It's a rip-off! Traditional seaside holiday leave families feeling short-changed

The vast majority love the idea of giving their children a traditional bucket-and-spade holiday with its donkey rides, Punch & Judy, and fairgrounds.

But most are left disappointed - and not just by the lack of sunshine.

Of the 2,000 parents surveyed, around 75 per cent said a trip to the seaside costs far too much.

They report having to pay £120 for a basic hotel room, in towns where a single ice cream can cost £3.

Blackpool emerged as the worst place for a family holiday, with Hastings and Bognor faring little better.

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Is it too expensive to enjoy the seaside?

Many of the complaints centred around the level of service offered to those with children.

Almost 75 per cent of respondents think holiday hotels see babies and young children as a nuisance.

Twenty per cent said they had been turned away by hoteliers simply because they had youngsters with them.

Only 50 per cent of hotels could provide a high chair on request, while 40 per cent did not have cots.

Just over 50 per cent of those quizzed said their room 'wasn't as clean as it should have been'.

And 66 per cent said the meals on offer for children were unhealthy - such as chicken nuggets and fries - or poor quality.

British seaside resorts are also perceived as being old-fashioned and tacky.

Fifty per cent of families said towns need to 'clean up their act' and remove litter and dog dirt.

In terms of prices, parents say they 'feel fleeced' even on a day trip to the seaside, which costs £84 on average.

Some 96 per cent think beach car parks overcharge, while 86 per cent say the price of a meal at a seaside cafe is too high.

Ultimately, only 20 per cent of those surveyed by Mother & Baby magazine and Mothercare rated the British holiday hotel they stayed in as 'excellent value'.

The vast majority - 70 per cent - felt that taking a holiday overseas was cheaper, despite the extra travelling costs involved.

The chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, Bob Cotton, admitted the job of rescuing some of the more rundown seaside resorts was immense.

'Frankly, I would not want to stay in some of these places myself,' he said.

But he described the survey's wide-ranging attack on the hotel industry as unfair.

'Hotels are like High Street shops. Some will be family-friendly because that is the market they are interested in, while others will be more adult,' he said. 'People really do need to research.'

He rejected the attack on food standards, saying that hotels now score extremely well internationally for the quality of their food.

But the editor of Mother & Baby, Elena Dalrymple, said: 'It doesn't seem British hotels have moved much beyond the Basil Fawlty model.

'All most families really want is a decent-sized room, preferably with en-suite facilities, good food for the children and themselves and a clean, welcoming environment. Surely that's not too much to ask?

'With so many threats now from terrorism to global warming, more families want to holiday at home.'

Tamara Sanghvi, of Mothercare, called the results 'particularly disheartening'.

Credit card fraud costs British holidaymakers £1billion a year, a study claims. More than five million tourists will lose an average of £235.

Many have their bags or wallets stolen, or their credit card details taken during transactions online or overseas, the study of 3,000 adults for First Choice Travel Shops and Holiday Hypermarkets found.