A group of all-inclusive holiday parks, with sites one hour and two-and-a-half hours from London, have been named the best in the UK. A survey by Which? of 1,700 holiday park visitors over the last two years has revealed the best and worst holiday parks in the country.
Potters Resorts, with sites in Essex and Norfolk, came out on top while big name holiday park firms Pontins and Butlins scored in the bottom five of the Which? list. Visitors were asked to rate their stays on 11 criteria, including quality of accommodation, customer service, cleanliness, facilities and activities, and value for money.
An overall customer score was then calculated based on overall satisfaction and likeliness to recommend. Potters Resorts beat household names to the top of the table, with a customer score of 87 per cent, followed by Forest Holidays in second place with a customer score of 80 per cent.
READ MORE: The underrated commuter town half an hour from London where you can still use your Oyster card
Operating for more than 100 years, Potters has all-inclusive resorts at Potters Resorts Five Lakes, in Maldon, Essex, and Potters Resorts Hopton On Sea, in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The drive from North East London to Five Lakes takes one hour via the A12 and the journey to Hopton On Sea takes two hours and 34 minutes via the A12 and A143.
Hopton On Sea has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 based on 3,844 Google reviews with the most recent visitor saying they “cannot fault anything” and another said: “Amazing place lots to do plenty of food and drink everyone was brilliant entertainment was fantastic and fun have rebooked for next year.” In comparison Five Lakes has an average 4.2 score from 1,864 reviews with one happy customer saying: “Had a wonderful weekend with friends. The room was spacious, really comfy bed and pillows. Ordering drinks was easy, you just go to the ordering point and then they bring to your table, no queuing at bars! Entertainment was top notch!”
Visitors awarded Potters the full five stars for the variety of free facilities on offer, the quality of facilities and activities, the quality of the entertainment and communication, as well as four stars for overall customer service, food and drink, value for money and quality of accommodation. On the Potters Resorts website a three-night weekend stay at Five Lakes from Friday, July 19 costs £619 per adult, while there is a save £100 per person offer at Hopton On Sea for the same weekend, updating the cost to £519.
Reviews for other holiday park groups Forest Holiday, Bluestone Wales and John Fowler Holiday Parks
With 13 locations across England, Wales and Scotland, Forest Holidays offers woodland stays with hot tubs in a range of accommodation from cabins to treehouses. The brand received four stars for the quality of accommodation, cleanliness, overall customer service, communication and quality of facilities and activities.
Tied in third place with a customer score of 77 per cent were Bluestone Wales, which is in the Pembrokeshire countryside, and John Fowler Holiday Parks. Among the other high-scoring firms were Hoburne Holidays with 75 per cent and Waterside Holiday Group with 74 per cent.
Damning scores for Pontins and Butlin’s
Pontins, founded in 1946, took last place with a customer score of 56 per cent. Pontins scored a run of two-star ratings for customer service, quality of accommodation, cleanliness, variety of free facilities, quality of facilities and activities, food and drink and value for money. Its highest score of three stars was for communication and the quality of entertainment.
Longstanding rival Butlin’s also found itself in the bottom five, with a customer score of 67 per cent – just ahead of Park Holidays UK at 66 per cent., Away Resorts with 64 per cent. and Largo Leisure Parks with a score of 64 per cent. Guests at Butlin’s rated customer service two stars, it received three stars in key categories including quality of accommodation and cleanliness, and four for the quality and variety of children’s activities and entertainment.
Haven Holiday Parks and Center Parcs tied with a customer score of 69 per cent. The most visited brand in Which?’s survey, Center Parcs, received largely favourable reviews but received two stars in the value for money category, as well as for the variety of free facilities on offer.
Survey respondents reported spending an average of £76 per person per night, making it the most expensive option not to include food or drinks in the price. It received four stars for overall customer service, communication, quality of accommodation, cleanliness, and the quality of facilities and activities and for the quality and variety of children’s activities.
Haven received a mix of three and two-star ratings, including three stars for overall customer service, quality of accommodation and value for money. Naomi Leach, deputy editor of Which? Travel said: “Holiday parks have been a mainstay of British holidays for decades, but with so many options to choose from it isn’t always easy to know which will be the right fit for your family.
“Our latest survey shows that it’s worth looking beyond the best-known names, with smaller and independent resorts offering excellent value for money, great customer service and plenty of onsite entertainment.” The results are based on an online survey of 1,717 adults – members of the Which? Connect panel and members of the public – conducted between March and April 2024. A total of 2,255 responses were recorded.
A Butlin’s spokesperson said: “As the home of entertainment, it’s brilliant to see that we’re scoring highly when it comes to activities and entertainment. We’ve invested over £50 million across our three resorts with new openings like our Skypark playground and Playxperience indoor activity centre to ensure we continue to deliver incredible holidays for our guests.
“It is disappointing to see that some scores are lower but would like to reassure guests that we’re investing in these areas to offer a better holiday experience.”
A spokesperson for Center Parcs said: “Center Parcs offers unique family short breaks in the UK. We welcome over 2 million guests to our villages annually, and we are 97 per cent full all through the year. We are proud of our consistently high guest satisfaction scores and over 60% of guests will go on to make another booking with us. Our guests demand a high-quality experience and each year we invest tens of millions of pounds improving our villages to ensure we meet their expectations.”
Pontins, Park Holidays UK, Away Resorts, Largo Leisure Parks and Haven Holiday Parks have been approached to comment.
Stay up to date with London’s most exciting events, newest restaurants and latest deals with our What’s On newsletter, Going Out Out. You can sign up HERE.
