Butlins Shoreline Hotel

We decided to spend 5 days and 4 nights at Butlin’s and chose the Shoreline Hotel because it looked like stylish and comfortable accommodation for a good price. We expected Butlin’s to be noisy and hectic but made plans to do some sightseeing in the area and spend our nights at the hotel. As expected, Butlin’s was fun for about half a day for our 9-year-old. You have to pay extra for all the video games and some of the rides at the Funfair (trampoline and go-karts). Food is also over-priced and not very good. The restaurant at the Shoreline was the only decent place to eat but it was overpriced for the quality of food. The main slide and the pool at the indoor waterpark were closed and the wave pool wasn’t fully functioning. There was an ambulance parked in front of the waterpark, which did not make it seem very reassuring to go in there. The outdoor pool was closed because it was taken over by seagulls who used it as their toilet. So there really wasn’t much to do besides spending tons of money on video games. We were not impressed with the hotel. We arrived at 2pm (check-in time) and there was a long queue outside the hotel. Due to the narrow doors, it was difficult for those who had already checked in to get by with their luggage, not to mention waiting for the elevators. It would have been helpful to have a staff member direct the flow of traffic. Check-in was quick though. Maybe the hotel was nice and clean when it was new but it is already showing signs of wear and tear. Our room (Columbus Quarters) overlooked the parking lot and recycling bins. The carpet was dirty and there was even a large stain in the child’s area. The carpet was only vacuumed once during our 5-day stay. Not sure how often the sheets were changed but one evening I pulled back the duvet to find my child’s Cheerio still on the sheets. The maid just pulled the duvet over it and didn’t even bother to remove it. We never had our toiletries replenished. I had to ask for a shower cap twice. The room was dusty and the toilet mirror still had the traces of the previous guests’ writings/drawings on it (you could see it when it fogged up). A proper wiping/cleaning would have gotten rid of this. The leather chairs were nice but they were stained with food drippings. So were its two pillows. There is a refrigerator but not enough power points and unfortunately we inadvertently unplugged the fridge for a few days when we needed an extra power point (there are only 2). The light in the upper bunk bed was not working. It would have made better use of design to put a light switch that can be reached before climbing down the ladder of the top bunk. We had to leave the bathroom light on in case our son woke up in the middle of the night. The hotel is noisy as it is common to hear people talking loudly in the halls and children running around but that is to be expected. The main noise came at precisely 7 am each morning when the trolleys for the linen and other hotel supplies started rolling their steel caster wheels on the pavement. Not to mention the crashing sound of glass being recycled and large delivery trucks stopping by one after the other. One truck driver left his engine running while he made deliveries, which made a lot of noise right below our window. The nightclub Jaks is just around the corner from our room (in front of the hotel) and it was noisy every night, particularly the first night when we heard quite a commotion going on and a man kept screaming, “Move back!!”. Apparently, it was “Slice of cheese night” at Jaks so maybe people were fighting over who gets the most cheese (ha ha)!! . Our keycard malfunctioned on two separate occasions, making it very inconvenient to have to go back to reception and get it recharged. One evening, the fire alarm went off and all guests had to evacuate the hotel. We definitely regret staying there and in hindsight, should have booked a hotel in the area, as Butlin’s wasn’t much fun, unless you enjoy gambling and drinking beer while your kids run around all over the place. We ended up driving around the area and visiting castles, museums, etc. The only positive comment we can make is that the staff at the hotel and its restaurant are courteous and friendly, as are the staff at Butlin’s. We won’t be back though. Not in a million years.

