The last time we visited Butlin’s in Bognor Regis, the eagerly-anticipated Wave Hotel was shrouded in plastic, half-built and still a mystery.

This time around we walked – or rather ran in – as guests, barely able to contain our two daughters who were eager to stay at their favourite resort’s new and sparkling £25m ‘Tween hotel’.

Butlin’s has spent more than 75 years creating the recipe for a perfect family break and it seems the ingredients for the Wave were to build a hotel as big as a cruise ship, fill it with Kindles, Wii consoles, bunk beds with DVD players and disco showers – and wait for the applause.

They certainly got that when our two girls checked out the place.

We had stayed previously in the resort’s Shoreline Hotel, which is built with smaller children in mind and even has a bedroom for Billy Bear to tell stories in at night.

The Wave, on the other hand, is for older children, ideally older than ours at four and six, but that didn’t matter.

They might be a few years off knowing their way around an iPod dock, but they were happy to stand and marvel at the amazing ground floor games room, with more gaming gear than PC World.

In our room – and the Wave’s 29 spacious apartments and 214 other rooms – the theme was Under The Sea and the girls scampered into their own room and closed the door, eager to explore the porthole window, personal neon lighting and best of all, a TV and DVD each.

The rest of the room was stylish, with a balcony and a view to the 2012 Quality Coast Award Beach.

(The flashing disco shower was something we discovered, with much whooping, a little later.) Bognor also has the Ocean Hotel, as well as self-catering accommodation and even a state-of-the-art spa, for those parents who can manage to slip away undetected. Sadly, that didn’t include me on this occasion.

There are several ways to cater at Butlin’s and we opted for premium dining which means fabulous breakfasts and dinners at a large restaurant opposite the Wave.

But if you are boarding on a premium dining basis you also qualify for varying degrees of spend at Papa John’s pizza restaurant and even celebrity Chef Brian Turner’s swish resort restaurant Turner’s.

Breakfasts, which so often end up as a rushed affair in our house, turned into an hour-long extravaganza at Butlin’s, thanks to the huge choice of continental pastries, pancakes, the traditional full English and of course the kids’s own cooked counter, which is available at every meal.

This set us up for the day, which is a good thing when you see what’s on offer in the weekly entertainment programme.

Our children love the Butlin’s shows and the following few days turned into a whirl of singing, dancing and all their favourite characters, from Bob the Builder to Angelina Ballerina, and our favourite this year – the Sesame Street Show.

Splash Waterworld is also a vital component of the Butlin’s recipe and kids of all ages, and adults, love the mix of warm wave pool, kids’ adventure pools, slides and ‘wave rider’ which takes you on a crazy dinghy ride across the top of the pool complex before bringing you back to Earth with a splash.

New this year was the Character Theatre, which added even more great shows.

And new fairground rides, which are all free.

Evening meals were difficult – choosing what of the many options to eat, that is.

As well as a choice of two roasts each night, there was a grill cooking to order, a fresh pasta station and several hot and cold choices. So be prepared to gain a few pounds at Butlin’s.

We had a mix of rain and showers at Butlin’s, but it’s difficult to remember the weather because, frankly, it’s pretty unimportant.

Our girls left the Wave with heavy hearts and clutching gifts from the Butlin’s Store.

The adults left tired but happy and having secretly enjoyed it as much as the kids...

FACTS

The Wave Hotel & Apartments is Butlin’s Bognor Regis’ newest hotel, which opened in July 2012 and cost £25million.

It has a combination of 29 self-catering apartments and 215 rooms, some of which are interconnecting n Apartments feature spacious living and kitchen areas, with bright and quirky under-the-sea themed designs n All apartments and many rooms have spacious balconies, many with sea views n It features a 21st-century games room, a Kindle library, Soho coffee cafe and bar, free wifi, and ample parking.

Breaks staying in Wave Hotel rooms start from £55 per person and apartments start from £95 per person, based on four sharing a mid-week break.

Premium Dining, eating in The Deck restaurant, starts from £21 per adult and £10.50 per child per day.

Book online at www.butlins.com or call 0845 0704730.

Breaks are priced per person and subject to availability.