Warner v P&O

[emam]

I have been looking around for a 3 night break not too far away. We went to Nidd Hall in Yorkshire just after Covid and they now send news out about holidays which I usually just delete. So I went to see what they have to offer. A special offer for a three night break is £379 pp which includes a discount of £37.50. Bbem, entertainment, no travel 

 

P&O sent an offer out for a 12 night Spain and Portugal cruise. Picking select changes the price but for an inside cabin plus coach plus obs, it's coming up as £849 pp. All day food, entertainment, travel and spending money. 

 

[Dermotsgirl]

I've had some nice Warner breaks.

 

In May we spent a week at Bembridge, and then went on to Cricket St Thomas for 4 nights.

 

Warners has some similarity to a cruise in that there's evening entertainment, but I wouldn't really make any other comparison.

 

The pluses for a Warner hotel break was that the was much more space to spread out, and a hotel is less of a closed community than a cruise as people are booking in and checking out all the time.

 

The minuses were that the rooms we had were very 'tired'.  There is refurbishment going on, but I think both of our rooms during our May break hadn't had any TLC since the 90s 

 

We had a good time exploring the Isle of Wight and Somerset, and will be going to two more Warner's hotels next year.  

 

If a person fancies a hotel break, then I think Warner's are worth consideration.  

 

If the sole consideration is money, then the cruise probably comes out on top 

 

 

 

 

[Megabear2]

My aunt went to the new Heythrop Park hotel in June. Although they liked it she commented that it was huge so a massive amount of walking and also if you wanted to use the a la carte restaurants or the pub to eat in you had to reserve them in advance.  They do not have internet access and were not able to so and ended up unable to eat anywhere other than the self serve buffet.  She laughed it reminded her of a cruise because of this.

[pete14]

We have been on a few Warners breaks and thoroughly enjoyed them however comparing them to cruises is like comparing apples and pears. Both are good in their own ways but direct comparisons do not really work. Others have pointed out differences which individually I do not disagree with. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

https://www.pottersresorts.com/

 

A friend of mine (comedian/compere) sadly passed away now. Was working at the above resorts 

 

Descibed them as as cruise holidays on land. 

 

Never been myself. I'm sure some on here must have 

 

My wife and I in our  late 20s mistakenly  ended up as by far the youngest guests on a Warner's holiday in Hayling Island. We just thought it was adults  only. Didnt realise that was code for OAPs only until we arrived.

 

Had a great time though. Mick Miller (comedian) came in one night to do a show I remember

 

That included a day out to Goodwood Races

Edited September 22, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Dermotsgirl]

35 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

https://www.pottersresorts.com/

 

A friend of mine (comedian/compere) sadly passed away now. Was working at the above resorts 

 

Descibed them as as cruise holidays on land. 

 

Never been myself. I'm sure some on here must have 

 

My wife and I in our  late 20s mistakenly  ended up as by far the youngest guests on a Warner's holiday in Hayling Island. We just thought it was adults  only. Didnt realise that was code for OAPs only until we arrived.

 

Had a great time though. Mick Miller (comedian) came in one night to do a show I remember

 

That included a day out to Goodwood Races

The age of guests tends to be a bit younger at the weekend, but it’s mostly the retired crowd during the week. My friend went with her friend for a midweek break when she was in her 30s and everyone thought they were staff! 
 

There is some crossover with the entertainment. I’ve seen Mick Miller on P&O, and I saw another comedian (can’t remember his name) who then appeared on our CMV cruise a few months later 

[Dermotsgirl]

39 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

https://www.pottersresorts.com/

 

A friend of mine (comedian/compere) sadly passed away now. Was working at the above resorts 

 

Descibed them as as cruise holidays on land. 

 

Never been myself. I'm sure some on here must have 

 

My wife and I in our  late 20s mistakenly  ended up as by far the youngest guests on a Warner's holiday in Hayling Island. We just thought it was adults  only. Didnt realise that was code for OAPs only until we arrived.

 

Had a great time though. Mick Miller (comedian) came in one night to do a show I remember

 

That included a day out to Goodwood Races

I am trying Potters Five Lakes for a mid week break at the start of December. Quite a few Warner guests recommended them, so we made this booking at at the start of the year. Since then, from what I’ve seen on FB groups and elsewhere, I think it may be slightly more holiday camp than I would like, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. I will report back! 

[Peanut006]

We have two Warner breaks booked, one in Dec at Nidd Hall where John Martin (comedian) is on. We have seen him before, he is very funny without been rude or offensive. We are taking the in-laws as their joint birthdays and Christmas pressie.

