Samuel's WorldButlins - Bognor Regis Review for Special Needs Families
Butlins at Bognor Regis, West Sussex
We travelled in the car which only takes about 1 hour, easy to find with loads of parking when you get there.
Booking Process
The process for booking your holiday with this company is very easy and straight forward. The website is colourful and interesting with pictures of all the attractions including accommodation categories – depending on your budget this is useful as they have different price bands.
Different Types of Accommodation
The agent on the telephone was very helpful and explained herself thoroughly. Because of Samuel’s needs we booked a Silver Self Catering Apartment which meant we could eat when we wanted to or had the option to dine out in there many restaurants in the complex.
The accommodation was 3 bedrooms ( to save on the arguments between brother and sister) lounge, kitchen and shower room with toilet. For a small amount of £10 I booked a ground floor apartment.
Communication Problems – hitting a brick wall!
The communication skills of certain staff members when we arrived were very poor. Our check-in time was not until 4pm and having asked if we could check in early, or was there a quiet area we could go in to for Samuel, due to one of his tic attacks and the noise of the music being loud we were offered no options/help. It was only after complaining that a kind lady in Guest Services managed to ring Housekeeping and was informed that our room was in fact ready anyway! Accommodation was fair to good with a few minor problems but these were addressed quickly.
What does the complex offer
The complex itself has lots to do for the whole family as long as you are prepared to dip into your pocket a lot!! Having been assured that everything apart from the bungee trampoline was free we were in a state of despair when arriving to find that this was not the case. The fair ground rides, soft play, children’s activities organized by the Redcoats, fort playarea outside and Swim Splash area were all free – all other attractions like the cinema, bowling, crazy golf, go karts etc were extra.
If you don’t mind queueing then this is the place for you – every attraction has a queue – and we were not offered any alternative like some large outlets like Chessington who allow families with special needs to avoid the queue! Samuel cannot queue, as you can imagine and this caused many a frustrated angry scene. Not a good time to go in holiday season as it was manic.
Food Glorious Food!
Food services were excellent, there was a large choice of dining out including the the option of eating at the new Shoreline Hotel – a lovely child friendly restaurant with lots of good meal choices with plenty of vegetables for the kids!. Entertainment for all in the evening and day – but you have to queue!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Splash Pool area is great with lots of pool areas, slides, wave machine, rides – however there are only 40 cubicles for 1000 people capacity so bear that in mind – we had to wait for over 10 minutes all wet for a cubicle to get changed in – again not good for children!!! Due to the lack of cubicles they only let in so many people at the entrance so again – MORE QUEUEING!!!!!
The Pros and Cons
Pros
- Short distance in car, easy to find
- Easy website/telephone booking
- Flexibility with budget/pricing accommodation to suit needs and near the seaside!
- Good restaurants/food services with lots of meal choices
Cons
- Lack of Support/Communication for Special Needs
- No organizational skills regards queuing for all attractions
- Most attractions had to be paid for and were not included as promised when booking
- This is still a smoking zone complex with smoking allocated to certain areas – still a problem!
- Not ideal for children who hate a lot of noise – loud music/microphones
- Poor changing facilities for the swimming area
- Lots of queuing!!!!!!!!
Recommendations
They have alot of soft play areas for small children up to the older years – Butlins could easily incorporate a quiet/sensory area/complex for special needs children and their families so that they can chill out at any time!
Score out of 10 – would have to be 4.*
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