We visited Butlin's Minehead resort for February half-term to review the Butlin's family holiday experience. This review is all ab...
Butlins Minehead Resort is a family holiday park in Minehead, Somerset
When booked our accommodation we opted for one of the Seaside Apartments which are new to Butlins Minehead for 2016. Following the positive feedback...
If you are still deciding which Butlins Chalets you should book for your holiday our review of the West Lake Village at Minehead might just help you out.
Some things just look like a lot more fun in vintage grainy photos. I found a ton of nostalgic of motel pool postcards on Flickr and couldn't help but put together another little compendium of some fabulously kitsch "pool parties". When I went road tripping in California last summer, I tried
Butlins At Minehead. A Visit To Minehead. Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of t
Explore oldcolorimages.com's 17321 photos on Flickr!
Explore it's better than bad's 7979 photos on Flickr!
The snob in me would never have even contemplated going to Butlin’s. Not for me, thank you very much. I know lots of you are reading this thinking the same.…
The ride in the foreground was known by many different names - Twist, Twister, Merry Mixer, Whirlaround, Scrambler. In 1959 Butlins ordered six of them from Edwin Hall who were building them under licence from American company Eli Bridge. Note the Trabant/Satellite ride behind, these were also a common sight at most Butlin camps. Many were built in the UK by Ivan Bennett under licence from American designers Chance Rides.
Find out more about Bargain Breaks at Butlins for only £38 -Monday-Friday, or Friday-Monday
Minehead in Somerset, England, is the perfect destination if you’re looking to relax on the beach while taking in some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in England. The town…
Booking a Butlins Holiday and want to know if the Butlins Premium Dining Plan is worth the money? We've got you covered with this guide.
**Advertisement Feature** You may have noticed things have been a little quiet around here, well that's because we have spent the last week having lots of fun and making some precious family memories at the fabulous Butlin's in Minehead! From the moment our car turned the corner and we all saw the trade mark white points of the Butlins pavilion both the kids could barely contain their excitement at getting out the car and exploring. As you pull up to the main entrance you are greeted by the super friendly red coats and music to get you even more in the holiday spirit. Check in was super easy with the red coats and security team at the entrance directing you where to check in and park. It was then just a case of arriving at your designated check in point with your confirmation letter at the right time and a few minutes later we had our keys. Finding our accommodation was also super easy as we were handed a site map with our accommodation circled and directions on how to find it. Accommodation. We stayed in the Seaside Apartments which are central to all the amenities at Butlins as well as being just a short stroll from the Beach which is opposite the entrance to the site. The décor of the Seaside Apartments is bright and fun which we loved. It had lots of lovely little touches which made it extra special such as the pin the tail on the donkey game in the kitchen and the candy floss cloud night light in the kids bedroom (you can see this in action on my Facebook live video here). The living space was bright and airy with an open plan kitchen area behind it and huge patio doors with a patio space in front. The kitchen has everything you needed including kettle, toaster, microwave, oven and fridge. There was also a dining room table in the kitchen which provided a lovely space to eat together (well when the kids weren't out on the patio table eating!). The bedrooms had loads of storage space and even included a hair dryer, safe and TV in the main bedroom. The mattresses were a little hard for us but still comfortable and of course this is down to personal preference. Here are some pictures of our Seaside Apartment. What To Do. There is so much to do at Butlin's that if you chose to, you really wouldn't even need to leave site the whole week if you didn't want to! Make sure to keep an eye on your emails a few days before your break as Butlin's will send you a handy "what's on" guide for your break. This will show you all the daytime activities and evening entertainment that will be on during your stay. It means you can check out what's on and plan your days ahead of your visit. I would definitely suggest booking up some of the day time kids activities as soon as possible as especially during the summer holidays these get booked up fast. All the day time activities we took part in were run by the red coats who were fantastic! They were great with the kids, chatting to them and getting them involved before the activities has even started. Both James and Evelyn loved the arts and crafts session which was free and the pottery painting session which was £5 each but definitely worth it. Most of the activities are free but still need to be booked and there are lots of