 

The second one is at Heythrop Park with my mum next September. Never been to the Cotswolds so looking forward to that.

 

As neither set of parents will cruise this is a good alternative 

 

Michelle

[Interestedcruisefan]

14 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

We have two Warner breaks booked, one in Dec at Nidd Hall where John Martin (comedian) is on. We have seen him before, he is very funny without been rude or offensive. We are taking the in-laws as their joint birthdays and Christmas pressie.

 

The second one is at Heythrop Park with my mum next September. Never been to the Cotswolds so looking forward to that.

 

As neither set of parents will cruise this is a good alternative 

 

Michelle

I know John Martin really well. He's worked at several events we've also worked at and done stuff for us as well in the past. Brilliant comedian from Liverpool.

 

Has a routine where he talks to the crowd and makes jokes from what they tell him back. Very sharp and very clever stuff. 

 

When on cruise ships he also can do talks about world war 2 events as he's also written books on that

[zap99]

2 hours ago, pete14 said:

We have been on a few Warners breaks and thoroughly enjoyed them however comparing them to cruises is like comparing apples and pears. Both are good in their own ways but direct comparisons do not really work. Others have pointed out differences which individually I do not disagree with. 

We do 2/3 Warner breaks a year. Similar to cruises in some ways, but far less entertainment. The in house band are entertaining ,but not to the standard of (say ) pulse. The entertainment teams are about 5-6, so smaller. Less choice of food. Recently we have seen Tony Hadley. Marine Mazumder as Adele and 2 classical blokes. A good break, but not a cruise standard. Rooms are bigger than a cabin, but when you wake up you are still in the same place.

Edited September 22, 2023 by zap99

[mickyc123]

• Been to various warners over the years some very good and some not that great.
• we have also been to potters three times,two at Hopton on sea and last month a three night break at Five lakes.
• food is a good quality and Certainly on a par with anything you would get from the MDR

they have loads of activities going on all day that are included in the price from craft to clay pigeon shooting

the last two years both resorts have now gone all inclusive 

you get breakfast,lunch and a evening meal. You also get the option of a midnight snack like pizza,curry and sausage rolls(never had one mind you)

all standard drinks are available from 3pm of first day to 11am of departure and are included in the price

you go to a drink station place your order and servers bring to your table,very easy and very efficient.

 

the nightly entertainment normally has bingo followed by some sort of audience involvement show

 

you then have a show put on by the theatre group that is in house

 

now potters have invested lots in the theatre and  the team and the shows knock spots off anything I have seen on a P&O cruise ship.

 

see photo of the activities over the weekend we went

 

the nightly entrainment would then finish in either Garden bar with various shows to the early hours

 

without a doubt the nearest land experience to a cruise 

 

loads to do

loads to eat and the shows are of a extremely high standard

 

the reviews on trip advisor don’t lie 

 

Certainly worth a look  

 

[emam]

What I was thinking, is that for the price of what Warner's is you get a lot more on a cruise. I must have looked at the cruise too much as the price has increased slightly. However I did see that it's over the weekend that our annual exhibition is on, so a no go. That Potters Resort's looks interesting, maybe @Dermotsgirl will let us know how her holiday goes.

[Peanut006]

I have just requested a Potters Brochure, looks interesting 

 

Michelle

[Ardennais]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I know John Martin really well. He's worked at several events we've also worked at and done stuff for us as well in the past. Brilliant comedian from Liverpool.

 

Has a routine where he talks to the crowd and makes jokes from what they tell him back. Very sharp and very clever stuff. 

 

When on cruise ships he also can do talks about world war 2 events as he's also written books on that

I remember a very interesting talk of his about Operation Anthropoid - the assassination of Heydrich, 

[Dermotsgirl]

40 minutes ago, emam said:

What I was thinking, is that for the price of what Warner's is you get a lot more on a cruise. I must have looked at the cruise too much as the price has increased slightly. However I did see that it's over the weekend that our annual exhibition is on, so a no go. That Potters Resort's looks interesting, maybe @Dermotsgirl will let us know how her holiday goes.

I will do.  I’m going at the start of December, so I’ll let you know.

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Ardennais said:

I remember a very interesting talk of his about Operation Anthropoid - the assassination of Heydrich, 

That's the one

[Dermotsgirl]

for @emam and @Peanut006 and anyone else who may be interested.

