Which Pontins is the BEST?

There’s such a feeling of abandonment and of “giving up” at Pontins.

That phone box at the beginning is a model K8, the last of the red phone boxes, very rare now.

Is there anything worse than existing as a bird, in an aviary, at a pontins?

Those rooms look like a budget 1960s roadside motel you once saw in Australia. The sort of thing you see in B movies.

£33 with 2 cooked meals a day is very good value in todays market, another excellent video Tim.

Pontins do own Sand Bay. It was originally a Pontins site built in 1947 and it was bought from Pontins by Martin Leisure who own Hollybush Hotels who ran it for quite a few years. I stayed there twice a year for several years. The company went into administration in 2013 and Pontins bought the company back off Hollybush in January 2014. Thats why it has the Sand bay Holiday Village logo's around. When Martins Leisure bought it they got rid of all the Pontins branding and when Pontins rescued the company in 2014, they again put up their Pontins branding and refurbished the site so its probably the most recent upgrade of the Pontins group of sites.

I was dreading going due to their reputation but was working locally and needed somewhere cheap to stay. I have been twice this year and paid £79 each time for a single room, 4 nights. The chalets were ok. The breakfast was cooked to perfection. Evening meals were tasty. All day entertainment but obviously not for our age group. I would recommend it to anyone and it is still great value in summer with a fab beach.

This place genuinely doesn’t seem half bad. I suppose the fact that it’s smaller makes it easier to clean and maintain.

When I worked at holiday camps in the sixties, the general manager and head chef always got "proper" accommodation, usually a bungalow on site. The rest of us got something resembling a war zone.

You deserve a medal for this.

That is by far the best Pontins you’ve been in. It actually looks like someone cares about it (a bit!)

Shame about some of the food and the closed pool but for £99 for 3 nights is fantastic value - even if you were the youngest there by 30 years!

It could be a pontin's  branch catering to adults only ,while the main branch caters for families ,some adults don't want to be around kids 24 /7  but want time for themselves if they are single or have already raised their own families .

I did a season as a Bluecoat at Sand Bay back in 84 I think it was and it was over 18's back them as well, although we did have the children during the school summer holidays.
It was table service back then and the Bluecoats were there to welcome you at every sitting and we would also dine with the guest at their tables. (we would also do Pajama breakfast every morning)
I also had the best 2 weeks of my 10 year career as a Bluecoat at Sand Bay. Two weeks near the end of the season (I think it was near the end) we had the handicapped weeks for both mentally and physically affected people and by god did they know how to enjoy themselves and party!
I remember that during most evening meals we would have mashed potato fights which was started by accident. I was sitting at a table where we had one teenager in a wheelchair, and he was annoyed at his mum for some reason and threw some mashed spuds at her, which missed and hit me instead. Now although this wee boy was a bit spoiled I didn't think it was a very nice thing to do, so, I filled my tablespoon with mash and flicked it right back at him. He didn't like that and unfortunately started crying, so I did it again and then his sister got in on the act and joined in, then both parents started doing the same and before we knew it just about every table in the restaurant had joined in (at the end of the week that wee boy in the wheelchair was my best buddy)
The ballroom area has changed a lot at the back from when I was there, as we had a fairly decent long bar that started about a meter or two from the edge of the dance floor and went all the way to nearly the back windows. It was open plan in those days and there were windows and French doors at the back of the room on each side of the wee stage that you saw.
The house's that you saw were used as staff accommodation when I was there (along with the area that rightly thought was for staff)
Another great video that has brought back a lot of wonderful memories for me Tim, so thank you for that.
Oh yeah, I've also subscribed to the channel and I'm currently binging the back catalogue of videos 👍

My partner and I stayed couple of years ago. And enjoyed it. Adults only weekend the food was good entertainment  there great to see so many people  enjoying themselves in the evening. And in the restaurant all eating together. If these places are not saved the ethos of people holidaying all together in a complex will be lost forever in the UK. We talked to some Brummies in the Bar great laugh. The way things are going a lot of family's  will need these places because of the cost of living. Thanks Ruth south Wales 😁❤

2:25 that lady in the door looking like she woke up and is having her first smoke of the day!!

Great place for a winter get away if you ever want to just go and cry for a long lonely weekend

This looks okay for the price (apart from the conjealed cream on those containers) and it could be used as a base to visit the wider area. As for the older clientele, I'm mid 40's and TBH if you wanted a quiet few days away it wouldn't bother me at all.

I used to work there when I was a student , the fun we had with the tractor and golf buggy ! . The maintance staff where very hot on the gardening  , the staff room was a very interesting place 😮

This is the first Pontins I’ve seen that doesn’t look like a dystopian hellscape!