points where you can book these (these can be found on your what's on guide). There are also lots of sporty activities too if that's more your kids thing with football, archery and even mini fencing available! If getting out and exploring is more your thing Butlin's have these super fun pedal carts that you can hire for 30 minutes at a time (the family carts are priced at £9.50 for 30 minutes) and pedal around the site to explore. There are a variety of carts to hire we chose the family fun cart (pictured below) but there were also family dino carts with no roof, single carts and double carts (the single and double carts are a little cheaper to hire). They are so much fun but after pedalling around 30 minutes is definitely long enough! The Funfair! The funfair was definitely a highlight of our stay for both James and Evelyn with lots of traditional rides to go on all included in the price of your break so you can ride as many times as you like! There are a few stalls and rides around the funfair which are not included in your break but these were fairly priced and had clear signs outside stating the price. We even found some donkey's on the green just outside the funfair which Evelyn loved. As well as the main funfair area there is also a smaller ride section perfect for younger children with rides such as tea cups and a cute train ride which takes kids on a small loop outside the building and back. Evelyn is 3 and these were perfect for her, although she is a bit of a thrill seeker and loved the rides outside too! Most of the rides in the main funfair have a 1m minimum height restriction (to ride accompanied) or 1.4m to ride solo. Evening entertainment and B-Line Passes. There are 2 main venue;s for evening entertainment, Reds and Centre Stage. Both had a variety of entertainment on every night to suit all ages. Reds seemed to be tailored more for younger children with the tots disco and tots just sing and dance show (featuring Justin Fletcher on screen!) on during early evening. Centre Stage seemed to be the main venue with the big acts such as Paul Zerdin, Diversity and Stephen Mulhern all appearing at Centre Stage. We got to see all the main acts and they were all amazing, hilariously funny and fantastic at getting the crowd involved, the atmosphere awesome every single night. Both James and Evelyn loved the kids shows too and were so excited to see the Butlin's mascots Billy and Bonnie bear appearing on stage. The shows were great for getting the kids involved, dancing and actually sitting still intently listening and watching which is something unheard of in our house! Butlins now offer something called a B-Line pass which is a wristband pass you can purchase on top of the cost of your holiday. These enable you access to Reds and Centre stage 15 minutes before everyone else and since there is a limited number of these passes sold, having one of these passes means you are sure to get a great seat every time! The cost of the passes can add up with 4 nights during the summer costing £26.50 per person and 7 nights during the summer costing £46.50 per person however if you are planning on seeing the most popular acts during your stay I would 100% recommend thinking about getting them. The queue for the popular acts were huge with people queuing several hours before the doors opened, but with B-Line passes you wait in a separate and much shorter queue as well as getting in to the venue 15 minutes earlier. Swimming Like most kids James and Evelyn love the swimming pool so this was of course top of their to do list on Saturday morning (our first full day on site). They were not disappointed! The swimming pool at Butlins Minehead is amazing, with 4 slides 2 pools, a wave machine, lazy river and even a separate section with a mini slide for the smaller kids. There are no photo's of the pool from me as camera's and photos are prohibited for obvious reasons however you can check out the pool on Butlins website. If you do get nice weather like us on your break then be sure to check out the outdoor fun pool area too! The outdoor fun pool is huge with several small slides and decorations inside perfect for kids to enjoy the sun whilst keeping cool. There are also sun beds, deck chairs and benches for the grown ups to relax on whilst the kids have fun. This too is included in the price of your holiday. The Food Butlins have plenty of options when it comes to food! We tried out the premium dining option for some of our stay and the array of food was amazing. For premium dining there are to restaurants to choose from, The Deck or The Yacht club. You don't have to pick just one though as you are free to move between the 2 even taking dishes from one restaurant into the other and enjoy something from both! Both served similar dishes but always some difference within the menu, we favoured The Yacht club personally as the kids loved the pancake station at breakfast and hubby loved the grill station at dinner (especially the freshly cooked chicken wings!). There is also the option of standard dining which is similar to above but has a few less options and does not have the pancake/omelette station at breakfast or the wok/grill station at dinner. There are