AUTUMN and winter family holidays in the UK are a gamble – you could get glorious sunshine and plenty of fresh air, or be stuck inside playing board games on repeat thanks to nonstop rain.
But there’s one chain of seaside resorts boasting such an array of indoor and outdoor activities, it barely matters what the weather is.
Butlin’s has so many indoor activities that you could fill an entire three days without spending any time outdoors.
A school mum and I took our families on the all inclusive break earlier this year, after one too many staycations were marred by huge downpours – and were blown away by the offering (not the wind).
Butlin’s is really hard to get your head around if you haven’t been before – for starters, it’s SO cheap. Well… it is if you go for the cheapest accommodation.
Their base rates start from £49 for four nights for a family of four during October half term at their Minehead site, for example – that’s an astonishing £12.25pp per holiday.
But that’s in their cheapest comfort rooms, which don’t have a kitchen – the cheapest accommodation with a kitchen is £69 in the comfort apartments, and the prices go all the way up to £502 if you’re in the fancier bayside apartments.
At their Skegness site, where we stayed, accommodation over half term ranges from £122 in their standard rooms, up to £515 in the Maple Walk Premium Lodges and £791 in the platinum plus caravans.
We stayed in the Maple Walk lodges that first opened in 2024. The high-end, three-bedroom property featured a sleek kitchen, outdoor decking and a wood- panelled master bedroom.
Maple Walk has its own entrance and even housekeeping, signalling a big departure from Butlin’s main, affordable offering.
But it doesn’t matter where you book – the activities included in the price are the same.
That includes the indoor waterparks, the West-End-style shows and entertainment like wrestling, the Skypark outdoor playparks, the soft plays and certain arts and crafts sessions.
Then if you book during a particular holiday, the resorts often host plenty of extra themed activities for free – for example, at October half term they have free fireworks displays, silent discos and pumpkin carving.
The sites have tons of paid-for activities you can sign up to as well, like laser quest, the fairground, bowling, go-karting, climbing and aerial adventure courses.
The value you get out of a four-night break when factoring in the activities is astonishing.
Let’s say for instance, you went to one of their shows every evening of your stay – for a decent seat at a West End production of a similar standard to the Butlin’s Masked Singer Live show, you’d be looking at around £40pp minimum, while WWE live show tickets cost from £40pp to £150pp for regular arena seats.
If we’re conservative, that’s £120pp for three nights of quality shows already.
And these are top quality performances. The year-round pantomime is so hilarious it had me slapping my thigh, and the Animals and Mythical Beasts production brought tears to my son’s eyes.
The star of the shows for us, however, was the Maximum Pro Wrestling, which included a star turn from one of the celebrity hosts, Jeff Brazier.
Then you have the free soft play – at between £5 and £12 per child across the UK, it’s free at Butlin’s and entry to the water park – which typically costs between £15 to £26pp at decent-sized venues in Britain.
Book yourself into both of those twice over the course of your stay and that averages around £47pp, rising up to £167pp for the value of the free entertainment on offer when you factor in the cost of the shows.
That’s before you add in any of the paid-for activities. During our three-night stay, we played mini golf and laser quest, spent far too many pound coins in the arcade, enjoyed arts and crafts and went to the fun fair.
If you’re planning on going all out on the food and drink, their relatively new all inclusive bundles are great value too.
We opted for the all-inclusive dining and drinks packages. The Premium Dining package costs £33.95 an adult and £19.50 a child (age six to 14) per day, and covers a buffet breakfast and a buffet dinner.
These are full of choice, with Indian, Chinese, roast dinners, cheeseboards, burgers, soft serve and far more on offer for dinner.
At breakfast, there was everything from a Full English (with a fantastic veggie selection), made to order toasted sandwiches and omelettes, cereals, pastries fruit and pancakes.
The drinks package starts from an extra £25.95 an adult per day and £10.50 a child, which includes unlimited booze, soft drinks and Costa coffee.
If you think you’ll get through more than four pints of Madri beer at £6.10 each, or five glasses of house wine at £5.60 each, over the course of the afternoon and evening then it’s well worth shelling out for.
The resorts also have new self-serve bars for the first time too, with beers, ciders, cocktails, spirits and mixers and soft drinks.
If you don’t want to gorge at the buffet like we did every night, the DineAround package includes a buffet breakfast and then you can pick from the other on-site dining options for a two-course lunch or dinner.
This could be pub grub at The Beachcomber Inn or classic American diner-style food. Or you can simply pay as you go or cook in your accommodation.
Prices for all inclusive get even cheaper during termtime, midweek breaks, with all-inclusive food and drink bundles on Showtime Breaks starting from £28 per person, per night for a family of four.
So if you’re paying £39 for a comfort room that sleeps up to 6 people on a midweek break, that’s a further £312.12 for the premium dining and drinks plan – working out at £351.12 in total or £22pp a night for accommodation, activities, and all inclusive food and drink.
It’s almost hard to argue against going out for food at those kinds of prices…