I came to Blackpool for a relaxing break but the Beckwood Hotel was so bad I only stayed 10 minutes

Georgina Ferguson and husband Samuel, who are regular visitors to the resort, say the Beckwood Hotel on Osborne Road was the worst she has ever been to in Blackpool.

The two-star hotel, which came under new management earlier this year, has attracted mixed reviews on Tripadvisor in 2024, with one reviewer praising it as being “clean and had everything needed for an enjoyable stay”.

However, another reviewer gave it just one star and said it needed “a lot of work” and they wouldn’t go back to it.

Georgina, 52, from Glasgow, said her own experience could have ruined her holiday break.

She said the bed in their room looked like someone had already been sleeping in it, there was paint peeling off some of the walls and a damp musty smell in the room.

An overhanging wall in their room was so low it had a “mind your head” sign on it.

Although the stay was cheap - just £158 for the week - she said they didn’t want to stay there and left after just ten minutes.

I couldn’t stay there

She said: “It was booked through Booking.Com by a friend of ours as a first wedding anniversary present, otherwise we would have gone to one of the places we have visited before.

“We’d had a bad journey down - I left my bag on the train and it looks like I won’t get it back.

“So I was just looking forward to getting to our hotel, relax and enjoy the break.

“As soon as we arrived, it went from bad to worse. We wanted a ground floor room because we both have a few issues but we were given one right at the top.

“They said a ground floor room wouldn’t be ready until the next day.

“The hotel smelt damp and musty and then we saw our room.

“That bed had been slept in but that wasn’t all. It was a horrible room, with paint peeling off the walls and a smell of damp in the room too.

“It was the worst room I’ve ever stayed in at Blackpool. There was no way I was staying in that room but they said they had nothing else until the next day.”

Georgina asked for a refund but was told she needed to sort that out with Booking.Com.

She says the booking firm then referred her back to the hotel.

Samuel, 50, added: “I’ve not been well so I didn’t want to stay in that damp room.”

Fortunately the couple’s week-long holiday was saved when one of their previous destinations, Phillips Apartments on Station Road, was able to put them up.

Georgina added: “We love Blackpool, it’s lively with so many things going on, we’ve never had a bad experience - until now.”

What the hotel team says

Nicky Clark, one of the general managers at the Beckwood Hotel said: “We took over in April this year and if you see the reviews prior to this and then after we took over, you can see standards and the  reviews have massivley improved.

“Although we are still trading we are managing to renovate and do the hotel up. We like to create a home from home feeling here at the Beckwood and pride ourselves on our cleanliness and customer service.

“ We have had other guests in that same room and done nothing different in our daily routine, and yet have had great feedback, with regards to the ceiling being low the sign is there stating please mind your head for health and safety reasons.

“We dont advertise being the Hilton but I can reasuure you that my team’s cleaning standards are perfect, our rooms are all en suite, have hot drinks facilites, televisions, towels and toiletries and hot water, and full access to wifi. Our bedding is freshly laundered by myself personally, it is washed after every guest, dried ironed and hung on coat hangers.

“This is done everytime a guest stays and goes.

 “Whilst I understand you cannot please every guest we do try to help in every possbile way, with regards to the guest not being happy about a room on a high floor, had this had of been said whilst booking we would of ensured a lower floor room was available, unfortunatley for the first night of guests stay all rooms were full, and we had availablity for the following day, which was offered but refused.”

He added: “We will continue to do what we have been doing which is to ensure our guests a home from home experience with lovley clean rooms, freshly laundered bedding and all our usual facilites that we offer.

“ With regards to the guest that have made these complaints I will say £158 for 7 nights, broken down to per person per night, is less then £11.50.

“That’s actually not bad considering what we offer, we actually hope the guest in question actually enjoys the rest of there holiday and were sorry that they feel this way about our hotel.”