This is the second time I have stayed at the Shoreline hotel, the first being when it had just opened. I was pleased to find that the accommodation is still as good as my first visit. The rooms are bright, cheerful & spacious and although we stayed in the cheaper Hooks Cabin as opposed to the Columbus quarters of our last visit, the only difference seemed to be the view (which to be honest is not going to be great anywhere apart from the most expensive Staterooms). There is loads of hanging space for clothes, a TV & DVD player and also a further TV & DVD player in the kid’s room, which has bunk-beds. There are tea & coffee facilities, a safety deposit box, dressing table, a small sofa & table … everything you need really. Breakfast in the hotel is superb. You can help yourself to the normal cereals, yogurts etc, lovely chocolate or blueberry muffins and croissants. There is also loads of choice with the hot drinks machine so you do not have to stick to plain tea or coffee (ie. Chocolate, chocomilk, cappuccino, latte etc). Then if you are still hungry help yourself to the cooked breakfast, toast etc. I’m not usually a fan of cooked breakfasts but it is cooked so well & there is not a drop of grease in sight. Unfortunately the evening meal in the hotel wasn’t so good so we decided to eat at local pubs most of the time. Previously I would not have set foot in Butlins because I would not consider staying in their apartments, but the entertainment and facilities are good for the kids & the hotel now provides a higher (& cleaner) standard of accommodation – so it ticks all the boxes. I would definitely recommend it.

Stayed for two nights over the 60s weekend in March. A time when Bognor is cold and generally closed for the season. I was returning to Butlin's after about a 10 year gap, having worked my way through Uni there, so really wasn't expecting much, but wanted to see what they'd done to the place, and try the hotel. Anyhow, the review is for the hotel, not the camp, sorry - resort, so I'll stick to that. Decided to take the train to Bognor, as I didn't fancy the motorbike ride, and walked from the station to the site. It's not far if you are thinking of it, a nice walk down past the shops, then along the seafront, about a 15 min walk. Though maybe if you have luggage a taxi would be better, there's a taxi rank outside the station. Quickly allowed onto site by security, and headed for the hotel. Staff were very pleasant and quickly checked me in. At this point I was given a keycard, a paper receipt to show I was a guest and a wristband. Slight overkill here, and it wasn't made clear which you needed for entry to the various clubs and to get back on site. It turned out to be the wristband. Up to room 222, a Columbus Quarters Sea View room, for 2 adults and 2 children. Was very clean and quite large too, a nice comy bed, and a couple of chairs and small table in the room, along with a flat screen TV, DVD player, tea and coffee facilities, ironing board, safe, and all the other usual amenities. I could see the sea, but also the massive car park. I was concerned over noise at night with the people leaving the clubs, but had no issues, but I was more towards the sea end, not the road end of the hotel. Very good night sleep, and none of that door slamming that normally keeps me awake in hotels. Vending machines in the lift lobbies on each floor serve up drinks and snacks, and reasonable prices for this type of place too. Overall, it's the staff that make the experience what it is, and they did a great job, from the receptionists through to the cleaning staff, can't fault them. If' you're going to Butlin's, I'd recommend the hotel. Even if you wanted to stay in Bognor, check out the prices, they are always doing deals for stays there.

I was attending an event in Butlins Sept 06 and stayed in the Shorline Hotel for 2 nights. Butlins was closed to the general public for the duration of the event. The room I was in was bright clean and modern and fresh. The restraunt served very good quality food and had a nice atmosphere. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The picture on Butlins website is misleading in my opinion. When I booked it showed the hotel surrounded by green countryside but in fact it is surrounded by a vast carpark on one side and industrial looking buildings on the other side. Its slap bang in the middle of a theme park with night clubs and rides and video games and on-site restraunt shops. If I hadnt been attending an event I would have never choosen to stay there. Its ideal for family as the kids can be let off to the attractions nearby while the parents can enjoy good quality accomodation. The sea is only a stones throw from the hotel but its a 5 minute walk to the nearest resort exit (through the noisy arcade)

Stayed at Shoreline for an Easter Break with my children (aged 1, 6, 8 and 10). Columbus Quarters room with patio was really nice. Plenty of room for us all. Staff friendly and helpful. Room service will deliver pizza/burgers etc. Butlins itself is great for kids, however abit noisy and hectic. It's not somewhere to go for a relaxing time. Shows very professional. Plenty to keep the kids amused. Beware the many amusement arcades as you end up spending a fortune in them if you're not careful. My 1 and 6 year olds loved the kiddies funfair and the older ones enjoyed the organised kids clubs. Bob the Builder a hit with the younger ones too. If it's a nice day it's just a short walk to the beach and the swimming pool on resort is great too. Basically, Butlins is a kids paradise, and if they're happy, the grown-ups are too. Having stayed in other grades of accommodation (silver, gold and deluxe) in the past, I would recommend the Shoreline any day; gold and deluxe are fine as well (with deluxe you get your own parking space), however, silver - never, never again. I wouldn't stay in the silver accommodation if they paid me to stay there!

