Blackpool Hotels – Back to the Future

Scary landladies standing threateningly at the door with rolling pin in hand. Urgent warnings to visitors to be in by 9.30 ‘or else’. No concept of customer service. That may be the caricature – but it bears no resemblance to what’s really happening amongst hotels in Blackpool.

It may come as something of a disappointment to those seeking a Blackpool landlady who looks like Les Dawson in drag, but Blackpool hotels - and Blackpool landladies, for that matter - aren’t like that.
We’re not even sure they ever were, but they’re certainly not like that now.

As the town undergoes massive regeneration, Blackpool hotels are set to continue a regeneration of their very own.

Hotels in Blackpool – changing rooms…

Blackpool hotels still cater for a huge market – it is said that there are more beds in Blackpool than in the whole of Portugal – but that market has changed. One size no longer fits all. So whether you’re in town on business or monkey business there’s a hotel designed for you.

This fracturing of the traditional role of hotels in Blackpool means you’ll now find large, corporate chains mixing happily with newer, cooler boutique hotels. There are Blackpool hotels aimed squarely at the more mature market, at families or at the gay market. Other hotels in Blackpool offer the non-stop party that stag or hen nights seek on their last night of freedom.

Yet it is true that an ever expanding variety of hotels in Blackpool doesn’t necessarily correspond with a similarly expanding level of quality.

The battleaxe landlady mat be the stuff of legend but that doesn’t mean the service to be had amongst Blackpool hotels is uniformly excellent. Sadly it isn’t uniformly excellent – not yet at any rate. But things are improving. They’re having to in order to keep pace with the town that continues to improve around them.

Building beside the seaside…

Blackpool is busy building. The South Promenade development is now complete. It makes a wonderful place to stroll, cycle or walk the dog amidst the stirring public artworks, with the sea crashing against the newly rebuilt defences.

Central promenade nears completion and work is underway on the Tower headland. When complete it will offer an open air 20,000 capacity arena opposite Blackpool Tower that will bring bigger acts to the town and bigger crowds to watch them.

The Talbot Gateway development is underway which will bring far more business to the heart of town. A mooted university complex is in its early stages and the tramway is set for an £80m overhaul.

So much development will inevitably bring more visitors and more business to the town, and Blackpool hotels know they will have to respond.

Blackpool hotels – rooms for a better Blackpool.

Work has already started on updating some of the promenade hotels to 21st century levels of expectation. Boutique hotels are seeing huge levels of investment to attract a wealthier clientele. But even those hotels in Blackpool who don’t have the budgets to complete an overhaul of their premises are looking at the service propositions they offer and are seeking to improve and capitalise.

That’s why some family hotels in Blackpool are emphasising their home-cooked food, the extreme comfort of their beds, or the peace and tranquillity their particular location offers. It’s why some stag and hen hotels are offering en-suite facilities in every room, chill-out zones, 24hr bars, 24 hr food and games zones. These are, surely, levels of quality that only a few years ago would have been thought excessive for a party hotel anywhere – let alone Blackpool.

Other hotels in Blackpool are positioning themselves as bases to enjoy the best of Blackpool’s alternative attractions – the ones that don’t involve rollercoasters, towers and sandcastles. The Fylde Coast has more stunning links golf courses packed into its few short miles than anywhere else on the planet, including three championship or qualifying courses. Why they didn’t do it before is a mystery, but Blackpool hotels offering stay and play deals are now increasing in number.

Yet more hotels in Blackpool are capitalising on the cabaret and theatre scene, on the so called ‘grey market’, the gay market or on the natural attractions just beyond Blackpool’s borders, such as the majestic Forest of Bowland.

As the town improves so do its hotels. The drive is on to improve the overall level of accommodation in Blackpool just as the drive is on to improve the overall quality of Blackpool itself.

Hotels for the future

The rolling pins have long-since been put away. The twitching net curtains no longer twitch. They’re not net either. Visitors can enjoy the stay that they seek, be it peace and relaxation or wild partying, in an environment designed specifically for them. And wherever they stay they can enjoy the continuing improvements in quality.

Blackpool is growing and developing. It’s a redevelopment with a goal: to maintain Blackpool’s position as the UK’s premier seaside resort. Looking at the work that is planned you can’t help feel that Blackpool’s future is set to be as exciting as its past. The hotels in Blackpool know this – and the march is on to ensure that the accommodation keeps pace with the rest of the change in the town.

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