I am a regular visitor to Blackpool and have been all my life. As a child I went at least twice a year as my great grandad lived there and since I grew up and had my son I have always been at least once a year with him as well as various other visits with friends for nights out etc. Over the years I have stayed in some decidedly grim B&Bs, with varying prices ranging from £11 per person per night to £45 per person per night (the most expensive of these was in fact one of the worse!!), until I hit upon the lovely Big Blue Hotel. It is a little piece of luxury in a town where I would never really expect to find any!

A girl I worked with recommended this place to me and I'm so pleased she did. I have stayed there 3 times now, once with my son for a long weekend, once with my boyfriend for a night and once with both my son & boyfriend. Every time I have loved it.

It truly is the nicest hotel in Blackpool, it isn't the cheapest but some really good deals can be got if you check out the website ahead of time. In addition you can book Pleasure Beach wristbands there as well and can get some fab deals if they are booked along with your room (also, as you simply collect them from reception you can avoid the big queues for wristbands at the Pleasure Beach itself).

Just to give you some idea of price, my latest stay there on 11th April cost us just £58 each for a nights stay, breakfast and a wristband into the Pleasure Beach. The wristbands alone can cost up to £35!!

When I first walked in I was very pleasantly surprised as the reception area is lovely, very smart and clean with friendly reception staff who get you checked in really quickly and answer any questions you have. The hotel in general is very smart and clean and the staff have always been lovely.

The bar area is very nice, with a really well stocked bar, a decent amount of seating, lovely lighting, ornaments and little sculptures dotted around. The restaurant is very nicely presented too with a gorgeous lighting feature on the ceiling. Food there is very good, the breakfast is great as it is biffet style with loads to choose from and is all of a good standard. I have had evening meals there twice and have not only been impressed by how lovely the food is but by how reasonable the cost was for a hotel restaurant.

The first two times I stayed we payed a little extra for a premium room which was gorgeous and very roomy. This includes a flat screen tv with dvd player, a huge bed, armchairs, desk area, luxurious bathroom with lovely bath products, tea tray with good selection of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, biscuits etc, hairdryer, heated towel rail.......everything you would expect from a good quality hotel.

The last time I stayed we got a family room. There are two types of these, both are very similar to the normal double room - large bed, tv, dvd player, tea & coffee facilities, nice bathroom, plenty of wardrobe space etc - but one includes bunk beds for little children up to age 12 and one includes bunk beds for children aged up to 16, we had the latter. The children's area is near the door and is slightly separated (though not fully) from the main bedroom area. It has a snakes and ladders game on the wall and each bunk has it's own tv, I believe you can also request a PS2 from reception and can borrow games and dvds.

The decor is lovely, very tasteful, the bed is very comfy and all 3 rooms I've stayed in have had a view of the pleasure beach itself, so you wake to see the rides whizzing past your window as they are tesing them! To be honest, this is the only thing that really reminds you that you're in Blackpool as the hotel just feels too nice to be there! I say this with the greatest respect for Blackpool, as I do really love it there, but it has to be said that it is quite tatty in a lot of respects, where as this hotel is nothing of the sort!!

I would recommend it to anyone and I would now never dream of staying anywhere else when I visit.