Bedford Hotel - Blackpool, United Kingdom     

I stayed here at the end of June for the weekend with my mum. We found the hotel easily and there was plenty of parking spaces at the front. As we'd arrived extremely early to check in I went inside and asked if we could park in the car park and check in later. We were met by Adrian who couldn't have been more helpful. When we later checked in we were given a room on the first floor. As there was only 2 of us we were expecting a twin room but we actually got a family room, there was a TV, coffee making facilities and a large wardrobe, chest of drawers etc. The room was very clean as was the bathroom. The pool is on the ground floor and is very clean and was set to 30oC which was a bit like having a very big warm bath, the spa is set in the corner of the pool and was really relaxing, I would recommend a dip. We were booked for half board and the food was excellent, a 3 course evening meal followed by coffee or tea. The meal choices were very good with a choice of 2 starters (the soup is homemade and beautiful), 2 hot main courses (usually roast beef, turkey etc and fish pie, pasta, something like that) or various salads and a choice of dessert (try the cheesecake). Breakfast was a fry up or kippers. There's plenty of cereal, fruit, fruit juice and yoghurts etc, you can also have ham and eggs. The staff are all very friendly, not a pole in sight, and I have to put in a special mention for Adrian who is lovely and seemed to do every job in the place, in fact I don't think he ever goes home. One day I even saw him cleaning the windows! He obviously doesn't get paid enough for the jobs he does and I call for him to have an immediate pay rise. (show this to you bosses Adrian!) All in all we had an excellent stay and we will be back. In fact my mum and dad have already booked a return journey in August and my husband and I are thinking of a visit in October for the illuminations.

Should have taken notice of the sarky comments the manager gave to Tipadvisor-reviews he didn't like. Whilst good reviews receives pats on the back, the ones writing the not-so-good get excuses and even rude comments ("You, the guest, bring the bed-bugs"). Booking.com had so much nice to say about the hotel, so I chose to ignore the bad reviews, thinking some people expect too much. Besides, I often choose to stay in quirky, old hotels, thinking they're more charming than the new chain-hotels. Anyway, I was travelling alone with my 10-year old daughter, and we came over from Norway. Were given a room at the top of the hotel which seemed OK (apart from previous guests' rubbish on the floor) until we heard the elevator. It was so noisy, it woke up us everytime it was used, the last time that night being at half past 1. In the morning, when i complained, the staff seemed a bit baffled, as if they didn't know we had the room closest to the elevator-motor, but we were given a room in the nicer part of the hotel, farther away from the elevator. In there, it was rubbish from other people as well, and the walls were thin enough for us to hear snoring and moaning from other guests, and I had to explain to my daughter about the sounds some people make when they make love. Asking at the reception if we could check out a night earlier than planned, the answer I got was that "you can leave now if you like, but we've already charged you for the full stay". Lovely! At check-out, I had to ask for a receipt, and it was given to me very reluctantly, as if it was something strange to ask for. What I will remember most about this stay, are all the sour faces of the staff. They seemed so miserable, like they'd rather be somewhere else. Never a smile, or a "thank you", or "have a good time". Talked to some of the other guests who were really lovely, though. Apparently they paid half of what we did and had dinner included. After Blackpool, we went to Liverpool. Premier Inn, now that's what I call excellent!