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Holiday Reviews > Holiday Parks > England > Somerset > Butlins Minehead > Read Reviews
Butlins Minehead ReviewsPage 1 2 3 4 5 6
| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Butlins Online |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr J Spicer |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
My wife and I together with our 6 year old daughter made our frst to trip to Butlins recently and had a very enjoyable time.
The RedCoats and the Entertainers are fantastic and work very hard to keep the children entertain, from 10am each morning till late evening. The swiming pool is excellent with water slides and a wave machines however these can get a little overcrowded during bad weather.
I agree with other reviewers, that it is a little disappointing to find that you have to pay extra for various things such as go karting and crazy golf and I think Butlins should make this clear in their brochures.
The accomadation (Silver Apartments) are begining to look a little dated and could do with a freshen up, but as place to crash out at the end of long day it was suffcient. but dont expect 5 star luxury.
The food although edible is not the best, breakfast was fine but the evening meal left a little bit to be desired.
My only real gripe is the evenings entertainment, not the quality but the fact that you can never get a seat, On the Saturday night people were queing from 5 oclock to get in to one venue (doors did not open till 6:30) and I am sorry but I do not want to spend my holiday queuing.
To sum up, My family thoroughly enjoyed our stay and have booked for next year, Self Catering however. What I would say go to Butlins with an open mind dont expect luxury and enjoy it for what its worth.
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| Board Basis: |
Full Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss L Markwick |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
Well,where do i start,we had the worst time,we arrived to find a smelly,damp very basic room,very dirty,tiling in bathroom was mouldy etc so wasn't a great start. The entertainment through the day wasn't much for the kids really,evening was better,not alot of 'FREE' things for the kids to do,everything inside the skyline you had to pay for,money taking casino type games etc.But meal times was something else,as you arrive they make you sanitise with a antibacterial handwash thing,the tables were sticky,cutlery was dirty and wet,like the plates etc,food bland,then we ended up very sick from the first meal we had,basically we had food poisioning from the chicken that three of us out of four who ate,bearing in mind the fourth hadn't eaten the chicken! So next day my partner went to customer services and asked if we could change our room to self catering,as the thought of any more meals in that place was a total stomach turning thought! He happened to mention i was ill in bed with sickness etc,then that evening i had a knock at the door,and didn't answer as was in bed,but the two women let themselves in anyway,with a questionairre on what i'd eaten since the thursday,we got there fri!! Then turned around,not asking if i was ok,but to tell us,that she was the bearer of bad news,we were apparently carrying a super bug and had to leave,well,what a joke,i thought she was joking,and said if we were too unwell to travel,then we could stay that night but would have to get someone to bring our dinner to the room!! so basically we got chucked out of butlins,with two children who were so dissapointed,and to get a full refund they gave us half an hour to pack,it was a nitemare,luckilly my partners dad booked us a room at haven down the road,or we would have had to drive all the way back to kent!!!! They were so unhelpfull,it totally ruined our holiday,i would never recommend to anyone i know! has anyone else had the same treatment at butlins,minehead,we would love to know?p.s still no refund as yet.........
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr T Jordan |
| Overall
Rating: |
6/10 |
| Comments: |
Stayed in August 2008.
Butlins is great for families with young children(as it always has been). Having visited for over 20 years I came away with the impression that they have had to cut out a lot of things to remain competatively priced:
The saloon/western bar which used to provide stage entertainment of an evening and cut down numbers in the other two entertainment venues is now disused except for bingo sessions.
The Butlins dance troop which used to entertain people all day(in various disguises/themes) is a thing of the past.
Operation of the funfair ceases all too easily - when it is running not all rides operate and when weather returns favourable all available staff are employed getting the "paid for rides" back into operation(Go carts etc). As the funfair comprises reconditioned fairground stock this must be purely to save on costs as these machines are capable of running in all weathers - just witness your local fair in the autumn!!
The food provided for D,B & B customers is good, varied and plentifully supplied and you can always find a table.
The accommodation is basic and spartan as it needs to be to be able to get it to a reasonable standard between outgoing/incoming guests. Remotes for TVs have been removed as a "green" gesture - yeah really!! They could really do with a handyperson to accompany the cleaners to re-attach items such as cupboard backs.
Butlins obviously gains a substantial income from slot and gaming machines as these have now taken over a large area of the Skyline entertainment area - pity they are so tight with the "prizes" on offer. You are far better walking out of the camp to the amusement arcades who offer better prizes.
