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• BLACKPOOL MODEL SHOW : October 20, 2018 - October 21, 2018

[Stan]

I know nothing about the Norbreck and have no wish to get involved in a slanging match. But I have to agree about the car parking the show must at least break even. Last year I stopped near the show but the cost this year went through the roof hence I decided to stay 6 mile up the coast at a much reduced cost


Stan

 

[Iain]

Thanks Neil for the post detailing the issues with the hotel. I will bring these issues to the attention of the management.Whilst I agree that this sort of thing should not happen, I have also seen things from the other side of the fence & to be honest, find the staff at the hotel to be great, the problem is that they have a lack of resource. It seems to be the case that head office are the ones who don't want to spend the cash - the reason being that the hotel is doing well (financially) it is generally busy & so from a purely accountant's point of view, there is little point spending money as you are not likely to make any more. The hotel staff do the best they can with what they have, but I do take your point that the entrance could & should have been dealt with.The alternative suggested - the Red Lion - is a Premier Inn. They will not give any sort of group discounts (I have tried) so you are at the mercy of whatever their web site chooses to charge you, the lowest I saw for the weekend of the show was over £70 a night (room only) & I was told by one visitor to the show that a double room had cost him over £400 for the weekend, all be it that he booked quite late.As far as trip advisor (& any other feedback forums) is concerned, you need to bear in mind that when everything is OK 99% of people will say nothing, whereas when something goes wrong 99% of people will shout about it. With hotels, there is also the element that expect 5* for 2* price.I arranged rooms for a number of people at the Norbreck for the show weekend & the hotel prioritised those bookings, allocating rooms that had recently had renovations, so (most of) the 30+ rooms I organised were fine. I stayed at the hotel myself & the room was perfectly OK, no complaints at all, so there are decent rooms to be had.I don't want to get into a drawn out debate on the good & bad points of the Norbreck, but I will do what I can working with the management there to make the show as good as I can. Next year I will be promoting the hotel accomodation more, the idea being that anyone wishing to visit Blackpool for the weekend will pay a single price that will cover the hotel as well as entry to the show (&parking!) These bookings will be prioritised into the "better" rooms & as a block booking, should be somewhat cheaper than any of the normal booking sites. Keep an eye on the show web site where the details will be published once negotiations with the hotel are complete.Anyway, thanks to all who came to the show & all the modellers who brought the fruits of their considerable labours for us all to admire.
Iain Lewis
www.blackpoolmodelshow.co.uk
www.componentshop.co.uk

[Taranis]

We stayed at the village hotel and wife paid £180 for two nights B&B double room.
This was fully refunded after she made complaints about cleanliness & noise

[TheLongBuild]

Thanks Neil for the post detailing the issues with the hotel. I will bring these issues to the attention of the management.Whilst I agree that this sort of thing should not happen, I have also seen things from the other side of the fence & to be honest, find the staff at the hotel to be great, the problem is that they have a lack of resource. It seems to be the case that head office are the ones who don't want to spend the cash - the reason being that the hotel is doing well (financially) it is generally busy & so from a purely accountant's point of view, there is little point spending money as you are not likely to make any more. The hotel staff do the best they can with what they have, but I do take your point that the entrance could & should have been dealt with.The alternative suggested - the Red Lion - is a Premier Inn. They will not give any sort of group discounts (I have tried) so you are at the mercy of whatever their web site chooses to charge you, the lowest I saw for the weekend of the show was over £70 a night (room only) & I was told by one visitor to the show that a double room had cost him over £400 for the weekend, all be it that he booked quite late.As far as trip advisor (& any other feedback forums) is concerned, you need to bear in mind that when everything is OK 99% of people will say nothing, whereas when something goes wrong 99% of people will shout about it. With hotels, there is also the element that expect 5* for 2* price.I arranged rooms for a number of people at the Norbreck for the show weekend & the hotel prioritised those bookings, allocating rooms that had recently had renovations, so (most of) the 30+ rooms I organised were fine. I stayed at the hotel myself & the room was perfectly OK, no complaints at all, so there are decent rooms to be had.I don't want to get into a drawn out debate on the good & bad points of the Norbreck, but I will do what I can working with the management there to make the show as good as I can. Next year I will be promoting the hotel accomodation more, the idea being that anyone wishing to visit Blackpool for the weekend will pay a single price that will cover the hotel as well as entry to the show (&parking!) These bookings will be prioritised into the "better" rooms & as a block booking, should be somewhat cheaper than any of the normal booking sites. Keep an eye on the show web site where the details will be published once negotiations with the hotel are complete.Anyway, thanks to all who came to the show & all the modellers who brought the fruits of their considerable labours for us all to admire.
Iain Lewis
www.blackpoolmodelshow.co.uk
www.componentshop.co.uk

Some fair comments.Look forward to next year..

[cos918]

To be honest reading comments about the Hotel I doubt very much that the management care less.


Which is a shame as if run correctly I am sure the Norbreck could be the hotel to go to, however the front area has looked a mess for as long as I have been going to the show  they just need to level the whole area , fill in the old pond and improve the parking arrangements, and as for the hotel rooms, well just read the comments on trip advisor.


I can understand them introducing a charge to prevent people from just parking up, not actually staying at or using the facilities but to Charge guests and even worse to charge a Show Hiring the venue is shocking to say the least.  Britannia Hotels should be ashamed..


As for the Actual Boat show, Well that was superb   

you said the magic word Britannia hotels . One of the worst is not the worst chains in the UK . Look them up on the web. Would not stay there if you payed me .
Does not matter what you say they will only ever spend minuim money on any hotel  and un staff it

John

[Beyno1968]

It is the first time I had visited the show ( which was superb ) and also the first time I had stayed at the Norbreck. My partner, myself + 3 grandkids stayed Sunday night ( £50 for a family room with sea view) I had seen bad feedback on TripAdvisor, after I had booked the room, and was very sceptical about staying there but on arriving was very surprised, the staff were very helpful and the room was good. If I was to take the grandkids again I would stay there again as a family room for 5 would cost an absolute fortune anywhere else. I do agree that money does need to be spent on the place but its only when it stops making money will the owners spend any amount of money on it.
The show was absolutely fantastic I met Neil for the first time and talked all thing lifeboat for quite a while and I also put an order into Mountfleet for my next project. A 1/12 scale Mersey lifeboat.

[tigertiger]

Reference hotels 'not caring less', I have noticed that the chains care a lot about their Trip Adviser reviews and ratings. Espcecially if they receive several bad reviews at the same time, because this can have an immediate affect in bookings. The chains seem to have a person whose job is to monitor and manage those, as such things often do get done. When head office say, "Jump"... by contrast a complaint to busy staff in the hotel often does not get the attention it needs.
A few years ago I was at an OU weekend seminar in a fancy conference center. I noticed that they were removing all of the china mugs from the coffee bars and replacing them with plastic cups. I also noticed a hygiene issue in one of the toilets. During a break I went onto the company website, which popped up asking for feedback, and reported what I had seen. During the next break I noticed that all of the china cups were being put out again, and a manager sought me out to apologize and ask me to direct him to the toilet with a problem.
Perhaps the trick is to go on line while you are still at the hotel, if you want to benefit yourself.