Windmill hotel

...- that place being The Windmill Hotel and Steak Bar on Blackpool's South Shore Promenade.

Before I knew it, thanks to Carol sending me a link, I had given myself an introduction to this sea front hotel via the website, accompanied by the strains of a once great Carly Simon hit "nobody does it better", so here we are, on the way to Blackpool to discover, if indeed "nobody does it better" than Carol and husband Pete, ...
...Steak House you'll find The Windmill Hotel.

Hotel, B&B, Guest House or Ciao members' home?

Well, in truth maybe it is just a little of all four, most importantly really, having now had the privilege of staying there, the latter I think. This place is Carol and Pete's home, in a very real sense an extension of their personality. It is both family home and business. Where one ends and the other starts is a little difficult ... more

As I am not exactly sure where I stand ethically on this particular review, I am going to own up, right up front - and declare "an interest"

OK, Tony Blair (or should that be Cherie?) moment over, I will get on with the rest of my story, sorry review.

Yes, for a start, you are all asking yourselves 'who in their right mind goes to stay in Blackpool at this time of the year'. Just in case you are reading this prior to your summer holiday, I am writing this review on a very frosty November day.

Come on now, the author of this piece is RICHADA - you wouldn't really expect me to go there when the weather is bright, sunny and warm - at a time when the golden mile is just that - would you? No, give me grey, closed down, wintry Blackpool any day.

I am of course being just a little tongue in cheeked there. Whilst all English sea side resorts take on a fascinating "out of season" character in the winter, Blackpool is, let's face it, a rather dull place to be once the wonderful lights go out at the start of November.

At this time of the year, business takes us to the industrial North-West, it is time for RICHADA to play Santa Claus with his customers, gifting promotional calendars and carrying out the annual "pressing of the flesh" ceremony. As our company calendars are very popular, doors are opened and during a whistle stop four day 1200 mile marathon some 250 or so calendars find happy new homes.

Obviously our happy home has to be left during this period as we need to be based in the region to visit around 50 customers, several fortunately on the same large sites, over the allocated time period.

Blackpool? Industrial? Well, unless a silent industrial revolution has taken place there since last November, no it is not, with due respect to Mr Smolenski's TVR Engineering Ltd.

Recently, over the last couple of years, we have in order to keep costs down, and because two stay for the price of one, been using either Premier Lodges or preferably the much better Innkeepers Lodges. As a single man and in better times economically, I really used to enjoy staying at one of the old traditional hotels on St Annes sea front, usually the Chadwick or Fernlea.

When we finish the days work, trawling busy industrial estates, pounding the motorways and choked Manchester streets, we do not wish to relax in the evening, or indeed sleep, in a hotel facing factories and motorways.

This year though was a little different, and for that I can only thank Ciao, hence the declaration at the start…..

…….as you all know, we are a diverse bunch we members, in all walks of life and occupations…….

…..then there is one Carol Burns, Blackpool erh hum, "Land Lady"!

When Carol and I first met, of course I had no idea about her "calling" so to speak. Having an interest in businesses of all types, we found ourselves discussing the ins and outs of the catering and hotel trades - in the broadest terms. Indeed, I even encouraged her to write a review on setting up and running this very business.

What followed was some very enjoyable and harmless banter, into which several other members were drawn (you'll know who you are!) at which stage Carol knick named me "The Madman of Ciao"!

Sorry, full of my own verbosity as usual!

One thing lead to another, with me saying that I was going to don a disguise (no Don, not turn up disguised as you!) and check her place over - that place being The Windmill Hotel and Steak Bar on Blackpool's South Shore Promenade.

Before I knew it, thanks to Carol sending me a link, I had given myself an introduction to this sea front hotel via the website, accompanied by the strains of a once great Carly Simon hit "nobody does it better", so here we are, on the way to Blackpool to discover, if indeed "nobody does it better" than Carol and husband Pete, at The Windmill.

Those of you who watch the goings on, here on Ciao closely, may already remember that a mutual friend of ours had indeed visited Carol at The Windmill, and was chastised by me for not even visiting the loo! What kind of consumer researcher is that? I ask you?

Never mind….send a young lady in to do a man's job and all that!

So, here we are, it is Sunday, a freezing cold late November afternoon, we have driven up from Brighton, stopping at an old favourite (no longer - it had changed hands) pub for a late lunch just outside of Blackburn, on the way. Before going to sleep, an early night prior to starting my business rounds in the morning, I penned (yes, with a genuine fountain pen!) the following impressions.

