Busy

We have two coaches in this week; one from David Urquhart Travel and the second from Macphersons (in Derby).  We're happy to see some regular faces returning again and again.  This weekend is the Elton John concert on the headland.  We have a small number of rooms left if you've managed to get a ticket but don't have a place to stay yet.  It looks set to be a fun event.


Next week also looks like it will be busy but we have had a couple of cancellations for early July.  Our Special Offer of 7 nights dinner, bed and breakfast for £200 each is still available, so why not get in touch to book your room?  You won't be disappointed based on the numerous positive reviews we've received on Trip Advisor.  Take a look for yourself.
EALT

Beautiful weather ...

... we are having right now.  Quite warm and sunny for this time and year so long may it continue.  


We are still updating some of the rooms and the stairs and corridors are nearly finished with the new carpet.  Hoping they will be all done by the end of today.  The first room we redecorated (see post below) is now put back together and the second room is almost finished too.  We just have the damaged rooms to fix now and then we should be done, for now at least.


We have some weekend breaks booked in every weekend until we are open full time which is usually Easter.  We still have some Special Offers running so check out our website and online booking facility for details.  


Get in touch to make your booking via phone - 01253 624888, email - reservations @ latourhotel dot co dot uk, fax - 01253 625378 or you can send us a completed booking form (available on our website) to 92 Albert Road, Blackpool, FY1 4PR.


We look forward to seeing you soon.
EALT

Shenanigans!

It is quite annoying sometimes working in this industry when despite all your hard work, lots of money and years of ongoing maintenance, some people can ruin it all in one night!  We have had to eject a group booked in this weekend for damaging two of our rooms.  Both of which were recently redecorated (see posts below for evidence) and being our wheelchair accessible/family rooms are in constant demand.  However as the photos (to be added shortly - EDIT now done, see below) will show they will need a fair bit of work doing to get them back to normal.  One of rooms damaged was not even allocated to this group but they broke in, thereby ripping the door frame completely off! (see below)

This has now been repaired with a whole new frame needing to be sourced.

See further damage below (please note we have not shown everything!)

 Squashed metal bin

 The rest of the broken bin

 One of many scuffs/stains on the doors/wallpaper

 Burnt lamp shade

 Blinds ripped off the frame

 A sock covering the smoke detector - illegal and a fine-able offence!

 Thermostat broken off the radiator

 Border paper peeled off due to being soaked by discharged fire extinguishers

 The remains of the kettle thrown out of the window

The remains of the blinds also thrown out

As you can imagine we are quite disheartened, especially in such lean economic times when no one can ill afford to spend money they shouldn't have to.  Obviously we are pursuing the full repair/replacement costs from the group concerned and are considering instituting a damage deposit for groups who have not stayed with us before.


We'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this idea and what you consider to be a reasonable amount to ask for.  Obviously the deposit would be refunded when we have checked all is well with the rooms.


Let us know by leaving a comment.
EALT

Updates & Photos

As it is the off season we have started to redecorate some of our bedrooms.  The first one is on the third floor - room 305 which has had all new wallpaper, gloss and repainting ceilings and new carpets.  We have still to put the room back together but below are some photos of the new decor.

We are also working on another double on the second front - 216 which will be getting the same treatment.  A couple of photos are below showing the work in progress.  The first shows the old wallpaper and the second 2 have the new.  Still ongoing...

The last thing we are about to start on is fitting new carpets on the stairs and corridors.  Some areas are starting to get a bit worn, especially the stairs with all the traffic they see.  They should hopefully be done in the next week or two.  


We have updated our online prices to include the Illuminations.  They are only available as Special Offers due to the coach bookings we already have.  We have added another Special Offer as well so check out our website for more information and to check availability.  You can also call us direct to book on 01253 624888.  


We are open every weekend now for room only or bed and breakfast (certain dates) and Mothers Day weekend we also include evening meal.  From 2 April we are open pretty much every day until the end of the Illuminations.  If you would like to have transport included with your trip there are various coach companies booked in from all areas of the UK, so contact us to find out who will be travelling here from your neck of the woods.


Bring on Spring!
EALT  

Magicians Conference & Showzam Festival

It isn't very long until the Showzam Festival starts which also incorporates the Magicians Conference.  We still have a few rooms left for £30 each person per day including breakfast.  Call or email us now to make your reservation.


We also have a Valentines Weekend break available too, arriving on Friday 10 Feb for 2 nights.  If you book with Blackpool Breaks (based in Glasgow) your trip includes coach travel, dinner bed and breakfast, a welcome drink and cabaret in the evening.  Minimum numbers are required.  Call them now to book on 0141 332 7078.


There are various other Special Breaks we are doing through Blackpool Breaks and other companies.  We are open for Mothers Day weekend, the Grand National in April, a Psychic Weekend in early May and various Winter Warmers too.  Get in touch now to make your booking.


EALT

Pigeon Festival

It is the annual Pigeon Festival this weekend and we still have a few rooms left for any last minute bookings.  Bed and breakfast is £30 each per day and room only is £20 each per day.  


We also have a new Special Offer available from April till August - £200 each person for 7 nights.  Arrive on either Monday or Friday.  Either call or book online.


We are in the process of printing new brochures for the hotel and will be taking some more photos of the bar area.  We found some old photos of the hotel and the different decorations we've had throughout the years.  A lot of the photos are on slides so as soon as we can get them digitised we shall post them on here for all to see.  Only those guests who've been staying with us since we bought La Tour in 1978 will recognise some areas.


EALT

Turkey Tinsels

It has been a busy time these last couple of months!  The Illuminations are in the last week and today we start our Turkey Tinsel breaks.  We always try to do a trial run of the TT's during the last week of the lights so this past weekend we have been digging out all the Christmas decorations.  Last night we put up the trees in the hall, bar and dining room.  We seem to have lost one tree since last December so we may have to get another for the dining room.  
With redecorating the bar this February we have had to make some changes to our usual Xmas decorations.  We now have a black tree in the bar and a white tree in the hall.  We also managed to get a lot of snowflakes too and so the bar looks really good with everything put up.  We will post some photos asap to let you see.
We had a couple of TT's tours cancel so we're not doing as many this year.  We still have space available on the 14 & 28 November, 5 December (all 4 night stays) and some space on the weekend trips too.  Call us for availability.
Our Christmas and New Year breaks are coming along too but there is still space available.  If you'd like to spend your Festive Break without all the hard work of cooking, cleaning and so on then why not come stay with us?  We have a special offer right now for 23 Dec to 3 Jan for £700 each person.  We are open all the way through and will be providing excellent entertainment, great food and lots of fun every evening.  Get in touch for more information.
Happy Hallowe'en!
EALT

It's already June!!

Can you believe it ... we are already almost half way through the year?!  The Dance Festival finished last night so all our international guests left this morning - some as early as 4am - to make their journeys home. We had some new guests visit us as well who were very pleased and have said they want to book again for next year.  We had some people from Thailand and South Africa as well as our expected Japanese, Dutch and Americans.  We're hoping to have some more people join us next year and will be advertising in Dance News to drum up some more business.  
We've added some links on various websites to let people know we are a dog-friendly hotel.  We're listed on Dog Friendly Britain, Dog People and will soon be up on Dogs Invited and The Good Dog Guide.  There are a couple of sites who list other-friendly options including cyclist, walker, business, smoker, etc etc.  Check out our page on Friendly Places.  
The weather has improved a lot over the last week and today it is lovely and warm.  The sun is shining and we're hoping it'll last the rest of the month!! Optimism eh?
EALT