Have you been

[BM Admin]

We nearly went to potters a few years back

has anyone ever been?

[KAF2]

My brother went there this year as he has finally given up on Butlins after this year's exceptionally poor offerings.

There is an okayish Walk With Me Tim video on Youtube.

So this is what my brother made of it:

A cruise ship on land.

Lovely to be on a proper all-inclusive UK holiday again, like Butlins used to be. But very very very expensive, and unless you use everything, eat loads and can drink all-inclusive alcoholic drinks to excess, it is probably cheaper to book a pay as you go UK seaside break.

Very well maintained (unlike Butlins) and glitzy looking everythere.

Rooms nothing special unless you book top ones. Small and clean, but basic for price. Warners better.

No fun pool or funfair. Just a small pool, steam-room and sauna.

Lots of activities. But mainly low-cost and small-scale. Forget the Butlins days of cable-car systems, monorails, trains or roller-coasters. No. You get: Eg. A giant swing. Segways. Go-carts.

And some of these are only part-time on your break - eg. bungee trampolines that are hired in for the sum total of half a day. So that was busy. Crappy small portable, inflatable ones too. Not the proper-size permanant structures, for some reason.

They also put on a fete as entertainment on one day. Popular. But again, does 'pin the tail on the donkey' as an activity really represent full value for your holiday cost?

Very good customer service and friendly staff. A proper family-run business.

Ten-pin bowling is an 'extra' that you pay for on top. Why? At those holiday prices?!?

One massive carpet bowls stadium, with a covered over floor and 2 or 3 table tennis tables! Not the best use of a huge venue. They didn't even think to put some carpet bowls strips down on top of the covering (like the sort you get at Pakefield).

In-house entertainment okay but not anywhere near as professional as you got at Mill Rythe.

Help-yourself fridges around the camp, full of ice creams, water and ice lollies!

The food looked fancy but the choice was sub-Warners and it often looked better than it tasted.

The other holiday makers were all pleasant and well behaved.

From reading a lot of feedback online at the time, this company seriously alienated an awful lot of their regulars with their behaviour over refunds etc. during the coronavirus episode.

And again, like everywhere else these days, disappointingly they are up to the same old trick of closing everything on changeover days to get you off-site quickly. Not great at the prices they charge - or if you have booked two breaks together.

In spite of this, it is still pretty good. But, due to the cost, my brother has not re-booked.