In the 1970s and 1980s, Butlin's also operated numerous large hotels, including one in Spain, a number of smaller holiday parks in England and France, and a revolving restaurant in the Post Office Tower in London.

Three of the original camps remain open under the Butlins brand in Bognor Regis, Minehead, and Skegness.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, building at Filey was postponed, and the camps at Skegness and Clacton were given over for military use.

The camps at Skegness and Clacton opened in 1946, Ayr and Pwllheli in 1947 and Mosney on the east coast of Ireland in 1948.

Butlin's became popular in post-war Britain, with family entertainment and activities available for the equivalent of a week's pay.

It also had an image problem of being seen as providing regimented holidays, which caused it to all but abandon the Butlin's name at its remaining resorts between 1987 and 1990.

In 1998, the "Holiday Worlds" branding was dropped for the remaining resorts in favour of returning the emphasis to the core Butlin's name.

In 2005, the new £10 million Shoreline hotel was unveiled at the Bognor Regis resort to expand on the existing variety of apartments on the site.

The hotel, styled with an Art Deco theme, aimed to offer luxury accommodation in conjunction with the entertainment and facilities at the resort.

Each of the 160 rooms features floor-to-ceiling windows, twin or king-size beds, leatherette chairs, televisions, DVD players and en-suite facilities.

In a £300 million deal The Harris Family Trust bought back Butlins, the deal however does not include Butlins property assets as these were sold earlier in the year to the UK’s largest pension fund, the Universities Superannuation Scheme for £300 million.

[18] The "Skyline Pavilion" is the central entertainment complex at each resort, which is enclosed under a white tensile fabric canopy.

Each Skyline Pavilion contains a stage (used mainly for daytime children's shows), a cafe and associated seating, a bar (known as Bar Rosso, The Jellyfish Lounge, Soho Coffee or Costa Coffee), restaurants such as Burger King, Papa Johns, Turner's, an amusement arcade, an information counter (termed "infunmation point"), and various shops selling novelties, souvenirs, and groceries.

In 2013, the Skegness resort opened a £16 million redevelopment of the Splash Waterworld that features 2 new octane flumes (Jet Stream and Vortex, which has a space-bowl), a new dinghy ride (The Riptide), a rope-walk challenge (Captain's Challenge), a lazy river, a poolside cafe and DJ.

Butlins opened a new Splash Waterworld at the Bognor Regis resort in spring 2019 carrying a vintage seaside funfair theme.

Minehead resort also offers bumper boats, donkey rides, use of the adjacent golf course, and "Exmoor Adventures" country leisure pursuits.

These include playgrounds, a supervised arts & crafts room, "Bob's Yard" (miniature funfair), a "Junior driving school" with small go-karts for children, and a nursery which can care for children and keep them entertained whilst parents enjoy other activities in the resort.

Dwindling visitor numbers and problems finding staff for the short 12-week season eventually led to the camp's closure.

In 1998 it was renovated again with the construction of a Skyline Pavilion and since that time has undergone further improvements and maintenance in 2011 the resort underwent more development with the introduction of a new guest catering restaurant called The Deck, a new Italian styled restaurant called Ludo's (named after the dinosaur that appeared in the 2010/11 TV adverts), in 2013 the new Splash Waterworld opened adding a new pool area to the resort and plans have recently[when?]

Butlins Music Weekends have played host to big-name acts such as Beverley Knight, Brand New Heavies, Toyah, Buzzcocks, Rick Astley, David Gest & Friends and many more.

[22] Named after the song "All Tomorrow's Parties" by the Velvet Underground, it was an alternative to larger mainstream festivals and was presented in a more intimate environment than a giant stadium or huge country field.

In 1956 Butlins Beaver Club – with Uncle Eric Winstrone was heard in the United Kingdom and much of continental Europe on Sunday nights at 6:00 pm over the 208 m wavelength of Radio Luxembourg.

A teletext system was installed, together with a backing of incidental music, overseen by Redcoat/Stage Manager Tony Filer – and piped through to the guests' chalets to provide first an alternative, then an accompaniment to the printed programme of events.

Filer (now a successful radio producer) installed a video camera in the new 'studio' to enable visiting celebrity interviews and 'Know your Redcoats' discussions to be shown.

From 1936 until 1967, on arrival at Butlins each camper was issued with an enamel badge unique to that camp or hotel, to wear for the duration of their holiday.

The Barry Island 1965 is particularly rare, as the badges were manufactured but never issued, due to the camp not opening that year as planned.

On the show The Two Ronnies (series 3, episode 1, first broadcast on 27 September 1973) there was a sketch parodying the BBC war drama Colditz.

The two main characters finally escape over the wall of the infamous POW camp, only to wake up in a worse one – a dreary place called "Butlitz", a spoof of Butlins, where the German guards are dressed like Redcoats.

In the television show Lost the character of Charlie Pace learns to swim with his father at a Butlins camp.

The 1987 Doctor Who TV serial "Delta and the Bannermen" was filmed mainly at the Butlins camp on Barry Island, Wales.