"There's a man lives over the fish and chip shop thinks he's Elvis"……….

……..well maybe not quite, but over a Blackpool fish and chip shop you will find the "Texas Steak House", and over the Texas Steak House you'll find The Windmill Hotel.

Hotel, B&B, Guest House or Ciao members' home?

Well, in truth maybe it is just a little of all four, most importantly really, having now had the privilege of staying there, the latter I think. This place is Carol and Pete's home, in a very real sense an extension of their personality. It is both family home and business. Where one ends and the other starts is a little difficult to tell, but then this follows in the best traditions of great British hospitality - home away from home.

We (Mrs R. and I) are lucky enough to know Blackpool quite well, having visited often and we actually married in 2001 at the Registry Office there. Of course we knew where the windmill USED to be situated. Like most Blackpool land marks the windmill was only a replica, maybe two thirds life size, however as Carol had already briefed me the windmill was no more - demolished, to make way for a new sea wall. Well we knew where it was and that opposite was situated The Windmill Hotel and Texas Steak Bar. Now the only "windmill" on the front is Pete and Carol's place!

For those of you who do not know Blackpool, it is easy enough to find, just past the South Pier heading towards the famous Tower, through a set of traffic lights and it is immediately on your left.

Two things at this point, if you have arrived by car, as we did last Sunday afternoon at 4.00p.m, then parking will be your first problem. The second one will be actually finding the front door - it is to the left of the fish and chip shop.

Having achieved both aims - i.e. parking and entering the front door, you are welcomed by a particularly and attractive warm smell - NO, NOT frying fat - but potpourri. The décor as you ascend the stairs matches this welcoming smell, soft reds and pinks and attractive pink glass petal lamp shades.

The reception sign points you into the bar, which runs along the back of the Steak House restaurant.

The hotel website boasts that the Steak House enjoys some of the best views in Blackpool, that is no idle boast either, sitting down you are either looking straight out to sea or along the prom to one of the piers, dependant on your table. Judging by the salt caked windows, the window cleaners must be fighting a constantly loosing battle with the elements at this time of the year.

As the "Texas Steak House" handle would suggest, there is very much an American theme in this room. Strictly speaking it is not the Restaurant that I am reviewing here, as our purpose on this visit was business, it was to be the Bed and Breakfast that we were using as a base for our few days in the North-West. However, it was in these surroundings i.e. the Steak House, that we first met our hosts, Carol and Pete.

Whilst my wife was engaged in conversation with their two Poles, (that is Polish workers - not exotic dancers) Carol showed me to our room - the green room, up stairs above the bar. I have stayed in other small hotels in this part of the world which share the Windmill's maze of stairs and corridors, in total there are 9 bedrooms, 3 of which are family rooms - all rooms are en-suite.

Our room, the green room, was located on the south eastern corner of the building and had the benefit of wonderful sea and promenade views through patio doors which lead out onto a large, shared balcony with the two adjacent rooms. At least the views would have been wonderful were it not for the freezing November fog.

Incidentally "in season" The Windmill is in the thick of the main "lights" strip.

Conditions allowing, and you will have to read on in order to verify that remark, there is no reason why you should not have a peaceful nights' sleep here. This being a B&B, there are no radios or Televisions in the rooms - one of the worst sources of annoyance and disturbance in poorly insulated hotel rooms in my experience. I am unable to inform you as to how well the walls deaden sound; the two rooms adjacent to ours were unoccupied during our two night stay.

The rooms - I did have a nose in the others on our floor, vary in colour and decorations, are adequate in size, simple and clean with small en-suite shower rooms. Unlike the larger hotels in which I have stayed along the coast, the room was not overheated by central heating. Again, as built, this originally being intended a summer season B&B, central heating would have been regarded as unnecessary. A small convection heater in the room, placed in front of the patio doors was just enough to remove the chill from the large glass area leading out to the balcony.

The only thing that I found actually lacking was a shaver point in the en-suite bathroom. Being an "electric shaver" I would have found this very inconvenient had I not have brought my re-chargeable shaver with me fully charged. If you do use an electric shaver, I would advise bringing with you a three pin adaptor plug.

Whilst on the subject of electrics, all rooms are provided with a kettle and complementary tea and coffee, although Pete very kindly pointed out that the coffee from the machine in the steak bar was superior. Mrs R. has now turned into the typical "Brit abroad" (for the few that are reading this and do not know - she's Polish!) and always carries our own tea bags with her!

