Ambassador Hotel, Southport

...array of shops and the Ambassador is set perfectly for ALL amenities. At the end of the road you have a street with amusement arcades, restaurants etc on, turn right and the same road will take you to the pier within seconds. There are a couple of supermarkets that I recall Morrison's and Sainsbury's. There are loads of other shops all within easy walking distance of the hotel. The pleasure land which was a fun fair unfortunately closed just before ...
...its £5.00.

Thanks for reading - highly recommended

http://www.ambassadorsouthport.com/index.html

Ambassador hotel
13 Bath Street, Southport,
Merseyside, PR9 0DP

T: 01704 543998

Rates from £40 pppn - £200 pppw
  ... more

I'm still not quite sure why we picked Southport as our holiday resort for this year (2006), but the decision having been made we needed to chose a hotel. Now I'm not sure about anyone else, but I like to do a bit of research prior to booking my UK breaks at least, nothing in depth - maybe reviewing it on line or sending an email to the hotel to see the response - that sort of thing. In this case I happen to have some genuine questions and sent an email to inquire. I was very happy with the response from the owner Tracy which I received within hours (if not minutes) of clicking the send button. A decision was made following some telephone conversations where Tracy told us about the area and what it had to offer etc, and we booked.

Months later it was time to make our way via train to sunny Southport and enjoy a week of luxury - or so the hotel web site would have us believe. Needless to say the train journey didn't go exactly according to plan (do they ever), and we were running late. It just so happened Tracy gave us a ring the day before departure to ensure everything was OK and to see if we had an ETA (expected time of arrival) which we happily shared with her. However what with our trains having work done on the lines and us needing to get a taxi bus from Crewe to Liverpool South parkway late we would be. Having felt like Tracy was a new friend I rang to let her know of our new eta...

Eventually we arrived in Southport train station and found the taxi rank where we managed to squeeze our larger than average frames into two taxi's. Unbeknown to us the hotel was literally a few minutes walk away, but we got our first glimpse of the town that was to be our home for the next week.

THE HOTEL

The hotel from the outside is nothing to say 'I'm special' apart from the fact it had a small extension built on the front. In order to get in the hotel you need to climb about five steps - so wheelchair bound people would not be able to stay here (I can manage short distances).

As you walk through the main doorway you will note that the hotel is spotlessly clean and a glance to the left shows the 'resident' day room (more on that later) which again is spotless - but what about the rooms? We had a ground floor room (they have one) which is spacious enough with twin beds, a TV, sink, and separate shower/toilet. Again the room is spotless and I cannot fault the attention to detail that this room has. The beds are fully made up with hefty cushions set on top and a silky throw to make the room 'up market'. The tea and coffee making facilities are excellent. You get a complimentary bottle of water the first day of your stay, along with tea bags, milk sugar, and aero hot chocolate drinks. You are not permitted to eat or drink in your room they would prefer it if you did this in the residents day room. One thing I always look for with tea and coffee making facilities is the cleanliness of the kettle and trust me there was no lime scale on this little boiler.

The hotel decor was all designed by Tracy with Steve doing most (if not all) the work himself, and is cherub/old French style and quite something to look at - this hotel certainly knows the saying 'No expense spared'.

So with our rooms covered lets take you to the residents day room: Inside the small room you will find a selection of drinks and snacks all of which are available via what was called ' the honesty bar'. This is where you eat and drink and put each item on the sheet of paper and pay at the end of the week. Prices are average for hotels but you are allowed to bring your own drinks and food into the hotel for your peruse. They also provide glasses, a cd player with selection of CD's, TV, and a selection of board games. There is limited amount of seats in the day room though, so it'll be first come first seated I guess. Rooms are cleaned daily.

THE GREETING
The hotel is run by a married couple Tracy and Steve Holgate - who just happen to share the same anniversary as us. They had been married seven years while we were visiting, and they even sent us a greeting card, which was very nice. Anyway I cannot fault the way in which we were treated from our first contact with the hotel right through to our last goodbye (no tears thank you).

THE FOOD

It turns out that the hotel is run solely by Tracy and Steve with a little help from a cleaner or two, this of course means that Steve cooks breakfast and Tracy tries to deliver it to your table (without spilling it - her words not mine). The hallways plays host to a table where you will find menu sheets, you need to fill these to change you breakfast for the next day. So for example if you want egg on toast Tomorrow you tick the boxes on the sheet and leave it on the table by 6pm.