 

We returned from Potters Five Lakes this morning, so, as previously mentioned, here's my thoughts.

 

Generally, a big thumbs up from me.

 

We were pleased with our room. We booked a room in the village area, which is a short walk from the main hotel.  We were in the furthest block from the hotel, and it took us about 3 - 4 minutes to walk to the hotel, but we are brisk walkers. I'd suggest booking a room in the hotel if walking is a problem.  Our room was the 'entry level' grade, but it was spacious and had a large bathroom with both a bath and a walk in shower.  Would be happy to stay in this room again.

 

Potters is all inclusive, and breakfast, lunch and dinner was included, plus a midnight snack if you had room.  Service is on a hybrid buffet/ waiter service similar to Warners.  We enjoyed all our meals. I think I'd describe it as high grade mass catering, and although and although the menu wasn't extensive, I liked the sound of nearly everything on the menu, so I felt there was plenty of choice. Waiter service was occasionally slow, but by the last night it looked as if they had some extra staff on duty. 

 

Drinks were all inclusive, from 3pm on the first day including soft drinks and coffee and hot chocolate, We found a seat, then went to the ordering point, gave our table number and our drinks order, then they'd bring it to the table. This applied to the bars and the theatre - the longest wait we had was 10 minutes, so it was very efficient.

 

On the subject of the theatre, it was modern and state of the art, with all seats having a good view. All entertainment is in house, and the theatre company was fab. The entertainment staff were very  visible, and do a lot of day time and evening entertainment in the bars, and doing the pre show entertainment in the theatre. As this was a winter holiday, we also appreciated a sports hall area, where there were lots of different sports and games to play. 

 

As everything is all inclusive, the general expectation as that people stay 'on resort'.  This is just as well as the resort is in a relatively isolated situation, with not much of interest within walking distance.  I would like to go to Five Lakes again, probably in summer, and make an effort to drive to either Maldon or Colchester for a while, as a normal part of my holidays usually involves some sort of sight seeing.

 

The prices seem expensive at first glance, but as everything is included, I think it is fair value.

 

It was only a 90 minute drive from home, so it was a good location for a short break and we had a lovely time.

 

For people who like Warners, I think they would also like Potters, and it felt like a nice change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[waggie]

I agree with everything said here- just returned from a 4 night break at Potters Hopton and cannot fault it. From the friendly welcome to the warmth of the bungalows- terrific.
We live in Colchester so will try Five Lakes in the spring.

Dermotsgirl- let me know if there is anything particular you want to do in Colchester, I would be happy to help.

[emam]

It sounds like you had a lovely time. Well worth thinking about for a holiday. The photo looks like you could be on a ship. Thank you for the great review.

[Peanut006]

Thank you for your review, it all sounds very promising, sounds like we would like it. Were the entertainment and shows good?

 

I have subscribed to their emails/ brochures to see what’s on offer there.

 

Going to Warners Nidd Hall on 20 Dec, taking the in-laws, they haven’t done a Warners break before.

 

Michelle 

[emam]

4 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

 

 

Going to Warners Nidd Hall on 20 Dec, taking the in-laws, they haven’t done a Warners break before.

 

Michelle 

 

We are going there on the 30 Dec. Looking forward to it.

[Waju]

We're going to Gunton Hall on Monday!  This will be our first Warners break and we're looking forward to trying them out.

[Dermotsgirl]

16 hours ago, waggie said:

I agree with everything said here- just returned from a 4 night break at Potters Hopton and cannot fault it. From the friendly welcome to the warmth of the bungalows- terrific.
We live in Colchester so will try Five Lakes in the spring.

Dermotsgirl- let me know if there is anything particular you want to do in Colchester, I would be happy to help.

I'd like to try Hopton at some point. From what I've heard, Hopton is a bit bigger than Five Lakes, but both places have loyal followings. 

 

If visiting Fives Lakes another time, I think we'd go to Colchester Zoo, as it looks to be only a 15 minute drive away

[waggie]

1 minute ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I'd like to try Hopton at some point. From what I've heard, Hopton is a bit bigger than Five Lakes, but both places have loyal followings. 

 

If visiting Fives Lakes another time, I think we'd go to Colchester Zoo, as it looks to be only a 15 minute drive away

Hopton is a lot more established too. The zoo is wonderful.

[sandancer]

7 hours ago, emam said:

 

We are going there on the 30 Dec. Looking forward to it.

We have never been but it’s on the bucket list. My sister and brother in law used to go 2 or 3 times a year. They loved it.