Best Western Carlton Hotel - Blackpool, United Kingdom     

Myself and my friend stayed in the Best Western Carlton hotel this October while going to see the illuminations for 2 nights. I let her take charge of booking the hotel and was very pleased with the Carlton. Staff were very friendly and courteous at all time, and checking in was reasonably quick. The hotel appears to be well maintained and clean in all areas, a rather luxurious lift taking us to the 3rd floor where our room was. The room itself was rather small but it was clean and tidy. Beds were comfortable and linen well presented. My only complaint really about the place was the general lack of air conditioning or, actually much air at all! it seemed very stuffy and it was for 2 reasonably cold October nights so I don't know what it would be like in the height of summer. Nevertheless, this was my only fault. The bathroom was clean and complimentary tea coffee etc was provided in the room. An iron and hairdryer was also available. The real plus point of this hotel was the food. Im not exactly rich so I was a bit taken by the prices here but was it was only 2 nights we thought we would eat in the hotel restaurant and it was worth it. Well presented and delicious food with fresh vegetables and freshly cooked main dishes. Service was good if a little slow, but I felt we had spent our money well. The hotel has two restuarants, Englsh and Indian, and there seems to be a definite Indian theme to the eating at the hotel which is pleasant and relaxing. Before we went home we sampled the Indian food which I can honeslty say was one of the best Indian meals I have had. So overall the Carlton was welcoming, relaxing and had lovely food! A last thing to note is basically how awful Blackpool is. The whole place just seemed to be in decline, and in a lot of cases all that was needed was some fresh paint and a bit of imagination! Watch out for people trying to sell you stuff on the streets, I found this most intimidating. Also don't expect anything other than grease, chips and more grease from the local food outlets, one of the reasons we paid more for the hotel restaurant. Anyway's if you DO want to see what Blackpool is all about I think the Carlton is worth a try!

We booked the Carlton on line and had read the reviews which I would say were pretty acurate. When we arrived both staff were on the phone and talking really loud! The reception was a bit scruffy and my heart began to sink. When we entered the room it stank of smoke and we had asked for a no smoking room. We didn't complain because we were only booked for two nights and thought we would manage. We booked at the in-house indian restaurant because the dining room was being used for a wedding reception. We didn't mind because we enjoyed our meal and the service was good if not a little bit pricey with a 10% service charge added to the bill. However when we went to our room at around 10.30pm the noise from the wedding disco was unbearable and went on until after midnight we couldn't hear the t.v or sleep. If only we had been warned we would not have booked. The breakfast was good and the staff were pleasant and efficient. The location was good too. There is a good car park but it does get full early in the afternoon. I would probably stay again but only if I was desperate