Blackpool: what is it really like now?

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

We watched an old 'run' of episodes of Four In A Bed and one of the couples ran a Hotel/B&B in Blackpool. It looked a wonderful place and they seemed like excellent, accommodating hosts - I'd really love to stay there once we're able to travel freely again.

I used to absolutely love going to Blackpool. My family (when we were kids) went there every year and it holds so many fond memories. Obviously, it's never been intended to be the most sophisticated of places, but that doesn't bother us at all.

However, we haven't been there for over 20 years and I just hear an endless catalogue of woes about how unspeakably terrible it is now, full of addicts taking drugs in public, lots of crime, and that nobody in their right mind would ever consider going there now. Even when close family members who live in a rather nice county (not a posh one, though) went a few years ago, the taxi driver who picked them up from the station asked where they'd come from and, when they told him, asked, open-mouthed and genuinely shocked, "But why?!?!?!"

It's clearly still very popular and still sees a huge number of visitors every year, so what's the skinny on it? If you live there or nearby, have been recently or have other knowledge of the town, please tell me the honest truth as you see/know it - good and bad! Are there any particular places or aspects that you remember fondly (or still love) and/or anything that has well and truly been destroyed forever?

Just adding my 2pence slot machine’s worth ..... we go every year, the kids adore it and don’t notice the errr “edgier “ side . We go for the Pleasure Beach and stay in the attached hotel. The staff are always charming and helpful. DH and I chuckle a bit at the seediness & find it has a certain charm

I’m sure it must have some nice suburbs and attractions for kids but it’s hard to argue that it is not incredibly rundown. According to this BBC article, 8 of the top 10 most deprived areas in the country are in Blackpool. Beaten only by the infamous Jayswick.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-49812519

Have had some seriously messy nights out there circa early 00's. Good times!

Wouldn't go now, not even day time. Very run down, loud and brash. Makes me feel uneasy tbh.

Eight of the ten most deprived neighbourhoods of England are in Blackpool. It’s really not great up there for this living there.

@Shampops Yes, I’ve heard similar - Weston Super Mare near us has a lot of alcoholics and drug users who moved there apparently due to good childhood memories. Weymouth to to a lesser extent, I think it’s true of most seaside towns. Poignant as you say, and very sad.

I agree with you about that hotel and the hosts @WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll
They seemed lovely, but I still think Blackpool is a shithole

It’s a bit of a romantic idea to suggest that people are drawn to places where they had happy memories but I really don’t think that’s the reason for the high numbers of homeless people/ people with addiction problems/ chaotic lifestyles in our seaside towns. Surely it’s more that when budget airlines started making it cheaper for Brits to go to the Costa del Sol than Blackpool, and when hen and stag parties realised that a weekend in Eastern Europe was the same price as a weekend in wetherspoons, the economic impact on our seaside was catastrophic. The only way for b&b owners to sustain and maintain the large Edwardian properties was to receive money from local authorities to house those in need of temporary accommodation. The bonus for local councils being that the buildings were maintained by other people, who could enforce rules and curfews, and the properties wouldn’t be trashed on departure. B&b’s are already furnished, they’re cheap , and people without the necessary paperwork to sign a normal tenancy agreement can be housed quickly with minimal bureaucracy.

I absolutely love Blackpool!!! Went there lots as a kid, been there on a couple of hen dos, and this year took my small kids there. I've got to say, it really looks like it is starting to scrub up well.

I absolutely can't wait to go back.

@ParadiseinMoscow Yes, fair point, that’s certainly a big factor too.

It's worse than Gt Yarmouth.

It's a nightmare of a place. It always has been. Rough as hell.

@Letsrunabath

This amazing pic was taken in Blackpool

That's as creepy as fuck.

It really is.

I've been a few times, the ast time was about four years ago and I have honestly never seen drunks on the street during the day. I don't know if that is because we have been in the Scottish Easter holidays when it is pretty quiet or we have just been lucky.

