A travel enthusiast has visited the only place you can grab an all-inclusve stay in the UK – Potter’s Resort in Hopton-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth.
Alex Dodman (@alexdodman) took to TikTok to document a comical “real review” of the five-star spot in Norfolk after visiting with his family. Entering its doors, Alex quipped: “For the more elder generation, you may recognise this place as the home of the World Indoor Bowls Championships.”
With his two children by his side, Alex entered their room – a huge suite with three beds, living room furniture and floor-to-ceiling windows. “The best way I can describe this place – especially in all the kids’ school holidays and half terms, is like a mini Center Parcs by the sea on steroids but without the added extra costs.”
He then shared footage of his family heading down towards the beach before sampling some of the resorts other facilities including badminton and table tennis. “The activities on offer for kids for the four days were so full that I had to plan out where I could slope off for a nap and a cry for 10 minutes.
“But as you can just rock up to any of them without having to book in advance, we got stuck in. From wall-climbing, inflatable assault courses, Scalextric championships and pottery-making.” Alex said the kids even had fun “riding around the bowls arena on weird little bikes” before exhaustively carrying on to bungee trampolining and swimming.
He then detailed the activity he “enjoyed the most” – “lobbing a toilet plunger at a target”. He praised: “You won’t, but if you do get bored of all the activites, you can then just go down for a walk down to the beach.”
Praising the choice of places to eat, Alex hailed the “cruise ship on land” aesthetic as he tucked into a dish of salmon and boiled potatoes. “Also I’ve got to say the staff and customer service here are so good here, which is something that seems to be dying out in the UK,” he added.
Alex then jokingly confessed to having to endure the “hell on Earth” children’s disco parties every night, alongside a clip of his youngsters dancing with a giant panda mascot. “But if you do make it through them with a little bit of help [revealing a pint of beer] you’re on to the good stuff.”
More “good stuff” included a silent disco playing “some 90s belters” and lots more entertainment that “goes on until late if your kids can hack it”. Alex added that the last night of the stay sees staff perform a show about the history of the resort, which he described as “actually pretty interesting”.
He concluded: “Once you’ve been once you’ll keep coming back. To sum it up pound for pound, it beats places like Center Parcs every day of the week.”
Alex’s review prompted a mixed reaction from his 257,000 followers. One person highlighted: ” Potters is ever evolving and even has its own podcast. All inclusive is all in literally put that across going abroad, and all the stress, extra expense through an airport. Potters wins! Every time.”
A second agreed: “Seems expensive on paper, but work out what you would spend abroad per day on activities, drinks and food.., it’s honestly worth the money, only thing it needs to improve is swimming facilities.” And a third noted: “I used to work at this very resort, unbelievably clean, all the staff were brilliant, couldn’t believe how much they offered for kids.”
However, others were sceptical about the price. “Just priced up 4 nights at Easter for 2 adults 2 kids and it’s 3 grand,” one TikTok user slammed. “Can go all inclusive abroad for a week for that.” A second person hit out: “£2,236.00 for a family of 4, weekend in April what a joke. We’re going for a week to Portugal in May for that.”
And a third cursed: “4k for 4 nights as a family of 6. I think I’ll stick to a static on the coast and do a lidl shop for less than 500 all in.”