Skegness: Hi-de-High - Butlins goes upmarket

2:27pm Friday 19th August 2005

THIS month, amid great fanfare, Butlins opened its first luxury purpose-built hotel at its resort in Bognor Regis.

Press reports of the opening of the £10m hotel with 160-rooms are seemingly a far cry from the 10ft by 10ft 1950s' style holiday camp chalets it is renowned for but, having never been to Butlins before, I thought it would be more interesting to experience a typical Butlins' holiday.

After more than 70 years the holiday firm is still going strong at three resorts Bognor, Skegness and Minehead.

The firm has already spent three years and £160 million revamping these sites but new to Skegness this year the resort boasts an adult-only spa with tranquil swimming pool, crystal steam bath, sauna, Atlantic storm shower and hydro-spa so my decision made, my family and I headed off up to the Skyline resort in Lincolnshire.

After a fairly tedious journey on congested A-roads, we arrived knowing the weather forecast was pretty dismal for virtually the whole long weekend and I wondered what I'd let myself in for. Memories of a recent holiday in Corfu came longingly back.

However, I cheered up no end having been shown to the apartment. This was not what I expected at all. The three-bedroom accommodation was spacious and extremely well fitted out. The kitchen was modern, bright and well-equipped.

Not only was there a wide-screen TV and DVD player in the living room, there was also a TV and video recorder in the master bedroom, so if the worst came to the worst, we could enjoy the games we had brought with us in comfortable surroundings though as it turned out, the boxes were never opened.

The dining room allocated to us was also far better than I had hoped for.

It was large and, admittedly very busy, but the tables were pleasantly set with clean bright table linen. The food was served by buffet waiters and there was plenty of choice for all tastes, including vegetarian.

Venturing out and about, I could understand why families love these holidays. All the fun of the fair is within a very short walk of the accommodation and it's a very safe environment for children who can't wander out of the confines of the resort.

However, not having any youngsters with us, we took advantage of the more adult pursuits like bowling, swimming and of course the various hostelries.

One bit of advice, if you want to leave the resort for a change of scenery, be prepared to have to put up with the tiresome traffic which never seems to let up.

The highlight of the holiday for all of us was predictably the glorious few hours spent at the Spa. It certainly lived up to promise. When we weren't in the Spa or sauna, we just chilled out with a magazine next to the virtually empty swimming pool.

I'm not a fitness fanatic so didn't take advantage of the gym, but I did indulge in one of the Decleor beauty treatments. There are too many on offer to mention here, but I would highly recommend the Essentially Yours Aromatic Facial many thanks Tracey, it was wonderful!

Surprisingly the end of our four-day break came all too soon and as we packed up to leave the inevitable happened the sun came out on what promised to be a wonderful summer's day. But I didn't mind at all and just felt so pleased for the families making their way to the entertainment.

Having been lucky enough to have been invited to stay and report on some of the most luxurious of hotels in quite exotic locations in the past, I can honestly say I've never come across a more pleasant or friendlier crowd of holidaymakers. Equally, the staff couldn't have been more helpful and friendly. And that counts for a lot.

Prices for a Butlins break vary enormously as you would expect depending on the accommodation and the time of year, but they do advertise Spa breaks from as little as £99. To find out what's available visit butlinsonline.co.uk