Hotel The Hopton (Blackpool, United Kingdom)

Hosting is faultless and caring; rooms are pleasant and clean and breakfast is excellent and freshly cooked. Oh! … and the bar prices are super cheap!

The thing about Blackpool is that much of the enjoyment is derived from wandering along streets and in and out of shops and markets. You can do this from the hotel and before you know where you are; there, facing you is the incredible Tower. Equally, wander in the other direction and you'll quickly hit the Pleasure Beach and South Pier. In between the two, you've got Blackpool's three impressive piers and the legendary ‘Golden Mile. One thing's for sure; you won't get bored here.

The swish new Blackpool trams now glide along the new tracks and transport passengers to central Blackpool, North Shore, Bispham, Cleveleys and Fleetwood. The real advantage at this hotel, though, is that the trams settle down for the night at the depot … just next door!

Rooms are OK but, on arrival, the public areas are a bit on the cold side. *If rooms are ‘chilly', the owners will quickly and happily sort you out with an extra heater.

Ideally, they could do with a re-vamp but, in fairness, rooms are very clean.

Terence Rattigan's play, ‘Separate Tables', was not written with this hotel in mind. Tables here are shared. These days, this is not really the accepted practice and can lead to embarrassment on the part of all the seated guests.