We love the 70s, at Butlins

Entertainment at Butlins seems to revolve around two huge bars, Centre Stage and Reds. These cavernous rooms are surrounded by slot machines and hot dog vendors, so the noise level is always high regardless of what time of day or night it is. The Skyline Pavilion also has a coffee bar and food outlets as well as arcade games to keep everyone amused.

The live entertainment was great. The weekend we were there, there were tribute bands for David Bowie, Abba, Queen and T-Rex, as well as originals including Les McKeown, Brotherhood of Man and the Real Thing. The tribute bands varied in quality (as one of my friends commented, T-Rex was more Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall than Marc Bolan), but the Real Thing were a genuine highlight.

Their energy and enthusiasm while belting out favourite hits like 'You to me are everything' and 'Can you feel the force?' was formidable considering they've been performing for some 30 years. And they seemed to enjoy the audience, even welcoming a group of friends dressed in spangly dresses and long gloves on to the stage to provide backing vocals.

The weekend we visited, it rained fairly solidly, so we weren't that keen to venture off and explore the surrounding area. But there was plenty to keep us entertained on the site. We happily spent an afternoon in Splash Waterworld, enjoying the flumes, slides, rapids and wave machines without hordes of kids screaming and jostling. My favourites were the Master Blaster, a kind of watery roller coaster that you ride in a blow-up dinghy, and the Space Bowl, a flume that delivers you to a huge bowl with a big hole in the bottom that you drop out of with very little dignity intact!

We also tried the ten-pin bowling, which at £5 per person proved quite expensive for our group of six. Other activities on offer included go-karts (again at additional cost and geared more for younger kids than adults), archery, crazy golf, and tennis courts and football pitches for the energetic. If Bingo's your thing, there's a Gala Bingo hall on site as well as a Ladbrokes if you feel the need to have a flutter, and a cinema.

The party weekend proved a great way for my group of friends to get together. The accommodation was comfortable and clean, and with all the evening entertainment just a short walk from our flat, we could dip in and out as we liked.

Need to know

Butlins have three resorts, at Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness. All three run party weekends on different dates throughout the year. For more information visit www.butlins.co.uk

Prices start from £59 per person and include accommodation and access to all the bands. Some entertainments, such as bowling and go-karting, cost extra.