Oh Blackpool, We Love You!

My boyfriend has lived in the north west of England for seven years, albeit spending a year in the middle of that time working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean sea, but ultimately he is a London lad trying to find his way in the gloomy north. As a northern girl, I thought it only right to treat Woody to the delights of our infamous seaside resort, Blackpool, and seven years really makes him an honorary northerner, right? So, you could call this an initiation…

Leaving to spend a month in India last June I wanted to spend some quality time with Woody before I went. We had only recently started living together and I was really going to miss him, plus it was his birthday two days before my departure. Searching for cheap getaways as I do, I came across a too-good-to-be-true sort of deal in Blackpool.

My mum lives on the north west coast so we tend to go over to visit her in Lytham St Anne’s rather than travelling the mile north to Blackpool. I have happy childhood memories of the Blackpool tower (the circus), the donkeys and the illuminations. My Great-grandad was one of the chosen few to paint the tower its current colour of red! I was convinced a nice time was to be had and so the Blackpool deal was booked… “a one night stay with three-course meal, free bar and breakfast for £29.”

We were to stay in Britannia Hotel’s The Savoy, located on Blackpool’s quieter north shore. Trripadviser.co.uk hosted a wide range of contradicting reviews about this hotel, from “nice stay” to “nightmare of a place”. The Britannia Hotels website described a venue that had recently undergone a multi-million pound refurbishment, and it was home to a wealth of period features from when it was originally built in 1915. Maybe this refurbishment had recaptured some of its former grandeur? I was excited.

One reviewer on tripadviser.co.uk explained as follows, “You don't go to a 2nd hand car dealers with £100.00 and expect to buy a Bentley, so don't expect The Ritz when you book into The Savoy”.

He/she was spot on.

We arrived and the sun was shining, that was the first positive to take from the stay. We also found that car parking was free, another bonus. Upon entering the hotel, we found a welcoming reception team and some rather scruffy looking menus were passed our way. The staff didn’t explain the deal but there were some instructions on the menu so we headed to our room. The booking details described a Jacuzzi bath and presented an image of a generally nice room. Unfortunately this wasn’t to be. It was an internal room with no window and a very dated appearance. There was a normal-sizes bath with Jacuzzi-esque plumbing. I don’t really want to criticise because actually the whole place had a certain charm to it.

OK, so the corridors had that typical hospital smell and we were the youngest guests by about 50 years but we are fun-seeking and down to earth, so we ran with it.

The Savoy Hotel, Blackpool

We headed out of the hotel in search of a pint in a local pub and something to snack on. We waited for a never-appearing bus and eventually grabbed a black cab in to the north of the town. We got a drink in a Wetherspoons-type establishment and didn’t stay for two (!!). There were pound and budget shops a-plenty so we headed in to a B&M Bargains and bought a bottle of wine to have back in the hotel room… we figured a little merriness would help with the evening's events, and oh boy did it help!

Back at the hotel we drank the wine and went down for the ‘three-course meal’. It was hilarious! Everybody was old and the waiters were pretty rude. The starters and dessert were a get-up-and-get-it-yourself type affair, and these dishes had been pre-prepared and just left on the side for guests to collect, mmmmm nice. It wasn’t the best BUT we quickly finished the meal and headed to the bar next door and we realised the ‘free bar’ was about to start. Things got better and better. The wine and beers were a bit rubbish if truth be told but the spirits were ‘drinkable’ and by this point we didn’t care, we were just going with the flow.

Then the entertainment came on. My oh my it was brilliant (for all the wrong reasons). It was a one-man-band performing all the traditional northern classics from “pia pia piano, piano, piano, pia pia piano, piapiano” to “to the left, to the right, stand up, sit down” and then he also fancied himself as a comedian. Of course being the youngest in that room by a considerable distance we were immediate targets for him. Other guests were obviously seasoned regulars to the resort and were very friendly. A few were a bit too northern for Woody in terms of his inability to understand what they were saying! One golden couple took a turn around the dance floor demonstrating their excellent ballroom skills and to celebrate their 60 years of marriage, which was a lovely moment.

Me and Woody at the free bar!

Very merry and all laughed-out we decided to call it a day and headed to bed. Happy and all new-experienced out the next morning, we skipped breakfast and headed home.

Since then I have visited Blackpool three times. The improvements made have been enormous and I’ve actually found the common stereotype of Blackpool (stag/hen dos, rundown, tacky, cheap, scary) to be very outdated and is now (in the main) just plain wrong. Yes there are areas of deprivation; the teenage pregnancy rate is one of the highest in the UK, the level of illiteracy is very high too and there are many jobless individuals but these are social and economic issues that are being targeted fiercely with the tourism regeneration strategy of the past 10 years. Improvements are so visible now and it really is such an enjoyable place to visit. Our experience at the hotel required an ‘embrace all things and try to enjoy it’ type attitude but for others it would be the best holiday since sliced bread. There are so many more trendy hotels and things to do and see in the town that I do think that there is now something for everyone. A couple of smart wine bars have even recently emerged, this town is making a come back!

There are still areas that clearly need a good revamp but the blend of the old Victorian era with the modern is really great to see. Original features such as the trams, the illuminations, the tower and the beautiful North Pier are being restored and preserved. There are actually plans to re-introduce the old little train that used to run along the middle of the North Pier taking the people of old in their fine attire from the promenade to the glassed conservatory bar and restaurant at the end of the pier overlooking the sea. I love feeling the history around us!

Mum on the North Pier

I particularly enjoyed a modern piece of visual art - the Comedy Carpet, which is outside the tower and celebrates comedy both old and new. However, it is the Victorian glassed bar with deck-chairs along with the beautiful double-decker old carousel at the end of the North Pier that has found a place in my heart. Sitting on the deck-chairs looking out at sea I could imagine the Victorian men and women walking the same planks of wood and holding on the railings looking at the same sea. It is enchanting and oh-so romantic. In fact the story of this pier goes that a man (who used to be an arcade attendant on it) proposed to his wife on the pier many moons ago telling her that one day he would buy it for her as a gift. Just 40 years later, buy it he did!

Vote Blackpool!


Becky x