Butlins Skegness Review From Our Christmas 2025 Visit

There are three Butlins resorts in the UK, including Skegness in Lincolnshire

We've been to Butlins a few times over the years, including both the Skegness and Minehead resorts. However, it had been about 15 years since our last visit and the first with our own children. Here are our thoughts from our recent visit, which took place between Christmas and New Year (sometimes referred to as Twixmas by annoying people).

We paid £716 for three nights accommodation for four people in a three bedroom Gold Apartment, with £335 of that cost being for Premium Dining (breakfast and evening meals). In other words, about half the cost was accommodation and the other half was for the food package.

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First impressions of Butlins Skegness

Butlins is on a scale that you don't really get at most other holiday parks in the UK. We've been to various large holiday parks in the last year, including Haven Primrose Valley and Parkdean Resorts Cayton Bay but neither are on the same scale as Butlins Skegness. On scale, a closer comparison is Center Parcs, which we've also visited in the last year.

We checked in via the drive-thru check-in after a five minute wait and then drove around the site for about ten minutes to find our parking. The Skyline dominates the resort and I personally think it looks great. Having a focal point to a holiday park helps give it shape and character, as well as helping you navigate your way round.

Resorts on this scale are very appealing to me, as I like to be able to explore. However, I would caution that Butlins will not be for you if you are looking for a peaceful and simple break. You don't park directly next to your accommodation in the part of the resort we stayed in and the distances between different parts of the site are considerable.

The Skyline provides a nice focal point for the whole of Butlins Skegness

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Activities and facilities at Butlins Skegness

This is where Butlins does exceptionally well, as it offers a bigger range of facilities than Haven and Parkdean Resort but is less expensive for activities than Center Parcs.

The swimming pool at Butlins Skegness is exceptionally good. It's called Splash Waterworld and we spent many hours making the most of the pools and rides. You can read our separate review of the Butlins Skegness swimming pool here.

Splash Waterworld is an excellent waterpark with plenty to do

The Butlins Skegness funfair is another big plus point, as it's something you don't typically get at holiday parks in the UK. There are exceptions, of course, such as if you stay at Legoland but that's a slightly different type of holiday.

We tried out the dodgems, the carousel and the small train ride but there are also some more grown-up rides. There aren't huge rollercoasters or anything like that, but there is something for most tastes. It's similar to the fairground rides that tour the country and appear in town centres for a few days.

The main funfair rides are included in the cost of a Butlins Skegness holiday

The carousel at Butlins Skegness

We also spent a good chunk of time in the Skypark, which arrived at Butlins Skegness a couple of years ago. This is an exceptionally good playground, with three tall towers and lots of smaller things to play on around the park. It was busy, despite being December.

We loved the Skypark at Butlins Skegness

We didn't get enough time to watch any of the big shows, which are a notable part of the appeal for a lot of visitors to Butlins Skegness. However, we did catch a little of a daily workout for kids that takes place within the Skyline.

We had a good choice of shows at Butlins Skegness

The only activity we paid for was pottery painting, which had a £10 entry fee and then a choice of things that you could buy. A couple of small things were included in the price but we went for items that were £5 extra each. The pottery isn't glazed, but it was still considerably cheaper than the mug we decorated at Center Parcs!

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Eating out at Butlins Skegness

We picked between two dining packages at Skegness Butlins, including the Food Court and Premium Dining. We went for Premium Dining, which was £335 and included three evening meals and three breakfasts for four people. That works out as about £111 per day for a family, or about £10 for breakfast, per person and about £18 for dinner, per person.

We were impressed with the food, which offered a big range and had good allergy labelling. For the price, you get unlimited tea and coffee but you don't get alcohol. For the evening meals, you get three courses including a good choice of puddings plus a salad bar and themed nights.

We went for Premium Dining, which included some excellent puddings

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Accommodation at Butlins Skegness

There's a big range of accommodation at Butlins Skegness including single storey chalets, double storey chalets, plus caravans on the other side of the road (accessed via a tunnel).

Honestly, I think we were unlucky with  our accommodation and I wouldn't want our experience to put you off too much. I spoke a friend who was also staying that week who had a much more positive experience.

We went for a three bedroom Gold Apartment and were allocated to Sands Court in The Keys. When we arrived, we found the door wide open and various clues that it hadn't yet been cleaned (no towels, bin full etc). We called Guest Services who were very apologetic and helpful. They said they were fully booked so couldn't allocate us another apartment but could send someone out to clean. We went exploring and went for our evening meal (which was very good).

We returned about two and a half hours later to find that it had been cleaned, but there were still various problems. There were small things we could live with but most concerning was the broken glass and peanuts on the carpet and under the sofa. One of our children has a severe peanut allergy so we decided we couldn't safely stay there and contacted Guest Services again. 

Our Gold Apartment at Butlins Skegness

We decided we couldn't stay after finding peanuts on the floor

The broken glass on the carpet was also an issue

Once again, Guest Services were very helpful and within about an hour had found us an alternative Gold Apartment in Neptune Court. We repacked our things and moved across.

The apartment at Neptune Court had its own issues, including doors missing from cupboards, an unflushed toilet, rusty radiators, rubbish in the bin and stained mattresses. All of those things we could live with but unfortunately, one of the mattresses had a very strong chemical smell to it, which was strong enough that we didn't want to use the room. It was getting late and we didn't want to complain again, so we made do without that bedroom and had a bumpy night's sleep (it was also very noisy, which didn't help).

We were moved to Neptune Court

This was our second Gold Apartment

The second Gold Apartment had a similar layout to the first

In the morning, we decided we would go home in the early evening and do day trips instead.

We live about 90 minutes drive from Butlins Skegness, so this was just about achievable, if a little tiring.

A couple of days later, Guest Services called us to see if everything was OK with the accommodation. I'm not sure if this is something they do with everyone or just because we had been moved. 

I explained that we had gone home and were doing day trips and they kindly offered us £100 credit that could be spent onsite.

I think it's worth emphasising that our experience wasn't typical and I've heard some more positive reviews of the accommodation. We are not particularly fussy and were not hankering for any compensation (they called us, rather than vice versa).

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Final thoughts on Butlins Skegness

Accommodation issues aside, we had a great time at Butlins Skegness. We didn't get to use all our meals that we had paid for due to the travelling but in most circumstances I would recommend the dining plan. With a little more time we would have gone along to a show or two but we certainly made the most of the swimming pool and some of the other entertainment.

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Related pages from Holiday Park Guru

• Which Butlins is best?
• Butlins vs Haven
• Butlins accommodation grading guide
• Saving money on Butlins holidays