Been painting the lounge - it's amazing what a bit of sunshine will do!
Been painting the lounge - it's amazing what a bit of sunshine will do!
Member since:21.10.2000
Reviews:986
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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.
There is a huge car park to the front and the side of the building and we have never had any problems getting a parking space. We just park our car when we arrive and don’t use it again for the duration of our stay, as the famous Blackpool trams run along the seafront from Fleetwood to Starr Gate and there’s a tram stop right outside the hotel.
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.
It has 183 bedrooms, some of which are Premier Rooms, and 10 suites, all of which have been decorated to reflect the original character of the building. All the rooms have the usual facilities hair dryer, telephone, satellite colour television, hospitality tray and trouser press. The Premier Rooms also have mineral water, mints, fresh fruit, a newspaper of your choice delivered to your door, a set of Neutrogena toiletries and a fluffy bathrobe for use during your stay.
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.
This year we booked our weekend in March and, as a surprise, my partner mailed the manager at the Imperial and asked how much it would cost us to upgrade to a suite. He explained that I had had a rough time when I had been dismissed from work due to my continued ill health. He wanted to do something really special to cheer me up. We had paid £150 for dinner, bed and breakfast for the two of us for two nights in a standard room and Dave was told that upgrading to a suite would cost us a further £100 per night. He knew how cross I would have been if he’d paid that sort of money so he just told me what he’d done and that he’d said no, it was too expensive. I told him that I was pleased he’d tried and it was the thought that counts, and I quite agreed that it was too expensive.
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 suite was amazing, I have been in smaller flats! There was a lounge with a huge fireplace and mirror above. There was a two-seater settee and one easy chair, a dining table and three chairs, coffee table, television, video, telephone and sideboard with built in fridge!
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.
The bathroom again was large with a big bath and shower, heated towel rail, loo and sink set into a unit. There was a range of Neutrogena toiletries for us to use, which were replaced the following morning.
Dave had arranged for my favourite flowers, freesias, to be in the room when we arrived but that was the only thing that we had to pay any extra money for. I felt like a Princess for the weekend, the luxury was truly lovely.
Even though the scaffolding was up on the windows on the front of the hotel, our suite was on the corner and so we could still see the sea from the side windows.
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 hotel also has banqueting facilities and eight conference suites. It also has a swimming pool, sauna, spa, solarium, steam room and fully equipped gymnasium. There are also facilities available for beauty therapies including massage. I can’t comment on the standard of these facilities, as we always like to go out and about rather than just stopping in the hotel.
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 food is very good indeed. Everything on the carvery menu is now buffet style, which may conjure up a cafeteria set up but nothing could be further from the truth. The starters are in bowls set in crushed ice to keep them cool and you help yourself to as much or as little as you need. The soup is obviously in an urn to keep it hot. The waiter brings a selection of bread rolls to your table for you to choose from.
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 sweets are again in dishes set in crushed ice and there is a good variety of cheesecakes, fresh fruit, fruit flans, gateaux etc and plenty of fresh cream to pour over. The hot sweets are on the heated surface near to the vegetables and there is a jug of hot custard if you prefer that to cream.
They also have a good range of wines and other drinks served by either the bottle or glass and brought to your table by your waitress.
The carvery meal is the one that is included in the dinner, bed and breakfast package, but you can also opt for a la carte for an extra charge if you prefer. This is served to your table by the waiting staff.
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.
The breakfast consists of six different fruit juices, four cereals, about eight different bowls of fresh fruit ranging from prunes to fresh fruit salad, pots of flavoured yoghurt, a bowl of plain yoghurt, meat and cheese. There is a wide selection of bread and rolls and of course an urn of milk for the cereals.
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!
Trust me, when you’ve had a breakfast like this you daren’t eat much at lunchtime or you’d never be able to eat your evening meal!
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.
There are numerous lounges where you can sit and watch the sea while taking morning coffee or afternoon tea.
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!
The only slight criticism that I can make of the Imperial is that there is a garage directly behind the building, which opens for business early in the morning. If you are unlucky enough to be in a room at the back of the building the noise can be intrusive at times.
We love Blackpool in all its tacky glory and the Imperial is a haven to which we return each evening to be pampered.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This sounds lovely and quite popular if laterooms is anything to go by, a quick check on their site shows the hotel is full for nearly all next week.
Sue
KarmababyUK 06.10.2001 19:53
I loved reading your op cos it reminded me of our stay in the Imperial. It was for my graduation ball and my boyfriend payed for us to stay there the night as a surprise. It was perfect and I had the best time. It was the nicest hotel room that I have ever stayed in. We have already agreed that we will spend an annaversary back here when we are old to remember the first time that we went away together.Louisa:)
zoe_page 14.09.2001 07:53
Wow, sounds like my type of hotel. Pity I live to close to warrant a stay, Zoë
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Aug 28th, 2001
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