During May half term 2019, we decided to take a visit to the ever so bright and colourful Blackpool. We have visited Blackpool several times before. Once we stayed at a Haven site, and the other was at The Big Blue Hotel. We had such a wonderful experience here that we decided to return again. We took advantage of the offer the hotel seems to run during different times of the year. This offer is called The Family Offer and which I will discuss below in more detail.
People either love or hate Blackpool. But, for us it is just great! The kids are happy, which means we are happy. And despite Blackpool’s mixed reputation, we have a ball here. It’s all about what your visiting for, where you go and knowing exactly what to expect. Plus, this seaside resort has literally loads of places to visit as a family, as well as a long stretch of sandy beach.
Whilst we haven’t stayed at any other hotel in Blackpool, I can say that The Big Blue hotel looks the most appealing! It’s family friendly and boasts a 4 star rating. It is also located in a fairly quiet part of the promenade, despite being right next door to Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach. If you are not familiar with Blackpool, it is home to a long stretch of promenade running parallel to it’s sandy beach. Along this road there are a whole host of hotels, B&B’s, arcades, restaurants, ice cream parlours and attractions. Such attractions include Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach, Coral Island, SeaLife Centre and Blackpool Tower. There is also several Piers to enjoy.
The Big Blue Hotel is located at the South end of the promenade where you’ll not only find the South Pier, but there is also Sandcastle Water park and Ripley’s Believe it or Not. To walk to the North end, where Blackpool Tower is located, it would take approx 1 hour to walk – lovely if your in the glorious sun. However, if your legs can’t take it, you can always hop on and off a tram. The tram line runs from one end to the other.
The hotel offers several amenities including a bar, restaurant serving breakfast lunch and dinner and a Spa. There is four floors and some rooms overlook Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach. Perfect if your kids love rollercoasters – they can watch The Big One zoom past!
View from our Deluxe Room
Both the bar and the restaurant are lovely. This time, we only ate here for breakfast which was included in our package. It was rather busy when we visited but the staff were on hand to organise a table for the 5 of us quickly. The restaurant serves a buffet style breakfast, however you can order off a menu for an extra cost. Food is fine and simple, nothing too fancy and includes both hot and cold choices. Cold choices include a selection of breads, croissants and cereal with yoghurt and fruit. Hot options includ scrambled and fried eggs, sausage, bacon and beans. There was also a selection of fruit juices and tea, coffee and hot chocolate from a machine. I would much prefer toast and hot drinks brought to the table as often, these are where the queues are and I hate the toasting machines!
What’s absolutely great about this hotel is that it offers family rooms, with a separate sleeping area for the kids (featuring bunk beds!)
The choice of rooms are as follows:
-Standard Double
-Standard Twin
-Standard Family
-Standard Accessible
-Deluxe Double
-Premium Double
-Suite
As you can see, the hotel offers rooms to suit all family sizes and all needs! For us as a family of 5, we needed a room to sleep 2 adults and 3 children. With that in mind, we chose the Big Blue Hotel Deluxe Family Room.
As I have mentioned, we took advantage of one of The Big Blue Hotel’s offers that is provided on their website. Currently they have several offers available at the moment, but we took advantage of the Family offer, including 1 day pass for Blackpool Pleasure Beach wristbands. This included for our family of 5:
-2 nights stay with breakfast in a deluxe family room
-1 day wristband for Blackpool Pleasure Beach for each of our party
To give you an idea, the cost for this break for 2 adults and 3 children was £280, which I think is great value!
The wristband includes access to ALL of the rides available inside Blackpool Pleasure Beach, including the fun and exciting Nickelodeon Land!
-There is a parking charge of £5 per vehicle per night. This is from midday. So try not to arrive prior to mid day as you could get charged twice. This charge is when you book DIRECT with the hotel itself. If booking through a third party, higher charges are applicable
-Check in is from 3pm, but rooms can possibly be accessed earlier if they are ready. For us, our room was not ready any earlier that 3pm
-There is a luggage room in The Big Blue hotel reception for you to store your luggage free of charge
-Breakfast can be busy at peak times, especially after 9am. If you prefer a quieter experience, try to get there a little earlier
-If booking a package that includes wristbands for Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach, wristbands and maps for the park are given to you on the morning of your visit at the hotel’s reception
-If you wish, you can access Blackpool Pleasure Beach at The Big Blue Hotel’s exclusive entrance. However, this is only from 10am and closes at 11.30am. The park opens at 9.30am (times may vary at different times of the year) so bear that in mind. We decided to walk to the main entrance of the park as we were ready early
-Some rooms overlook the park. We didn’t find this to be distracting or noisy at all. But if you prefer to not have a view of the park, request a non-facing park room
-Dog’s may be permitted (this is at the discretion of the manager) There is a charge of £25 per night of your stay
We had another wonderful stay at The Big Blue Hotel and couldn’t fault the hotel. The staff were friendly and we loved the family sized rooms which were spacious and great for the kids (including the Playstation on offer!) Please do read my review and room tour of our Deluxe Room !
Thanks for reading xxx
*We paid for our stay at The Big Blue Hotel
Hi and welcome to The Willow Tree. I’m Michelle, also known as Shel and I am a mama to three beautiful crazy kids – I have two handsome boys and a wild and wonderful girl.
I really wanted a concrete place to share my love for travel, in particular Disney and offer my readers a chance to gain some knowledge around what we love to do as a family of 5.
I share our family adventures which include days out, travel advice and tips, holiday reviews, restaurant visits and of course, our love for Disney, including Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World.
Life is about creating memories, and here we are sharing them with you
xoxo
Looks like a great hotel in a great spot in Blackpool!