If you have read Carol's review on setting up and running this very business, you may well remember that all the mattresses were replaced. In actual fact I can only comment here that this was probably the most comfortable bed on which I, or we, have slept away from home.

If you are missing the television whilst staying at The Windmill, Carol and Pete are more than happy to share their "TV Lounge" with you - a full range of Sky programmes are available for your enjoyment.

All of which brings me back full circle, to mad dogs and RICHADA visiting a summer season town like Blackpool in November. We were not happy at having missed the Illuminations for the second year running but our luck was about to change……

……By way of compensation, right outside our bedroom window at 4.00a.m, I "enjoyed" a remarkable display! Yes, having pulled down the windmill some six weeks previously, work on building the new sea wall defences started at 4.00a.m sharp on Monday morning! Heavy earth movers, bulk carriers and smaller JCB's all with diesel engines starting up, turning on their orange flashing lights (pity, I remember the illuminations having more than one colour) and proceeding to perform a well orchestrated "ballet" across the sand. Oh, I almost forgot, all of this is done under the glare of huge arc lights providing artificial daylight. Adding to this performance was a neat little level crossing over the famous tram tracks - complete with piercing claxons sounding each time the barrier raised to let site traffic on and off site.

I could only assume, in those wee small hours, that they were tied into some huge penalty clause and had to finish this work before the season starts next year. They obviously were assuming that at this time of the year there was nobody in residence here.

Over breakfast on Monday morning, Pete explained that this was part of a £96 million sea wall defence scheme. Works HQ are situated immediately opposite the Windmill. I can only hope that in the summer months, they will not be disturbing Carol and Pete's guests so early in the morning. Given a fair crack on with the work over winter, they may even have this section of sea wall complete before the summer season kicks off, in which case someone else's loss will be the Windmill's gain!

Breakfast is served in the Steak House between 8.30 and 9.30a.m, cooked and served by either Pete or Carol and Pete's son; Gareth. On Monday Pete cooked it, Tuesday was Gareth's turn, whichever, our egg and bacon, along with toast, was prepared just to our liking. Carol and Pete are justifiably proud of their "full English breakfast", unfortunately we are unable to stomach such fare in the morning, but if the rest of the food served measures up to the superb bacon, then they will not be getting any complaints about the quality of the catering here! It was a pity that we were unable to sample the steak on offer, if it is comparable to the bacon, we would not have been disappointed.

The bar offers a good choice of alcoholic drinks and, as already mentioned, we were invited to use the coffee machine in the bar which dispenses a choice of good quality hot drinks. Unfortunately the range of non-alcoholic drinks was a little disappointing. I make a point of not drinking at all when on business, or naturally driving. My wife and I both finished up drinking tonic water as the only alternative appeared to be Pepsi, which neither of us drink, we would have been happy with mineral water or a fruit juice.

Carol and Pete always have something "going on" at The Windmill. Monday and Thursdays are "Psychic Nights", a local and well attended club meet here. We accepted Carol's invitation to "observe" the Monday evening meeting whilst we were there. Regrettably, whilst Mrs R. and I had both been very much looking forward to taking part in Tuesday's "Country and Western" night, the awful weather causing my business schedule to slip behind, meant that we had to curtail our stay at the Windmill and leave on Tuesday morning.

Whilst we were there the weather was cold with freezing fog. This did rather spoil the benefit of staying on Blackpool Promenade. Due to my demanding work load we ended up spending rather less time in the company of Carol, Pete and family than may otherwise have been the case, i.e. if for instance, we had been here purely for pleasure.

Reading the remarks left in their guest book, before making my own Ciaoist mark there, by many happy guests who have thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality over the last few months, Carol and Pete have not only made many friends here at The Windmill, but have obviously pitched their business at exactly the right level.

For details of the rather complex price structure I am going to bend the rules and point you in the direction of the hotel's web site: www.freewebs.com/windmillhoteltexassteakhouseblackpool

The ratings below are my judgement in comparison with other B & B's in which I have stayed. The Windmill Hotel and Texas Steak Bar does not set out to compete with the large, much more expensive sea front hotels in Blackpool, nor indeed does it need to. Pete and Carol have very much found their 'niche' here, and as a fellow Ciao member I can only wish them continued success with their business.
 

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