Hello my friends

I have received lots of letters from readers of my disabled access guide on my website, asking if Butlins holiday camp is truly wheelchair friendly. As I had never been to Butlins before, I could not personally state whether or not it was. So I decided to visit the Butlins holiday resort, and chose the Skegness camp as my Christmas holiday break to find out for myself.

I booked my Christmas break over the telephone for myself, my wife, my two daughters and two grandchildren, and I was very careful to explain that I was a wheelchair user and would require a wheelchair friendly accommodation. I was informed by the representative that this would not be a problem, but mine and my wife and daughter's booking would have to be separate from my other daughter and two grandchildren. I decided that this was not a problem and booked for the "silver dinner bed and breakfast," and paid for the holiday.

I received confirmation of my holiday and lots of other information by post, and right up to my going on holiday I was kept informed by post that everything was still confirmed.

On the 23rd December 2005, I arrived at Butlins Skegness camp to be greeted by a very long traffic queue at the main entrance. I did not mind this at all as I could see that the security people were doing their job and ensuring the safety of the guests.

Eventually we entered the camp and we arrived at the check in desk where we were given green bands on our wrists and received the keys to our apartments plus other items that we would need to get into the dining room etc.

On our arrival at the accommodation, at "starfish quay, lobster 30," I was very disappointed that the chalet was so small that I could not even get my wheelchair through the door.

We returned to the check in desk and informed the representative about the problem and nothing was too much for this helpful member of staff as she immediately tended to it and escorted us to the guest services where we were issued a different accommodation. On arrival at the newly allocated chalet, "Pacific Wharf, 18 echopoint way," I was truly delighted at how spacious and completely wheelchair friendly the accommodation was. Inside the two bedroom accommodation, there was plenty of room to manoeuvre a wheelchair in every room. The bathroom was very large and was fitted with the wheelchair user in mind, with roll in shower and grab rails situated in the right places on the walls, and a secure pull down bar at the toilet. Around the bedrooms and bathrooms there were red pull cords to summon help if necessary, I was truly delighted. The only question that comes to mind is "why I wasn't offered this wheelchair friendly accommodation in the first place?" Disabled car parking is available in front of the chalet.

I went to explore the camp area, and to do this I hired an electric chair to get me around the vast complex. I found the outside area of the complex fairly flat and easy to get around, although at the funfair I found that there were no rides etc, available for wheelchair users.

My next visit was to the "Skyline Pavilion." In this area I found disabled wheelchair friendly toilets. Also in the pavilion are the "amusement arcades, cafes, fast food shops, supermarket etc." I went around the whole pavilion and found it wheelchair friendly. I headed for the main entertainment centre, "Centre Stage," and I had no problem whatsoever in getting around here and it was complete with wheelchair friendly toilets. The only small problem that I found in the centre stage was that if the entertainer asked for volunteers to take part in a competition on the stage, I could see no way of a wheelchair user being able to get onto the stage, so I asked a redcoat if there was anyway that a wheelchair user could get up onto the stage and he stated "not as far as he could see." Therefore the energetic wheelchair user would feel left out, as he/she would not be able to join in and enjoy any adult participation on stage. Maybe the management could arrange something for the future so that wheelchair users can get onto the stage?

I visited the "reds entertainment centre." To get up to the second floor where the entertainment is located, there is one small lift, that can only take one decent sized pram or wheelchair at a time, and if there are a lot of people waiting with prams and pushchairs as well as wheelchair users, there can be a long wait to get up to the second floor.

The main problem that came to mind was that if there is a fire, then guests are not allowed to use the lift, so if there was a fire, then how does a wheelchair user get down to the ground level? So I personally did not feel secure in this area. Maybe the management can look into this and come up with something? Once upstairs in the entertainment centre, everything was wheelchair friendly.

I visited the "Coral Beach restaurant" where we would be having our meals and found this wheelchair friendly and had no problems.

My next visit was to the on site "Supermarket, News Break and also the Gift store." All of these facilities had wide aisles and were wheelchair friendly.

My Rating for Butlins Skegness

This rating is "only for Skegness holiday camp." I do not know if the other camps around the country are suitable for wheelchair users.

Disabled Access

Overall I can state that "Butlins Skegness is wheelchair friendly," but when booking a holiday, you must state categorically that you would like the "wheelchair friendly accommodation" and get it confirmed in writing.

Entertainment

Although the entertainment that was laid on was mainly for the younger generation, I put up with it and enjoyed it.

Food

I thought that the food was excellent. There are many choices of meals to choose from for adult and children alike, and the meals that I had were very tasty. Christmas dinner was excellent.

Overall

Independent wheelchair access: 10/10

Assisted wheelchair access: 10/10

Wheelchair friendly bathroom and toilets 10/10

Wheelchair Accommodation: 10/10

Customer service: 10/10

Hospitality: 10/10

Apartment value for money (in winter): 7/10

Price of disability rental equipment: 7/10

Wheelchair adult participation on stage in Centre Stage 0/10

Disabled Car Parking 10/10

Mike Coatesworth