You can have cereal, yogurt, fruit, and juice along with tea and coffee. The next piece of your breakfast comes from the kitchens in the hosts living quarters, You can choose full English, eggs (you way) on toast, cheese on toast, breakfast muffin, and other items including fruit platter.

Now for the best part - tasting! The breakfast is freshly cooked and arrives at your table HOT and fresh (unlike other places I have stayed). Everything is cooked superbly and I cannot fault the breakfast other than the hot water didn't stay too hot in the pot, but that was my only minor problem. You have the obligatory toast of course to 'wash' the breakfast down or overfill your stomach.

The hotel do not do evening meals, this is due to the vast amount of local eateries where food is dirt cheap - they simply couldn't compete.

The array of snacks and drinks in the day room include crisps, chocolate, mini bottles of alcohol, beers, cokes, water etc.

DISABLED ACCESS

As a disabled person myself I can vouch that the hotel is suitable only if you can manage SOME steps and book the ground floor room. I couldn't manage the shower so had to content myself with strip washes and hair washes. If you rely totally on your wheelchair and are unable to take any steps then this is not suitable for you, which is a shame as I highly recommend it. The Southport area though is fairly flat and wheelchair friendly mainly.

IN SOUTHPORT

Southport has a vast array of shops and the Ambassador is set perfectly for ALL amenities. At the end of the road you have a street with amusement arcades, restaurants etc on, turn right and the same road will take you to the pier within seconds. There are a couple of supermarkets that I recall Morrison's and Sainsbury's. There are loads of other shops all within easy walking distance of the hotel. The pleasure land which was a fun fair unfortunately closed just before we got there (must have known we were coming). The pier (within a minutes walk) is the second longest in England next to Southend and you can pay £1.00 to take a trip by tram to the end (And a £1 back). At the end of the pier you'll find a pavilion which has a nice little cafe in, along with old style penny machines - a great way to bring back memories.

A vue cinema and bowling alley along with various restaurants are located nearer the sea front (don't expect to see the sea though - it's a rare sight). You can also catch a bus or train to Blackpool for a day trip (which we did), Manchester, or Liverpool (which we did).

EATING

You'll certainly not go hungry in Southport - trust me! Sunday night just at the end of the road there is a chinese restaurant which provides you with 'as much as you can eat' buffet for about £5 or so, and was delicious. There are also a couple of Wetherspoons which do two meals for £5.49 or some price like that, a Brewers fayre (good deals in there too), Nando's, Chiquito's, Frankies and Jerry's, fish and chip shops, Mc Donalds, Pizza huts, also provide variations to what you can eat.

SOMETHING STRANGE

I do have to confess all was not well in Southport when we were there...example at the corner of the road in which the hotel lies is a little pub with benches outside. Our first night after eating our fish and chips I suggest we should sit here and have a drink. In they go to order the drinks. Out they come with mainly cokes, the pub had no wine, no vodka, no malibu and no cider - YES it was a pub honestly!

Then our on anniversary we chose to dine at Frankies and Jerrys (I think thats the name though I could be wrong) and they had run out of the first main dish we ordered And the vodka! Now I'm not sure whether the people of Southport like a drink or six or whether they had heard of my wife's reputation with the bottle - but it did seem strange to run out of all these usually well stocked things

Southport we were told (by the bus driver taking us to Blackpool) is 75% older people, which probably explains why everything shut up by about 8pm-10pm. I do have to add though that if it was 75% full of older people we didn't see them in great abundance.

OVERALL

Overall I highly recommend the hotel Tracy and Steve made you feel like friends instead of guests from the initial contact to the final goodbye. Both seemed well up on their knowledge of the area and surrounding area including transport links. The breakfasts were excellent, the rooms super and spotlessly clean. In fact I find it very difficult to fault the hotel in any way. We had a back room which was lovely and quiet .I can't fully vouch for the quietness of front facing rooms, although the others in our party only mentioned one night of noise from a drunken staggering out of the pub (they sold beer remember and no it wasn't my wife). We were lucky enough to see the firework display while we were there which was superb, and free if you find a spot on the bridge or other free place - otherwise its £5.00.

Thanks for reading - highly recommended

http://www.ambassadorsouthport.com/index.html

Ambassador hotel
13 Bath Street, Southport,
Merseyside, PR9 0DP

T: 01704 543998

Rates from £40 pppn - £200 pppw
 

...less