It's a good place for a few days away, kids love it. The pleasure beach, zoo, tower, proms and Sandcastle are loads of fun. I love the tacky amusements and could spend hours playing the 2p machines and bingo.

The food is pretty limited on the front, we drove out a few miles to Harvester for a bit of change from fish and chips.

You do need to be careful with accommodation because there are some real dumps, it's sad to see all of the B and Bs advertising £12 a person per night. I have had good deals with Travelodge and Premier Inn, they are basic but at least you know they are clean and safe.

@trevthecat Thank you! We are really looking forward to it. I am so over the South it is unbelievable!

I think a lot of problem with Blackpool was the selling off of guest houses back in the late 90's when they were snapped up by investors who turned them into cheap bedsits. So you now have once bustling tourist streets like Reeds Avenue and Albert Road filled with people who are really down on their luck. Now Blackpool council make you jump through hoops to apply for conversion permits. They are dead set on salvaging the things that made Blackpool what it was. But there are hundreds of Guest houses up for sale on rightmove with more joining every day. I hope they get buyers and don't get left to rot.

Thanks, folks - these comments and memories are great! In spite of some of the more (very) cautionary tales, I'm still keen to go back when we can.

However, I'm shocked at the people saying they go to the Premier Inn! I don’t blame you, as you know what standard you can expect, but to me, going to Blackpool and staying in a PI is like going to Rome and eating at McDonalds!!

I know they’re probably desperate to get anything, and it’s a bit of a vicious circle for them, but a B&B advertised at £12 each a night isn’t really hiding what you can expect of it – unless they’re looking for families of 5 or 6 to fill each room. Even so, the cost of the breakfasts, washing the sheets etc. will cost them more than that – and that’s not including the central overheads like business rates, utilities, TV licences, cleaning products and probably loads more. Most of them don't employ staff, but they still need to scrape a living for themselves.

There’s also TripAdvisor which, whilst obviously not 100% accurate or objective, will give you a general indication of what to expect.

We actually went there for part of our honeymoon (I know!), and I still remember researching where to stay (with brochures from the tourist board back then, the web was very much in its infancy). There was one place with lurid Rocky-Horror-style colours on the outside that advertised a great 24-hour party atmosphere with a full bar and their 'legendary' burgers and chips available at 3am. At the other end of the spectrum, there was one that actually said something to the effect of “If you’re looking for a fun place to stay and have a good time, this is NOT the place for you!”. They charged £10 to use their car park every ‘session’ - i.e. if you wanted to drive out anywhere, you would have to get them to raise the barrier and let you out – and then, when you returned after however long, you started to incur the next £10, even if a few times in the same day. Maybe they were terrified of accidentally getting bookings from people expecting the first place! Unless they were using the B&B as a cover for a money laundering operation and actually getting any guests booking would have them instantly rumbled

Needless to say, we found a very nice place that was somewhere between the two. It was lovely, although the hostess was constantly going on about Funny Girls (the drag show) and urging guests to go. I presume she must have been on commission or had a friend/family member working there.

We might be unusual in this, but we actually like the old-fashioned look with style and decor from decades gone by and harking back to the glory years of the British seaside B&B - as long as they're clean, of course. Modern places are really not our thing at all. I don't if that makes us very weird, or if anybody else feels that way too?! That said, it's still nice to have modern facilities (en-suite and wi-fi etc.) and not just have to be content to be impressed by the 'shaver point and COLOUR TV in every room' advertised proudly on the boards outside

Oh Buffet, that brings back childhood memories of staying in B&Bs (not in Blackpool though) with family rooms with DM and DF (up till I was about 16), shared bathrooms (yuk), dragon landladies and evening meals which were an ordeal because I was and still am a very fussy eater. The worst thing was the uncomfortable feeling of being in someone else’s home. Which is why I now prefer anonymous hotel chains like Premier Inn, or self catering.
The Big Blue was good though, and the staff met us leave our car there on the day we checked out until we were ready to go home.

I live in Lytham so very close to Blackpool.

