Our Butlin's Break- Bognor Regis

This year we were very lucky to be selected as Butlins Ambassadors. When I told the children we would be going on holiday this year they were thrilled. I had previously explained to them that we would not be having a holiday this year. On the build up to the holiday the children would get very excited every time they saw the advert on TV and P made a count down calender for the week before the holiday. 

I booked the break over the phone a week before the date we had chosen. The team on the phone were great and in less then ten minutes we had a holiday booked at Bognor Regis in the wave hotel. I also managed to book a travel cot for Tinnie over the phone which would save me time when we got there. The break was booked from the Friday afternoon until Monday morning and due to my work commitments we would not be getting there until late so booking Tinnie travel cot and our premier dining plan made things a lot easier for when we arrived. 

Leaving on a Friday night of the bank holiday was maybe not the best idea I have had but we got to Butlins by half nine and saw a beautiful view on our way of the combine harvesters at work. At one point we spotted  six at the same time. It was a good way to take the children's minds off the distance and help to contain their excitement. 

When we arrived at Butlins the security on the gate helped us to find a parking spot. Our's was quite far away for the hotel so it's worth considering leaving earlier if you can to get a good space. With my two little helpers in tow we wheeled our suitcases to the hotel. As we approached the hotel their was a beautiful scene of the children playing out side in the water fountains which spray up from the ground. As we stepped inside the hotel the children were amazed by the size and glamorous look of the reception space. P commented that she felt like she was famous getting to stay there. 

Accommodation:

Here are some images of the down stairs. We never did get a chance to eat here its safe to say we were very busy the whole time and lunch tended to be on the go. Over all we loved the hotel, here are our pro's and con's for the Wave hotel:

Pros

1. The dec for the hotel was bright and a clear theme can be seen through most of the hotel
2. The children Loved their room especially their bunk bed. Each day the maids positioned their teddies to look like they were waiting for them. 
3. The Wave hotel also houses the Game Zone. This is a great places to take children and husbands to play if you have 5 or 10 minutes to spare. 
4. The children had their own dvd player which was great to encourage them to rest a little when we got a chance.
5. You can also hire DVD's and kindles at the hotel reception. It's best to look early int he day for the DVD's as these run out quick.
6. The children had a great surprise in the bath room. The shower head has a ‘disco’ light built in. This flashed different colour when the shower head was turned on. 
7. We never realised but there is a fridge in the dolphin room's which is handy for families especially for storing baby milk.
8. The hotel reception staff were very helpful and helped to locate towels and a travel cot which were missing from our room.
9. Great house keeping and the children loved the towel origami.
10. The hotel room also had great climate control which was good for daddy. 

Cons

1. We found it difficult at night times as there was no hallway light. Our older two like a light on so rather we had to keep our main light on or theirs. 
2. We didn't have a very nice view from our window, it was of the car park and the side entrance to the resort.
3. In the dolphin rooms, you don’t get dressing gowns or slippers.
4. The double bed was in fact two singles stuck together which made very uncomfortable nights especially since I'm married to a strong man. 

Of course there's always going to be a few things you may not like about a holiday but as you can tell there is a lot more pro's then con's.

 Here is a  picture of our origami crab

 The boys loved the hotels game zone. 

 The children's watching a spot of TV before we go off for breakfast.

The resort:
When we arrived at the resort it was buzzing and as we walked around the skyline pavilion it felt like a little village with a party in full swing. The area surrounding the pavilion was made up of little shops to buy gifts, a convince store and the restaurants.  Every thing is in one place which is great!

When we got to the hotel we received a leaflet telling us when all the activities that would be on during our stay I also downloaded the Butlins app to help us keep a note of what we wanted to do. As we went through planning our activities we found a lot of the activities were rather for Little mans age or P's but not both however we still found there was plenty we could do as a family.

We enjoyed watching the live shows which were really well produced. They were a great opportunity for Tinnie to get some sleep and the redcoats were great.  We caught both Seseame Street and the Pantomime and both times the children were completely taken in by the magic. We also managed to find time to squeeze in a couple of shows in the discovery studio. They were brilliant shows and the children really got involved in the shows. 

Here's a video of Little Man enjoying the Sesame street show. 

Through out the holiday we made sure we visited the Splash Water world several times.  Little man surprised me and insisted on going down the little water slides over and over again with his dad. With big kiddies busy on the slides it gave me time to play with Tinnie in the pool. This was especially special for me as this was his first time to experience a swimming pool. The children also loved the wave machine, we sat in the shallow end and enjoyed the waves dragging us gently backwards and forwards. It it wasn't for Tinnie the children would have spent hours in here.

On our last day we set aside time to play at the new outdoor fairground. Both the children could go on most of the rides if they had an adult with them and when they both wanted to go on at the same time we were lucky that a red coat offered to join P. He had the whole family in stitches through out the ride and certainly made P's day.  being free was a massive bonus as the children could go on the rides again and again with out me worrying about the expense. 

We were given the premier dining package for our stay which meant we could eat in any of the restaurant's and we would just need to pay for drinks. We made the most of this where possible and ate in four of the ones at the resort. The food was great in all of them however my favourite was The Deck because it allowed my fussy husband to go up and choose food which suits his strongman diet but made it easy to please the rest of the family and feed Tinnie quickly. 

We had an amazing time at Butlins and I would love to take the children again especially at Christmas! The main thing that stood out to me was how kind and helpful the staff are. The red coats are always mixing and playing with the children and the staff over the phone, in the hotel or in the restaurants always treated us like a VIP.

Disclaimer: Playful Learners is currently part of a team of Butlins Ambassadors for 2013-2014. We received a free break and dining plan in return for acting as an ambassador for the brand however all opinions are our own.