Very nice hotel. Much nicer than a Travelodge or something of that ilk. The whole place has a "designer" feel to it...It hasnt just been thrown together. No noise from other rooms. Nice views of the English Channel. The restaurant is OK...It's the best place to eat in Butlins anyway. The service is really good, well it is compared to the other restaurants in Butlins anyway. Something that is not widely announced is that you can get a voucher and have breakfast over the road at the Pizza restaurant if the main restaurant is busy - because of the nature of Butlins there are lots of kids/babies so plenty of noise in the morning. Also, various nights you get the opportunity of using the pool exclusively - make sure you use the pool then and only then because all other times the pool is totally crammed and the queues are up to 1 hour long for the slides etc. I would stay at the hotel again.

We stayed at the Shoreline hotel from 26/6/06 to 30/6/06. The hotel is really lovely we and our 3 year old loved it. The restaurant was good. Very nice buffet breakfast and a decent evening meal too. Our only complaint was the noise from Jaks night club. We booked a Hooks Cabin and were positioned on the first floor directly opposite the entrance to Jaks. The noise of the music was a bit annoying but the main problem was the noise of customers leaving the club. I did complain to reception but was told the only way to overcome the problem was to book either Columbus Quarters or Nelsons State Rooms next time.... not really good enough if you ask me. The quality of the rest of the resort is a bit of a let down for us adults after the high quality and moderness of the hotel but my 3 years loved it all the same! Butlins would do well to give the whole resort a shoreline hotel style make-over! Overall a thumbs up!

We stayed on the 11th of November, and although the weather was poor, when we entered our room we were quite amazed from what we saw, perfection, although it would have been a little better with room "proper" room service. We had a really nice time, and have booked again for the Nelsons state room in the summer, we cannot wait.

The hotel building and rooms are very nice and trendy. Excellent with kids as they have their own little bunk bed room with TV within your room. The reception staff were very good and friendly. The restaurant looks great but the service and food is not up to the standard I think they are aiming for in other words it doesn't match up to the decor. They could not cope with the number of diners. The barman was good but there is not a proper bar sitting area which would be nice after after coming in from the hectic Butlins venues. There are nice views out to sea from the Nelson suites, but we could not get one of those as they seem to book up fast. Staying in the Shoreline is good as you have exclusive use of the swimming pool facilities in the evening. You can just keep going on the big slides whereas it was packed for other guests during the day. The kids adored Butlins there was constantly some activity going on for them in the day. The rides were all free. It was more entertaining for kids than centreparcs and considerably cheaper. We didn't really like the look of any of the restarants within the park. Overall it was a very good break and very reasonably priced compared to other comparable breaks.

took my 4 year old twins to Bognor Butlins in 2004 and stayed in a silver self catering. Luckily we were moved after 1 night (we compalined as our neighbour was comming in drunk) and got moved to gold. Golds great, if you ever go self catering book gold. Anyways this year we decided to check out the new shoreline hotel, which had only opened 1 week previous to our stay. Clean, modern and new (how long it will stay like that who knows, as not all holiday makers care for other peoples property) couldnt fault it. The kids prefered Butlions than thier 10 day holiday in spain this year, and we have booked to gfo their for Xmas 4 day break (in the shoreline). Butlins is amazing, to be honest it has far more to offer kids than going abroad. We booking up for april 2006 also soon. Must admit we did £300 in 3 days (had to buy food out of that too), but we did spend spend spend, but thats what holidays are all about. Go and experiance Butlins yourself, your kids will love it