Blackpool's Britannia hotels hygiene ratings and when they were last inspected

Norbreck Castle, the Metropole, Grand Hotel and the Savoy and their difference hygiene ratings

Bookmark
Share
Comments

Sarah HodgsonSEO Editor - Live Network

16:08, 11 SEP 2021

The Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool (Image: LancsLive)

The Britannia hotels of Blackpool offer some of the most budget-friendly ways to stay in the resort for a night or two.

The group owns the Grand Hotel, Norbreck Castle, the Metropole and the Savoy in the resort and, if booked in advance, you can usually bag a room starting at around £37.

However, the hotels do come under criticism with Norbreck Castle and Metropole in particular entering the public eye and Britannia rarely taking the opportunity to publicly address those complaints.

The Metropole, on Princess Parade, has been subject to a row between Blackpool Council and the Home Office over plans to house asylum seekers in the venue.

The hotel has recently been inspected by the Food Standards Agency and Blackpool Council and is awaiting a new rating.

The previous inspection prior to this came on August 29, 2019 and resulted in the hotel being given a rating of one and being told that major improvement is necessary, particularly in the area of food safety.

In contrast to this, Norbeck Castle, arguably more complained about of the hotels covered here, received a five-star hygiene rating when inspected on January 14, 2019. It is considered to be 'very good' for food hygiene.

Over on Queens Promenade, the Savoy Hotel received a rating of four when it was inspected on October 25, 2018 and told that the standards found were generally considered to be good.

And The Grand, on the Promenade, also scores a full rating of five and is generally considered to have a very good hygiene.

That being said, the Food Standards Agency does not investigate issues such as cleanliness of the rooms or quality of the customer service - where many of the complaints are focused.

Norbreck Castle, in particular, has been called a 'blot' on the resort with the owners urged to invest by MP Scott Benton.

Speaking to LancsLive, he said: "Unfortunately there are a number of providers which continue to let Blackpool down which doesn’t just reflect poorly on those hotels and chains but on the resort as a whole."

"I would plead with them to take every step they possibly can to invest in these hotels.

"From my point of view it’s hurting the resort.

"The last thing we need when people are staying in the UK are some of these stories of holidaymakers having an awful time in Blackpool. That’s something we need to address."

Blackpool Council has added its voice to the many calling for change. The authority has urged accommodation to ‘aspire’ to nationally-recognised accreditation standards.

A Blackpool Council spokesperson said: “The Council works extremely hard to encourage accommodation businesses to aspire to nationally-recognised accreditation standards. Six years ago, through our VisitBlackpool tourism arm, we developed and launched the Blackpool Approved standard in association with VisitEngland.

“That entry level scheme provides hoteliers with the ability to obtain a nationally-recognised standard at an affordable price and gives an assurance to prospective guests that the accommodation they are considering is safe, clean and legally compliant. We will continue to work with the sector to promote quality standards.

“At the same time, we will continue to investigate and, where necessary, enforce against poor operators who do not conform to acceptable standards.”