set times if you choose to take out a dining plan with breakfast served between 8.30am and 10.30am and dinner served between 4.30pm and 6.30pm. If a dining plan doesn't suit you there are plenty of other options on site though! They of course have the takeaway/fast food options such as burger king and a very delicious traditional fish and chip shop but there is also an Italian offering eat and and takeaway! If restaurant dining is more your thing though Butlin's have this covered too! From tradition pub grub at the Sun and Moon to the classic America diner feel at The Diner. We tried out The Diner on our visit and were thoroughly impressed! You are instantly transported to an American Diner once you walk though the doors and the menu is packed with American style burgers, hotdogs and the most delicious fresh milkshakes. The price here is really great too! Our final thoughts... During our stay at Butlins Minehead we totally fell in love with the whole place. Not just one thing but everything it has to offer and every single person who makes it the place it is, the atmosphere that exudes from ever corner of the site and the magic it brings alive in kids and adults alike. Everyone is so friendly, so helpful and so caring that it really made our holiday extra special. From the check in staff to the security and of course the beloved red coats everyone was ready with a smile and high five for the kids, making every moment of their holiday extra special. You never felt rushed or pressured in to buying or doing anything and when the time came to leave we were already talking about returning. I know that in years to come when the kids have grown and I think back to all the memories we made, the memories we have from Butlin's will be up there with the best and the most special. I hope that in years to come when my babies have their own babies and they book their own family holidays they remember all the special times we had here and can recreate them with their own families with their own precious times to remember just like we have from our family holiday at Butlin's! Thanks for being so amazing Butlin's! Thinking of booking a family break? Why not check out the Butlins website and get booking your break for next year and get a great deal! You can enquire and book via the Butlins website. xXx ** We were invited along for a complimentary weekend for the purpose of this review, however we then decided to book our own paid for break to extend our time on site. All words, opinions and images are my own.**
Discover how booking Butlins Caravans can lead to significant savings on your holiday. Our guide covers the ins and outs of private bookings.
The John Hinde Studio produced a series of elaborately staged colourful photographs of Butlin's holiday camps that were made into postcards.
Explore oldcolorimages.com's 17455 photos on Flickr!
Explore oldcolorimages.com's 17321 photos on Flickr!
Butlins Minehead: review of our stay in a Westlake Chalet - what did we think and would we go back?
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the prestigious John Hinde Studio, based in Dublin, produced a series of elaborately staged photographs of the Butlin's Holiday Camps.
Butlins At Minehead. A Visit To Minehead. Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of t
This time last year, we had the most amazing Just for Tots break at Butlin's Bognor Regis. It's all Indiana has spoken about ever since, and she shouts "that's where we went!" every time an advert pops up for Butlin's. You can imagine how excited she was then, when we told her we'd been spending our Easter weekend at Butlin's by the sea in Minehead! Although not a special Just for Tots break this time, we were all still just as excited. Minehead is a lovely seaside town in the heart of Exmoor in Somerset. With a beautiful sandy beach right on the doorstep, and plenty of Butlin's fun inside the resort, it really is a fantastic break for all the family. Arriving on site alongside 7000 other guests (Easter is clearly a VERY busy time to visit), we made our way to check-in. As we were staying in a West Lake's Chalet, we were directed to their dedicated check-in, where there was absolutely no queue at all. I will be writing a separate post on our accommodation at a later date, with pleeeeenty of pictures to share. But we stayed in Edinburgh 34 - a lakeview chalet right at the back of the resort. The chalets are absolutely gorgeous, as is the whole of the West Lake's area, and we were very pleased with our stay. We were quite far from everything, but the walk was so pretty we didn't mind too much. Entertainment As we only had two full days of fun, we had to fit in a lot each day - a possible downside of a weekend break. There was still plenty on each day though, and there was SO much we didn't manage to do. As it wasn't a Tots break, we also found there were more activities and entertainment catered to older children. This was understandable but still slightly disappointing, as our two (aged 3 and 20 months) did miss out on a few bits. Activities for toddlers did include: - Parent and toddler swim session - Teletubbies, Mr Men, and Skyline Gang shows - Billy and Bonnie - Tots Disco - Tots