Best of Blackpool

Sea Defences at South Shore Blackpool

Tank

Glamrocks

• Hotels and B & B (Bed and Breakfast) Accommodation
  
  • Number One
    Mark and Claire Smith used to own and run The Old Coach House in Dean Street, South Shore, Blackpool. This was an award winning guest house, which appeared in the top 10 on several lists of the best B&Bs in Britain. You might struggle to find, as they are far better at catering than they are at web promotion.
    Number One is located near our office at 1 St. Luke's Road, Blackpool, FY4 2EL, Telephone 0044 - (0)1253 343901
    We called in to say hello, and were given a very warm welcome, and a tour round two of the three bedrooms, the other was occupied at the time. We were very impressed by the quality and style of the decorations and fittings.
    It is also a no-smoking zone!
    The only thing we did not like about this bijou hotel is the fact that it is so close to us we will never get an excuse to stay there.

  • Number One South Beach
    A new hotel and restaurant, related to Number One St. Luke's above. We tried the restaurant, and it is good!

  • Canasta Hotel
    If you search on Google for Blackpool hotel, you will almost certainly find this hotel comes up early. It just goes to show the owner Doug Smith knows how to market his hotel. He is also a friend of ours, but that is not why we have added his hotel to this page. He and his wife Mandy seem to enjoy the hotel business, running the Canasta as an upmarket B&B. The hotel has got one of the best locations in Blackpool. On the Promenade itself, just a few minutes walk from the town centre along the Prom, in a slightly elevated position. The hotel is tastefully furnished with quality fittings. Its sun lounge feels like a million dollars.
    The only thing we don't like about the place is that both Doug and Mandy smoke, as do many of the guests, although there are non-smoking areas.

• Shopping
  
  • Chard
    We simply had to include ourselves here, as numismatists (coin dealers), bullion dealers, and jewellers.

  • E.H. Booth
    Booth's are an independent family owned northern supermarket chain opened its first store in 1847, in Blackpool. Three of Booth's 26 stores were in Blackpool, one of them was in the same street block as us, but with its superstore just down the next road, Highfield Road, one next to Senior's, a further one in nearby Poulton-le-Fylde, and 3 more in the Lytham St. Anne's area. Booth's branches support local producers, and for quality are our northern equivalent of Waitrose.

  • B&M Bargains
    At the opposite end of the market, this is another local company, but as the name implies, its sells many bargain products. It opened its first branch within sight of our showroom, on Highfield Road. For many years, coach companies offered day trip outings to Cleveleys specifically so people could visit B&M. It has changed hands twice, with mixed results. It often has short-dated stock, often of well-known brands, regular lines of "generic" brands, and occasional luxury brands. The luxury brands are often the best bargains. For example we once observed people buying Maxwell House (Gold) ground coffee selling for £0.79 per packet (8 ounce) in preference to the far superior Ashby's at only £0.49. We bought three months supply of Ashby's! We believe the store has improved from when it was owned by the Billington family, who would only ever exchange or refund for ubiquitous faulty goods under extreme pressure.

  • Salt of the Earth Deli
    The very small delicatessen is actually in Carleton, which is almost but not quite in Blackpool. It provides home cooked hams, pastrami, freshly baked bread daily, a severely restricted seating and dining area, great sandwiches which can be custom made, and a small selection of other gourmet foods, oil, wine, balsamic vinegar. Its tiny dimensions means it appears slightly chaotic and inefficient, but this is almost a positive when you consider it reminds you of how some shops used to be. Well worth a visit!

  • G. H. Mason
    If you want to find a quality dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, or Miele appliance in the Fylde Coast area, don't waste your time and money at Comet, Curry's, Dixon's, or any of the other usual High Street or Retail Shed outlets, go to G.H. Mason (Blackpool) Ltd., 63 Common Edge Road, Blackpool, FY4 5AX. Their prices are likely to be as good, if not better than, most, and they will deliver, install, remove your old machine, service it or repair it if it goes wrong. They will not try to flog you 5 years insurance on a product which is already guaranteed for 5 years, and they will even send you an invoice after installation, and trust you to pay them! In today's business world, this is almost unheard of service.
    By the way, we just bought a Siemens slimline dishwasher from them for un newly refurbished but small kitchen at our office. Now all our staff can have a sparkling clean cup or glass every day.

• General
  
  • Blackpool Pleasure Beach
    One of Great Britain's biggest tourist attractions and theme parks, only five minutes from our showroom.

  • Blackpool International Airport
    Now offering cheap flights direct to foreign lands.

More To Follow
17th November 2008

Nowhere to Eat in Blackpool?
We had long intended to get around to adding this page to our site, but were prompted to do so by a report that alleged there was nowhere in Blackpool you would want to eat.

Aspects of Blackpool

Worst of Blackpool
We certainly do not think Blackpool is perfect, so we will be adding a page about some of its worst features.