Arundel Hotel, Blackpool

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Quality of Rooms	Good
Standard of Service	Average
Quality of Facilities	Average

Advantages:	Quiet location,competitive rates,clean & homely
Disadvantages:	Distance from Blackpool centre,hospitality (see below, my verdict)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I visited Blackpool with my husband and our two children during the Easter holidays, we stayed for three days and two nights in a three star hotel in the North pier area of Blackpool. We won our stay on an Ebay auction but the hotel can also obviously be booked in a more traditional manner (by phone,post or email).

*CONTACT DETAILS*

The proprieters are: Andrew and Roxanne Sandiford

The address is: Arundel Hotel
102 Queens Prom
Blackpool
Lancashire
FY2 9NS

Telephone: 01253 351838
Fax: 01253 595952
Website and Email: www.arundelhotel.com
enquiries@arundelhotel.com

*THE HOTEL*

The hotel building is victorian (as are most in Blackpool), it has twelve rooms altogether, all of which are ensuite with shower, a colour TV, central heating, a hairdryer and tea and coffee making facilities. Rooms available are single,twin,double,family and four poster.

The hotel is situated closest to the North Pier and therefore is about a 20 - 25 minute walk into Blackpool and all of it's attractions. There is a tram and bus stop ideally situated opposite the hotel. The hotel is completely NON SMOKING, if you are found to be smoking ANYWHERE in the hotel you will be asked to leave. Pets are not allowed. There is a Holistic beauty salon within the hotel where you can book to have a facial or massage during your stay, there is also internet access, a sun lounge and a well stocked bar with widescreen TV and DVD player. There are car park spaces for upto eight cars at the front of the hotel.

*THE TARIFF*

Rates are for 2006

1st July - 30th June £22
1st July - 30th Aug £24
1st Sept - 5th Nov £28
6th Nov - 31st Dec £22

All prices are per person per night based on two sharing. All prices include a full english breakfast, evening meal is available at an extra cost. Rates double for Christmas. No pets allowed.

Personal quotes and hotels latest offers can be obtained by contacting the hotel by telephone, post, fax or email.

*MY EXPERIENCE*

We won our two night stay on Ebay, it cost us just £74 for the four of us to stay in an en-suite family room for two nights! I telephoned the hotel to sort out our arrival date and pay, the man who answered the phone told me that he didn't deal with the bookings and asked me to phone back later to speak to his wife. Not a good start I thought , but I did phone back and booked us in for a two night stay which I paid for in full using my debit card.

Two weeks later we arrived at the hotel at midday, we had been told our room would be ready around lunchtime. We were greeted by the man that I had spoken to on the phone previously, his name is Andrew, he and his wife run the hotel, they also have three children. His welcoming manner left alot to be desired as he listed off the rules of do's and don'ts, he then showed us to our room.

We had booked a family room, this consisted of a double bed and bunks in one room and a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower cubicle. We also had a colour portable TV fixed onto the wall, a hairdryer, a radiator and tea and coffee making facilities. The room was tastefully decorated with adequate storage and most importantly to me, it was clean. We each had a bath and hand towel and our beds were made for us the morning after we had spent our first night. The hotel was very quiet as only three rooms were occupied, but I would imagine it is quiet at most times due to it's location you don't get any noise from the town itself.

Breakfast was served between 9am - 9.30am. We may have been a little eager on our first morning and found ourselves waiting in the sun lounge at 8.55am until we were called in for breakfast at 9.05am. The dining room is traditionally decorated with black beams on the ceiling and white walls covered in old memoribilia and family photos, this gives it a homely feel I thought. There was plenty of choice layed out for you to help yourself, cereals,fruit,toast,yoghurt and of course a full english breakfast. We all had a bowl of cereal then a cooked breakfast, this consisted of 1 sausage, 2 bacon, fried egg, fried bread and beans or tomato and as much toast as you could eat. The food was hot and filling, but nothing out of this world. We didn't eat here for our evening meal so I can't tell you anything about that.

The hotel also has a sun lounge, why? Most of the hotels have them, I personally think they're a waste of time in Blackpool as you hardly see the sun. But I suppose it's a nice place to sit and take in the view with a drink. This hotels sun lounge isn't the best example I've seen, it's full of old furniture and broken toys that doesn't make you want to stay in there long enough to even look at the view of the sea front. This part of the hotel could seriously do with a makeover as it's the first part guests see and it leaves alot to be desired.

The bar is only a small room with about three tables and a few chairs, the bar itself looks well stocked, but when we ordered a drink Andrew told us nothing was on draught as it wasn't cost effective, so instead we had a can of lager each poured into glasses, he told us to switch the TV on if we liked, then left us to it. He spent most of his time messing about on his PC behind the reception counter. Our two children were bored and had noticed a playstation in the sun lounge area, so I told my eldest to go and ask Andrew at reception if there were any games for it, he said he would look but went back on his PC first, when he did bring two games over he quite abruptly told my son to make sure he gave them back!

I received a free facial, shoulder and neck massage with our booking, this is because we stayed during mid-week. This was the best part of the holiday for me personally, I've never had one before so I didn't really know what to expect. Roxanne, Andrews wife, is fully qualified and so does the treatments herself. This is the only time I really saw her in the hotel during our stay, it seemed as though she left the rest to her husband Andrew. I was in the holistic beauty room which was situated towards the back of the hotel for almost an hour. During this time I had a full facial and a head, shoulder and neck massage. There was peaceful background music and I felt completely relaxed for an hour, Roxanne really new what she was doing and I would recommend having this done if you do ever decide to stop at the hotel. The free facial and massage offer is open to men aswell as women, but there was no chance I was going to let my hubby have it!

*MY VERDICT*

The Arundel Hotel is good value for money and offers clean and comfortable surroundings for singles, couples and families. They don't allow hen and stag parties, pets or smoking, which all help to keep the hotel clean and fresh. The food is adequate and you can help yourself to as much as you like, the rooms are satisfactory in size and are all en-suite, which is a bonus. The only thing that lets this hotel down is the hospitality of the hosts themselves, their job is to make the guests feel welcome and want to return in the future, but this isn't the case with Andrew, he comes across as being rude and bored with running the hotel. He makes you feel as though he's doing you a favour serving your food and sorting out any problems you may have, he never once said hello or asked how our day had been when we came back through reception after a day out, he was always on his computer with his head down. Roxanne on the other hand is the perfect host, she's polite and sociable the only problem is she's hardly ever seen.

Also if you want to be in with all of Blackpools pubs, clubs and amusements then this hotel may be too out of the way for you as you need to get on the tram or bus to get into Blackpool, either that or walk 20 - 25 mins.