Sunday 16 August 2009

Butlins a summer family experience for the Frog Family!!




I've had a complaint about my lack of posts from my friend Mrs B.. I've not been too inspired to write because Darling Husband is seriously suffering at the moment and it's stressful to watch him in obvious pain.
But..we, myself, three girls and 'Shirl' went on a trip together( I know, I know) and it was brilliant, lovely and relaxing. To be perfectly honest it was the perfect break for me at this time, I felt shocking before we left and healthier and more relaxed when I arrived home (which is saying something with Shirl map reading, I can tell you).
We went to stay at the brand spanking new hotel Butlins have just opened in Bognor Regis.The pic above shows the fantastic mirror floor below a huge glass piece of art.

Last time I went to Butlins, I was eleven, my Dad had just bought a new XJ6 Jaguar and it seemed to rather stand out a little in the Butlins carpark at Pwllheli. I remember the cheque stub for the car was for £16,000 and was a tad disappointed with the grand spend on our all inclusive holiday was a mere £120.
Accommodation was a little dark and dreary, rather akin to an allotment potting shed as I remember, so I was a little apprehensive about going now with my children.
But I needn't have worried, my goodness, it is fantastic, amazing and a complete hit with all 5 of us, and almost all cars were tip top too (a few Skodas I noticed)


Our room was a family room....well OHMYGOD!! it was awesome! I wanted to sleep in the children's den but they wouldn't let me.
I had to suffer and sleep in here with the comfy beds and colour changing lights, large double glazed patio doors and a fabulous view of the Ocean from our private balcony.

My children had to sleep in a den with flat screen TV, funky wall art, big storage boxes for 'stuff' and the best finishing touch....Butlins now have a guarantee of no monsters under the bed...they even illuminate the underside of the bed to show there's nothing there to worry about...how cool is that?
The rooms are totally awesome.
Youngest scrumplet had a bubbly bath with colour changing lights playing on the water. She loved it and after wrapping herself in huge soft towels declared herself as clean as a pineapple!
Our first day was not spent doing a knobbly knees competition or glamorous granny contest (though I'm sure Shirl would have won)...no, no, we had glasses of Pimms made to perfection served to us while we watched enormous flying fish wander around. Tyson the Robot came over and sang us a few songs and broke wind at the children (very rude if you ask me), oh and we had to listen to stunning performances by a trio of classical musicians, it was wonderful. There were also two giant seagulls wandering around sticking their beaks into here and there, very amusing for my youngest she adored them.
Lunch is a buffet to end all others. It served a huge range and yet the chef still offered to cook something especially for a fussy child, at which I was very impressed. Not only was the food inviting, it tasted fantastic and yet was so reasonably priced, brilliant indeed.
The service both at the bar and in the restaurant was faultless, polite and enthusiastic...what was going on? I felt it was all too good to be true but the next day...great food, great service, lovely manners, all just how it should be.
And the Decor, well they've thought of all the really cool finishing touches that teenagers want to see..cool lights, funky chairs, wicked shaped mirrors, iridescent perspex room dividers and a glittery pink floor...wow!

I decided to go into the Spa and be able to report how rubbish and what a waste of time it is...well it isn't, it awesome, so awesome I went twice in just one day. My children reported that I not only looked great when I cam e out but I wasn't even wrinkly (how terribly sweet).
Shirl however found a few points to complain about...no lock on the bathroom door (same as at home then..), no enough soap and shampoo in the bathroom...(yes well, if she wanted to nick some they would have to bring more!), the rain got onto our balcony (no! really!!), erm but I think that was about it.
I was sad to leave, which is a good sign and shall be rebooking our next trip very soon.
On the long drive home we passed a wind sock.
Middle daughter: What's that Mummy?
Me 'a wind sock'
Middle daughter: I wonder why we don't get wind pants!'

It was a long drive home .. sigh!

14 comments:

Maternal Tales said...

That post made me laugh... Still can not believe I missed you though...Now I'm trying to work out which one you were!! Wish we'd said hello. But glad you had a good time - it was fab wasn't it?!

Frog in the Field said...

Hi MT, sorry I missed you too.
It was really fab, I loved it.
I was a bit shy becasue of having my Mum with us.
I have to say that I invited Shirl because we had a spare seat so to speak and I thouht it would be great for her to spend some quality time with the children. Then I realised with dread, when we got there, that there was a possibility that someone might mention they've heard about her in my Blog and I don't really want her to read it (ahem..eyes fluttering innocently), so I didn't make a point of trying to say hello to other bloggers just in case. But if you're wondering, I was the one with the oldest child there, all you other ladies have younger children than me.

Perfectly Happy Mum said...

Like MT the list of people I missed is growing bigger everyday!! I am so annoyed I didn't get so many of you.
Nice to see you enjoyed the experience, we did too :)

Antonia Chitty said...

Lovely to read about your experiences .... I saw you several times but never got to speak to you! Good to put a face to the blog anyway,
Antonia

Working Mum said...

I think a lot of us remember Butlins the way you do, so they need this kind of publicity to convince us to give it another go. Sounds like you had a good time!

Potty Mummy said...

OK, you had to rub it in with the skoda quip, didn't you? Every post I read about the fun you all had at this place makes me sorrier I couldn't go. Oh well - another time...

Frog in the Field said...

Hi PHM, next time...

Hi Antonia..you should have said hello!

Hi Working Mum..it is fab in the hotel, so relaxing.

Hello Potty...knew you'd appreciate the car comment, it was just for you, as you guessed!
x

Unknown said...

I feel like I really know the new Butlins now, my children would love that bath! I'm going to have to book a stay.

Elsie Button said...

I saw the famous shirl in the lift and perhaps stared a little too hard - i have read so much about her after all! But she gave me a big beaming smile and seemed lovely! Glad you had so much fun. It was bloody impressive wasn't it! As for the snow chucking...
By the way, there's nothing wrong with skodas!!

Iota said...

Glad you had a good time. Enjoyed the review.

Shiny said...

I read about Butlins in various books as a child and would never have believed they'd have anti-monster lights under the beds - how fabulous! x

Babies who brunch said...

it sounds a hoot!

Linda said...

Hello - loved your post, which as Emily said, made me laugh. I've attempted a round-up of blog posts about Butlins and added my 2p here: http://www.havealovelytime.com/2009/09/butlins-bognor-regis-launch-of-ocean-hotel-bloggers-round-up.html#more
All the best, Linda

MCDent said...

A very nice post, liked your comment about the lack of lock on the toilet door! We noticed that too!
The spa was excellent according to my wife, she really enjoyed it.
I wrote a blog post on the more geeky aspects of our stay in the Ocean Hotel at Bognor Butlins, you can read it here if you like:-http://www.ubertechs.co.uk/geeks-guide-to-butlins