I tried Butlin’s 90’s Reloaded Weekender breaks with DJ pool parties and bottomless booze
CLUTCHING my bottle of Smirnoff Ice in the middle of a packed dancefloor wearing silver combat trousers and a bum bag, I felt like I had been transported back to my youth.
And for a fleeting moment, I forgot I was a mother of three with a job, a mortgage and a pile of laundry to tackle when I got home.
This is part of the joy of a Butlin’s ’90s Reloaded Weekender where garage legends DJ Luck and MC Neat were belting out the floor fillers from my teen disco days.
Held across Butlin’s resorts in Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness, each “weekender” break celebrates a different era or genre, from the Ultimate ’80s to I Love Ibiza.
I was at the Bognor Regis Resort with three old school friends, which only enhanced the nostalgia of the Nineties-themed weekend.
The fancy dress aspect alone provided plenty of entertainment.
Luckily, the Nineties are enjoying something of a fashion revival, which means it was easy to source some party gear.
And the trends of the decade were out in force — from bucket hats and Kappa tracksuits to cycling shorts and, of course, shell suits.
There were plenty of hilarious costumes celebrating Nineties icons, too.
The winner had to be one ingenious reveller who dressed head-to-toe as a bottle of Nineties alcopop Hooch, an outfit she ran up on her own sewing machine.
On Friday night we kicked off proceedings by heading off to watch Chesney Hawkes.
Like me, the former teen idol has clearly also moved on to a different life stage, given his two grown-up sons are now in his band.
But Chesney still covered a host of Nineties hits as well as performing his own classic No1 The One And Only.
We then headed over to the Centre Stage venue where we caught sets from Ride On Time hitmakers Black Box, Garage acts DJ Luck and MC Neat, and Artful Dodger.
In true Nineties style, midnight felt too early to go to bed so we hit the silent disco at the resort’s sports bar venue Hotshots where we could flick between channels on our light-up headphones, blasting everything from Whigfield to Warren G.
The brilliant thing about a Butlin’s Weekender break is you know exactly what you’ll be spending.
All entertainment and accommodation is included in the price of your visit so it’s great value for groups like ours.
If you do have a little extra cash to splash, you can book additional activities like the ’90s Bottomless Brunch in Butlin’s restaurant The Diner.
The bottomless prosecco and cocktails, accompanied by a live DJ, were a great way to kick off our Saturday, and my delicious build-your-own burger perfectly set me up for another day of drinking and dancing.
In the afternoon, Butlin’s huge swimming complex opens for pool parties, also complete with DJ.
Growing up, I was always more of an East 17 girl than Take That so it was a real blast from the past to see the rebooted version of the band performing at Bognor’s Studio 360 venue.
The new line-up, still featuring original member Terry Coldwell, belted out hits including House Of Love and Stay Another Day.
If you tire of all the adult fun, then there’s still plenty of opportunity to act like big kids.
The on-site fairground is open for the Weekenders with waltzer and dodgem rides, plus there’s afternoon entertainment from comedy acts such as Joe Pascquale, along with bowling, mini golf and pool tables.
We stayed in the Ocean Hotel, with two rooms comfortably accommodating our group of four.
Food isn’t included in the price of a getaway but there are plenty of dining packages to pick from, depending on what you’re after.
We chose to add the premium dining package which meant we could tuck into a delicious breakfast buffet.
The package also includes a buffet dinner, which gave us access to a fresh salad bar along with grill station and several options for hot meals and pudding.
Our Butlin’s beano was a mini-break like no other, full of bonding, brunches, bubbles (of the alcoholic and hot tub variety) and of course bangers.
GO: BUTLIN'S WEEKENDERS
A THREE-night 90s Reloaded Weekender featuring performances from Chesney Hawkes, Eternal, Symphonic Ibiza and more costs from £161pp for arrival on March 21, 2025.
Price based on four sharing a two- bedroom Ocean Hotel Room in Bognor Regis and includes access to live music venues and activities like pool parties and silent discos.
See bigweekends.com.