It is as grim as people say. However, if you plan it well you can have a good time.

I would recommend you stay in either Lytham, St. Annes or at Ribby Hall (all lovely and St Annes has a great beach) and only go in to Blackpool to visit specific attractions in a planned way - e.g. Pleasure Beach / Tower / Zoo / Stanley Park / Illuminations etc

Do not go further back than the prom and get out before dark. Stay on the beach side of the prom (less vomiting stag parties)

Avoid the main shopping area as there are a lot of drugs.

Eat at the venues rather than trying to find somewhere in the town but expect to be underwhelmed (with the exception of the Art Deco cafe at Stanley Park which is lovely).

I'd avoid the Sandcastle as it never feels clean though DS loves it and I don't think the Sealife is worth the entrance fee but you can get vouchers on cereal packets etc that make it a bit more bearable.

Went so many times as a child there with my grandma for a week at a time. Stayed in a hotel on the front (it’s not there anymore) and it was so good. All the meals were announced by the owner banging a gong, Chris de burgh tribute act, playing bingo - I loved closing the little windows to each number! Fond memories.
We only live an hour away so never any need to stay over but we choose st Anne’s over bpool. We once went out of season for something to do, once it went dark I felt really intimidated and couldn’t wait to get back to the car. Not a place we’d choose again!

I also remember one of our annual bpool holidays, the bed was on hinges which I pulled down off the wall at bedtime and pushed it back in the morning

I spent every holiday in the 80's there my Grandma lived there. I went back 2 years ago having not been for years ( we did a tour of the North).

It was better in the 80's.

Used to love driving from Bolton on a sunny evening to the pleasure beach. It was better when you just paid for what ride you wanted to go on.

We used to stay at the Norbreck most years -I loved it there, seemed to go for ever. They even had a permanent lift man installed in the lift in the North Wing. I'll bet he had at least 10 'hilarious' clowns that he wanted to pulverise every single day, each of whom believed they would be quite the first to ask if his job had its ups and downs Didn't they used to host a really major snooker championships there at one time?

All the meals were announced by the owner banging a gong, Chris de burgh tribute act, playing bingo

Oh, that is an absolutely fantastic image you just gave me. A pound-shop CdeB in a shiny suit, wielding a big stick-with-a-bobble-on-it, singing loudly:
"Table is read.....y
Two little ducks
Line down or across
Or diagonally; BOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!"

Multitasker extraordinaire

Got a great seafront if you like running or cycling. Can do 10 miles without going on the road. Some nice areas at North shore e.g. Bispham and Clevelys with some stunning areas in the area behind Blackpool e.g. Kirkham. Actual town centre is grim but hasn't been great for 40 yrs. St. Anne's and Lytham are nice. Actually got 2 big private schools in the area, Rossall near Fleetwood and Arnold school in St. Anne's so no lack of money in the area.

You sound like you have already made up your mind to go when you can so do exactly that. For what it is worth I am originally from nearby and would definitely not stay there. I would do a day trip and accept it for what it is, no frills fun aimed at the masses. I haven't actually taken my kods yet as it is so expensive and they are very little but I would like to do a day trip as they get older. I used to go every year from the age of 7 to 13 and I loved it.

Having never been, I just did a long Google Streetview tour of Blackpool expecting to see a pit of despair - it didn’t look bad at all! The town centre is obviously struggling and full of pound shops / bookies / pawn brokers and there are little back streets right behind the prom which look pretty broken and glum - but even there amongst the boarded up windows and gates doors are signs that the occupants care about where they live, like neat window dressings, potted plants and so on. Even the streets entirely of B&Bs look well kempt, if a bit tired and old fashioned; and further back from that there are streets of lovely period terraces and semis with immaculate gardens.

It’s obviously an area in decline which needs much more investment and I don’t doubt that after dark in high season it likely becomes essentially a downmarket pub crawl the same as many less affluent urban cities with loads of cheap pubs - but I was expecting to see far far worse from some of the comments on this thread.