools and beach areas. We adults enjoyed the wave machine and the 4 rides that are available. I was also pleased by the number and efficiency of the life-guards. I saw one dive in and rescue a boy that was struggling - very impressive.
Having two such young ones, we didn't get involved with the evening entertainment so have no idea what it was like.
So, in summary:
- Filthy, run-down accommodation that smells.
- Poor food, unless you upgrade.
+ Good swimming-pool
+ Generally good entertainment for the younger children
And to be brutally honest:
If you weigh 20 stone+, swear loudly and constantly at your kids, are liberally covered in tattoos and chain smoke, have low expectations and low income, it's probably your perfect cheap holiday.
Although the kids enjoyed it, we'll never do it again - we'd rather pay more and have a higher quality experience.

We had a fantastic break in a private caravan on the Butlins site, from www.caravanbutlins.co.uk.
The caravan was lovely, much more comfortable than when we have stayed in the Butlins chalets. We even had our own patio and parking space right next to the caravan, which is a real bonus at Butlins.
All the entertainment is free and at night you could choose from about 3 different clubs, or the undercover entertainment area where there was something to do all day long. There is a funfair for the older kids (free) and a smaller one, Bob the Builders yard, for the little ones (free). My daughter loved the characters who appeared every day, and the shows at night.
The town of Minehead is a short walk away from the site, there is a lovely beach and lots of gift shops and places to eat and drink. The only negative is the prices that Butlins charge at the bar.
There really is something for everyone, and we will definitely book again next year.

Well its been a couple of years since we have been to this Butlins resort at Minehead - We had a Silver Self Catering Apartment. Arrived and checked in ok they have upgraded the keys to card keys now and we had a top floor apartment. Very pleased to find that a new bathroom had been fitted and a new power shower - long over due and very pleased to see, new brown leather sofa's had been added and a new carpet they apartment was very clean much better butlins well done. TV now had extra channels - although we had a very grainy picture on some channel and no TV remote drove us mad!! The site was very busy as it was half term - weather was rotten but Butlins had lots to offer on a rainy day. We did find the prices had increased but then thats expected everywhere you go now - We mainly watched shows in the Centre Stage and around the Sky Line - all well worth a look and kept us amused. Swimming Pool area was my only gripe - the changing rooms were very unloved, messy had trouble finding a locker that worked, the pool was maxed out, too many it took us 40 minutes to queue up for the raft's also I found that the pool shut too early 5 pm whats all that about on half term week what about extending it til 6.30 Butlins? I like Minehead and I would go again happy with what was on offer - Butlins had also employed more UK staff not so many Poles around this year so I felt they have listened to previous comments by holiday makers. All in All giving it a 7/10 rating much improved any a happy holiday by us!

i went to butlins on the 28th april and after reading some of the reviews on this website i was dreading what kind of holiday i would have. my experience was brilliant. the apartment (silver apartment) was clean, no mould or blood stained mattresses as stated on this website. the food was really nice none of my family had any problems with food poisening. the entertainment was really good. circus hilarious is one of the funniest shows i have ever seen in my life and would definately recommend it to anyone. although the weather was bad me and my family had the time of our lives and are returning in july.

1 reader found this review helpful

my husband and myself have been going to butlins festival of the 60s since barry island 26 years ago this holiday feb 08 we went to mihead and only saw 2 groups as we both had sickness and diorria the second day there we had to come home really ill and i ended up in hospital with food poisoning after the hospital stay we phoned butlins to complain and were told they basicly wanted a stool sample what a joke they would not accept doctors or hospital reports and where very rude about the whole matter as if we where liars 2 staff stood in the dining room insisting on everyone using alcohol rub on there hands why if there wasnt a problem in the first place! we asked about the drinking water tap being next to a toilet and the risk of cross contamination we are at the moment doing investigations with the water services in minhead into the legality of this as the only drinking water was in the sink next to the tiolet i think butlins could have been more helpfull to us and we would love to know if anyone else suffered as we did as of course they will not accept any responsability to one complaint but would have to if there where more please let everyone know as they have had problems in the past

Hi There,
I really love going to Butlins! We go as a family and have a fantastic time!!
We've been to Butlins three times now and every time has been great.
The entertainment you can't beat for the price! We love Billy Bear and all the Red Coats.
This year will be the first year going with our little brother Jake and we cant wait. He will be six months and we've seen there are things for him to do.
WE LOVE BUTLINS
xx Kitten xx

I thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas holiday at Butlins.
We rented a caravan privately from a family I know in Cardiff. The Cole family , they have their own website which provides all details and prices of available dates.
They were so helpful.
The caravan is fantastic, good location, peaceful but yet so close to Butlins fun activities.
The only downside was that butlins bar prices are too dear.
Would go again, good value family holiday.
Donna.