fairground and soft play - Tots football (2 - 4 years) - Puppet show - Play areas Of course there is still plenty they can join in with, as a lot of the ages are just guidelines. For example there was a drumming workshop which was advertised as 8+, but Indie was allowed to have a go as she could see over the drums. Indiana at aged 3, was also able to go on nearly all of the funfair rides at Billy's Fairground, (the majority of the rides require your child to be at least 0.9 metres). This meant we spent the majority of our trip having fun at the fair... not that Jack and I were complaining! I would 100% recommend downloading the Butlin's App during your stay. There is always so much going on making it so easy to miss something. It has a handy map of the resort so you can see where each activity / show is too, which we definitely needed! Food and Drink There are a number of places to eat during your stay, from fast food at Burger King to sit down restaurants and cafes. We had the Premium Dining Plan, which included our breakfast and evening meal at either The Deck or The Yacht Club. We did find the food to be a little disappointing this visit, but that may have been down to the type of trip. The restaurants were VERY busy, and the queues at the live cooking stations were very long (especially in the evenings). Tables were very slow to be cleared too, so we often had plates all over the place. The children's food choices were also a little poor and did get repetitive, which was a huge downside. Although they still had the children's cutlery and plates these weren't as nice as the ones at Bognor Regis, and the baby food on offer was behind the food stations instead of available to just grab too. The food itself was tasty though, and always piping hot and fresh. There was a curry night one evening which was really tasty, and I don't have a bad word to say about the puddings! The joy of a buffet also meant we could keep offering the littles food, until we found something they would eat. As our chalet was self catering we could have brought our own food for our stay. This would have been ideal for lunches, as the meal plan doesn't cover these. We ended up buying meal deals from the Cornish Pasty Shop most days, which was actually very reasonable priced (£3.95 for a children's lunch box which included a sandwich, packet of crisps, juice, and then either a jelly or fruit). Drinks in the evenings were also very reasonably priced - although we didn't really have alcohol, so this could be a different story! Extras Although nearly everything is included in the break, there are some extras you can pay for separately. For us these really made the holiday that extra bit special. As we didn't leave the resort for day trips out, we also figured the money we spent was worth it. With both littles now that little bit older, we decided to hire one of the famous peddle bikes this year. At £9 for 30 minutes (plus a £20 deposit) they aren't that cheap, but it was lots of fun. Don't be fooled though - these are a proper work out! We also managed to blow the tire on our first bike within 5 minutes. The staff were fab and brought us a new one really quickly, and let us start our 30 minutes over. A little treat just for Indiana (although I know Parker would have loved it too), was a fairy princess makeover. Located just outside the Butlin's Store, the makeover package includes: hair, makeup / face paint, nails, a tutu, wings, crown, wand and allllll the glitter! It was on the pricier side at £20 (hence why only Indie was treated to it!), but I'd have paid so much more to see her amazed little face. She hasn't stopped talking about it since, and still dresses up as a fairy daily - although mummy isn't quite so good at hair. The lovely lady who worked there was fantastic, and even managed to get shy Indiana chatting away. I'd definitely get yourself booked in though, as it was VERY popular when we visited. Final Verdit Looking back on our trip, all I can think is that 3 nights just wasn't enough. There is just so much to do and see at Butlin's - I'd honestly be amazed if you fit it all in. We wanted to swim again, go to the beach just outside the front gates, enjoy the arts and crafts activities.. but there simply wasn't time! Visiting over the Easter break was a little crazy too. Yes there were lots of people, but it honestly never really felt that busy. The only place that didn't seem a little crazy was the pool (the queues were mad, and they had time limits in place). We were lucky that we could go to the parent swim, so we never actually experienced this ourselves though. So would we visit Butlin's Minehead again? 100% But I think we'd opt for a Tots break next time, just until our two are that little bit older. Although honestly, I'd go back tomorrow if I could! We are Butlin's Ambassadors which means we received our stay and dining in exchange for our review and vlogs. All opinions are honest and my own.
Booking a Butlins Holiday and want to know if the Butlins Premium Dining Plan is worth the money? We've got you covered with this guide.
Get the lowdown on the Butlins Day Pass. Learn about costs, how to book, and what’s included for a memorable day at Butlins.
