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We are back from a 3-night break and an amazing weekend away at Butlins Skegness. We were visiting so my son could play in the UK’s biggest rugby league festival, The Rhinos Challenge. If you’ve been a reader of the blog for a while you will know our first experience of Butlins didn’t go too well however this time around we left this time around genuntly looking forward to actually going back!
Butlin’s Premium Dining Review
One of the main reasons for that I feel was because this time we chose to book the Premium Dining instead of going solely self-catering. So today I’m sharing with you my top 5 reasons why you too should seriously consider upgrading to the Premium Dining Plan during your next trip to Butlins.
Variety of food
The variety of food was immense! Although it wasn’t a case of being able to have absolutely anything you wanted; there was something new to tickle those taste buds every single night and if there wasn’t something that you fancied.. then you have a problem! 😉
The variety in comparison to the standard food court plan is that you get freshly made to order food such as burgers straight off a
The first night for example, at the roasting station we had the option of pork and lasagne (if I remember rightly!). The second night the variety of vegetables changed and so did the meat in that we had the choice of turkey and cottage pie and then the third night it altered again to beef and pie. It was enough to be able to have a different meal with slightly different vegetables every night.
Sunday night saw a lot more International foods than any other night. Although all the other nights offered basic rice, noodles and the like; Sunday’s ‘main event’ was clearly aimed at International foods. You needn’t be worried
Every night they also had available a fresh pasta station that had a chef make you your own straight from the pan; bolognese and tagliatelle carbonara
Value for money
We’ve eaten out once at Butlins Skegness and that was at the Ludo’s Italian restaurant. For a family of 4 it cost us around the £50 mark and to be fair I wasn’t impressed at all. I wouldn’t head back and that didn’t include drinks or desserts.
To purchase the Premium Dining Plan for 3 nights it cost us approx £220.00. Some might say ‘well surely it’s cheaper to eat out every night’ but eating out would limit us to a specific food or cuisine. It would also mean the kids would have to eat whatever was on the children’s menu whereas the Premium Plan gave them the option of a kids meal and whatever else they fancied at the time.
The difference in price between the Food Court plan and the Premium dining plan is very little too so if you are considering purchasing the most basic, then seriously consider upgrade further still… you won’t regret it!
At the time of writing the Butlin’s Food Court dining plan is priced as the following (per person per night):
£20.75 for an Adult, £10.50 for a child between 6-14, £5.25 for a child between 2-5 and FREE for a baby 0-2.
The Premium Dining Plan is £27.75 for an Adult, £13.95 for a child between 6-14, £6.95 for a child between 2-5 and FREE for a baby 0-2
So as you can see there is very little difference but the Premium dining plan gives you a much bigger choice, it is in a nicer environment and offers better quality food too!
The Premium Plan also includes breakfast too not just the evening meal don’t forget! It’s again an all you can eat buffet style with both continental and your hot typical British ‘fry up’. Just like you can at dinner, you can also take full advantage of the freshly cooked items ‘hot of the grill’ only this time around it’s in the form of a breakfast butty or a triple-decker BLT!
Environment
Last year we ate at the regular food court on the first day. A dining environment that I wasn’t a fan of at all. It reminded me of being back at school and queuing up for school dinners. Nor did it feel anywhere as clean and tidy as the Premium Dining locations and then there was a lack of variety. It was also smaller, loud, busy and crowded.
The Deck, where we dined this time around, was the total opposite. Besides the variety as I’ve already mentioned, the environment of where we were eating was so much nicer than the regular food court. It was very big, it catered for everyone, it was clean, tidy, there were people on hand to help and clear away your plates and they had proper plates too unlike those school trays that have a place for your drink, dessert
Anything else I need to know?
Although I don’t condone choosing anything and everything just because you can; if there is anything left on your plate/table when you’ve finished dining just gets disposed of. Even if you pick up 5 sachets of ketchup but only use 3 the other 2 get binned (we asked!) so
They are not allowed to put something back on display for someone else to eat or use. My youngest picked up an apple and a yoghurt for breakfast one morning but didn’t eat them. They would’ve both just been wasted had we not have taken them to eat back at the room or later on in the day.
The Butlin’s Premium Dining Plan was a game changer for us. It completely changed my thoughts on Butlin’s food entirely. There’s no getting away from the fact we were very disappointed last year with the Food Court and their restaurants in previous years but we will for sure upgrade to the Premium again should we ever head back, 100%!
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If you are wanting to read more UK budget
Disappointing first experience of Butlin’s
5 reasons you should upgrade to the Butlin’s Premium Dining Plan
Butlin’s Seaside Apartment tour & Premium Dining Plan vlog
A-Z of free or cheap things to do in Yorkshire with kids
Free or cheap things to do in Poole
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