The Imperial Hotel

I noticed that there are two seperate categories for the town of Blackpool and I have already done a comprehensive opinion about the town itself on the holiday destinations category, so I thought that I would use this extra category to post an opinion about the best hotel that I have ever stayed in.

The Imperial Hotel stands on the sea front of the North Shore of Blackpool, between the North Pier and Gynn Square for those of you who know the area. It is one of sixteen hotels owned by the Paramount Group.

The Imperial is a beautiful Victorian building built in the late 1800’s, which has been carefully restored to its former glory, and has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment. It is close to Blackpool Railway Station and just two miles from Blackpool Airport.

We have been regular visitors to the Imperial since we joined the Leisure Break Club, which gives us discounts on the cost of our stay. We usually go for a weekend in March, when the offer at the hotel is two for the price of one and the Pleasure Beach rides all cost 80p, and again in October to see the illuminations.

When we arrived at the Imperial we were given the key to our room and the room number – imagine our surprise when we got to the room to find that it was the Dickens Suite! At first I thought that Dave had gone ahead and paid the £200 but no, the manager had decided to give us the suite for no extra cost, as it was vacant that weekend. Admittedly there was scaffolding up across the windows on the front of the building as the refurbishment was still in progress, so maybe they couldn’t let out the room at the normal price.

The bedroom was enormous with a king-sized bed, wardrobe, two bedside cabinets, a table and chair, television unit with television and an easy chair. There were all the usual facilities including tea tray, trouser press, chocolates, fruit, bottled water, bathrobes and another telephone.

When we arrived at our room the housekeeper was in the room drawing the curtains and turning down the bed for us and she asked us if there was anything further that we needed. The following evening Dave was having a shower and I was in the bedroom when the telephone rang. I answered it and it was the housekeeper asking me if I would like her to come and close the curtains and turn down the bed for me! I said no, thank you, of course, but how’s that for service? She again asked us if we had got everything that we needed.

The Palm Court Restaurant has recently been refurbished and is even nicer than it was before. It actually reopened the first night that we were there in March this year. You would never have known it though, all the staff, in their new uniforms, were all as efficient as ever, and no one would have guessed that the layout and procedures had all changed.

The carvery main course has two or three different joints of meat together with two or three other alternatives such as lamb steaks in minted gravy or chicken breasts in a delicious sauce, and there is always at least one good vegetarian main course. The chef serves this to you and then you choose your vegetables from a good selection on display on the heated surface.

The breakfast is also served in the Palm Court Restaurant and is also a buffet style. You are shown to your table where your order for tea or coffee and toast is taken and you are told to help yourself to everything else.

You then move on to the cooked part of the breakfast, served buffet style, which consists of fried eggs, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, tomatoes, baked beans, fried potatoes, mushrooms, and hash browns!

The No 10 Bar is a stylish yet cosy place to have a pre or post dinner drink. The décor is of huge mirrors with the inscription of the names of Prime Ministers and various photographs adorn the walls. They have an extensive range of drinks including all the Scottish malt whiskeys. Snacks and light meals are also served in here.

The members of staff are all extremely helpful. The people staffing the reception desk make sure that checking in and out is a quick, efficient and painless process and they take notice of you too. If you have booked for a birthday celebration for example they notice and wish you happy birthday. It’s the little things like that, which make you feel welcome. The members of staff in the bar and restaurant are also very efficient and will do anything to make sure you are satisfied with your stay at The Imperial. Once I asked the wine waiter for a glass of dry white wine and he was most apologetic as they had run out. He asked if I would be eating in the restaurant following evening and I said that I would. He told me that he would personally go out and fetch some dry white wine in case the order still hadn’t arrived! Now that’s what I call service!