In conclusion, if you are a young family your children will love Butlins - but gone is the opportunity to have a drink whilst your youngsters are entertained throughout the day by the dance troops various performances. If you are a returner you will notice the difference and wonder where the next cost cutting measures/revenue generation will hit.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
butlins direct |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr R Mudbrusher |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
Where do you start. This bad review is no way aimed at the Butlins staff who are all very polite and helpful. We stayed in a Silver apartment. The room was smelly (damp / ciggarettes). There was a broken television and bathroom extractor fan, which were rectified withinn 24 hours of complaining. The skyline pavillion was a noisy tent full of ways of extracting more money out of you. We thought a lot of things would be included but found out that nearly everything had to be paid for, eg bungee £5, go kart £5. The high wire course i think cost an extra £10 per go. The food was awful, worse than school dinners. It was stodgy bland and almost inedible. The constant hand gel applications worried me, have they had an outbreak of something? The worst thing about the Butlins experience was the chavvy people it seems to attract. If you like beer bellied, football shirt wearing, tatooed people it is the place for you. Loud loutish behaviour woke me at least 4 times in the middle of the night. There was a lot of rain in the week that we stayed, which meant the outdoor (free) funfair was always closed. The cinema was worse than the old flea pits we used to go to, and we had to pay normal prices for that. There were a few good entertainment shows, such as the circus from columbia, but the volume in the skyline was always too loud. did i mentio the seagulls......
The rows of chalets reminded me of prisoner of war camps, and i felt like i was a prisoner for a week.
I would not recommend Butlins to anyone I know, only my enemies.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Aug 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs K Hinton |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
We went Aug 08 in our touring caravan, there were only 50 pitches, all grass and very boggy, some people were ankle deep in mud and water, they didnt get much help from staff either. Toilet block is a porta cabin, with a row of about 8 toilets with sinks oppersite where you are also expected to have a wash. Sinks have no plugs, so are un-able to wash. There are only 3 showers and cant be turned off from the outside, which they were when my husband was in by a group of youths. The touring park in at the furthest part away from the butlins site as you can get so will still need to use your car. The spaces between caravans is so close that the people next to us in our first week came in caravan towed by a camper van and we were unable to open our window due to being so close. There is nothing for the children to do on the campsite not even a swing, there is a single track road going around the caravan where they can ride their bikes, but this is the road!!!! Will not be going back to minehead again, as say ALL the other people who were on the site with his this week!
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independentlybutlins online |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs Sharon Smith |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
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.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Miss E Gornall |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
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.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jul 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs J A Lycett |
| Overall
Rating: |
2/10 |
| Comments: |
Have just returned from a party weekend....... the party atmosphere is fantastic!!! The standard of accomodation is absolutely DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr D Wills |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
We have used Butlins for our holidays for the last 5 years. Myself my wife and are 3 children aged 14 and two at thirteen. We usually hoilday at Skegness this year we decide to try Minehead, First mistake. We arrived and were greeted pleasantly. Are accomadation was a silver apartment. Ok but not like what we are use to in skegness. The camp was ok. The food was disgusting my wife got food poisoning and even though we were half board i decided we would not eat in the camp resturant again, the knifes forks and spoons had food from the meal before. The entertainment for the teenages was none exsistant and everywhere seemed mucky and put together. The entertainment was ok if you could get a seat. I can honestly say we were all very happy to return home. When we returned home we yet again let butlins know we were not happy, we were fobbed off yet again. If we decide to holiday again it will be skegness, its cleaner and the staff are very happy and pleasant.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Jun 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mr N Ebsworth |
| Overall
Rating: |
1/10 |
| Comments: |
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.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
May 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independentlywww.caravanbutlins.co.uk |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs B Jackson |
| Overall
Rating: |
9/10 |
| Comments: |
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.
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
May 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs S Raybould |
| Overall
Rating: |
7/10 |
| Comments: |
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!
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Apr 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Ms C Virgin |
| Overall
Rating: |
10/10 |
| Comments: |
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.
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| Board Basis: |
Half Board |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Feb 2008 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs L Sheldon |
| Overall
Rating: |
2/10 |
| Comments: |
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
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| Board Basis: |
Self Catering |
| Date of
Holiday: |
Dec 2007 |
| Tour
Operator: |
Booked Independently |
| Submitted
By: |
Mrs D Williams |
| Overall
Rating: |
8/10 |
| Comments: |
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.
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Butlins Minehead ReviewsPage 1 2 3 4 5 6
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