The Big Blue Hotel Blackpool | Pleasure Beach Package & Deluxe Family Room Review

Blackpool is generally somewhere you love or hate. For me, I can take it or leave it but I am always drawn to the fact that it's not far to drive and there's absolutely loads to do for families there. I also enjoy visiting the illuminations. We've visited Blackpool as a family 3-4 times now and have previously stayed at the Premier Inn Bispham (good if you're on a budget), the Hilton (lovely) and a couple of B&Bs. I've always wanted to visit The Big Blue Hotel which is joined onto the Pleasure Beach so this October half term, I treated us all to an overnight stay. 

I was drawn to The Big Blue as it is one of those rare hotels which offers rooms that can accommodate families of 5. The hotel has fantastic facilities for families, receives rave reviews and is obviously super-convenient for the theme park. I have spotted family rooms for less than £100 in the past, but I decided to push the boat out and booked a deluxe family room with pleasure beach tickets included. This was £275 for the 5 of us if paid in advance or £300 if paid on arrival. Yes, it's expensive but for us, it was worth it. The cost worked out at £55 per person per night including accommodation, breakfast, parking and tickets to the pleasure beach. When you look at it like this, it's not too bad. We visited during the illuminations and in October Half Term, the hotel was fully booked too. I suspect you may be able to purchase this package at a cheaper rate if you visit at a quieter time. 

The Big Blue Hotel Blackpool - Deluxe Family Room Tour 

We stayed in a family deluxe room and I'd definitely recommend splashing out if you can. We had tonnes of space. Steve and I had the biggest bed and TV we've ever experienced in a hotel - 5 of us could squeeze in no bother and there was a sofa bed made up for Jack next to us. Sometimes when rooms are made up for a family of 5 we often find there are still only 4 cups, 4 biscuits etc... but here, there were 5 of everything which is honestly a pretty rare thing. We loved the complimentary chocolate digestives and hot drinks tray.

The bathroom was stocked with lovely toiletries and towels and again, there was loads of room. These rooms have a bath and shower which after a week of staying in hotels with showers only, my kids were grateful for.

As you walk in the hotel door (before the bathroom and main bedroom) there's a fantastic kids area with bunk beds, two TVs, a Playstation 3 console and giant snakes and ladders on the wall. H, H and J loved this area and spent so much time in here playing nicely. You can hire games and DVDs from reception for £5 (plus £10 refundable deposit). My three went with Minecraft (what a surprise). The WiFi is also free and fast - Harry could stream his YouTube videos without any glitching.

Deluxe family rooms face onto the pleasure beach and it was fun watching the rollercoasters whizz past our window and watch them being tested in the morning. It really built up the anticipation for our visit.

We didn't dine in the hotel on the evening as we had plans to grab some fish and chips and see the illuminations but I was really impressed with the room service menu - this is just a small selection of what was available and there are loads of options for kids which is pretty rare for room service. If we were staying for more than one evening or were too tired to go out, we'd definitely take advantage of this.

The Big Blue Hotel Blackpool Pleasure Beach Package - How It Works

The Pleasure Beach Package includes unlimited ride wristbands for the whole family. You can either use these on the day you check in or the day you check out - simply let them know when you arrive which date you'd prefer. We weren't arriving until later so went with check-out day. As we checked out we were all given our wristbands and handed an envelope with theme park info, discount vouchers and map etc..... it was really well organised. If you're staying at The Big Blue, you can enter the pleasure beach through a VIP entrance straight from the hotel. You still need to go through security but generally, the queues are a lot shorter (or in our case, non-existent). For theme park fans, I bet this is a massive perk. The VIP entrance is open for 90 minutes following the theme park opening only.



Blackpool Pleasure Beach is such an underrated theme park! We love it and would recommend for all ages. If you're visiting with toddlers, you're handed a list with 17 rides suitable for younger riders and the theme park is equally as good for thrill-seekers. Nickelodeon-land is inside the pleasure beach and is included with your ticket. Here you'll find lots of themed rides featuring your favourite characters like Dora, Paw Patrol and Spongebob. We had loads of fun on the Nickelodeon Streak and soaking each other on Spongebob's splashpad.

My favourite ride is always the Wallace and Gromit Thrill-O-Matic. This family ride is just the best and if you're a fan of these guys, you'll love it. I have a real soft-spot for Shaun the Sheep.

Heidi is our family's biggest thrill-seeker. She's around 125-127cm tall so not quite tall enough for the biggest rides but there was one coaster which went upside down she was allowed on and she could go on the Big Dipper and Avalanche which are both high-speed thrill rides which she really enjoyed. Harry and Heidi were also able to go on the Nickelodeon Streak unaccompanied and went on 5 times in a row as Jack went on the smaller rides in Nickelodeon land.

As it was Halloween, we all braved the Ghost Train too. I love classic rides like this.

We visited during October Half Term and it was fairly busy. Some rides didn't have any queues and the longest we probably queued was 15-20 minutes which wasn't bad at all. I really wasn't impressed with the food concessions at this time of year though and would recommend leaving the park and eating elsewhere. We visited the pub which had run out of pop, hot drinks, pancakes,  sandwiches, burgers and more. The staff did nothing but moan to us about bad management but that didn't help us! did it? The only option available was hot dogs with a sachet of sauce the barman found in a drawer somewhere. Such a waste of money and time. We learned our lesson and will never dine in the pleasure beach again now.

What else is there to do in Blackpool? 

The Big Blue offers a range of hotel packages including Hot Ice Theatre Packages, Merlin Attraction Packages and a Blackpool Zoo package - you can find out more here. I've visited Blackpool Zoo, Blackpool Tower, Madame Tussauds and Sea Life Blackpool in the past and rate them all very highly. In my opinion, Madame Tussauds Blackpool is better than the one in London. Check out my reviews (from a few years ago) below: 

• Madame Tussauds Blackpool review
• Blackpool Tower and Circus review
• Blackpool Zoo review

We love visiting Blackpool during the illuminations (check dates here) and were lucky enough to catch them this year. In the evening we decided to walk along the prom to the Tower. It's a nice and easy straight walk along and the atmosphere is fab with lots of families out enjoying the lights. You can buy light-up toys for £2-£3 too. Despite being able to see it, the tower is actually 2.5 miles from the hotel so if this is too far for you to walk you can catch a tram from outside the hotel which is quick, easy and convenient. There are lots of places to grab fish and chips and seaside treats along the prom and the prices are so reasonable!

Don't forget a couple of £s for the amusement arcades too.

Breakfast at The Big Blue Hotel Blackpool

After a disppointing Premier Inn breakfast earlier in the week, we were really impressed with the offerings at The Big Blue. I'd read reviews that breakfast could be busy but we arrived just before 9am and were seated straight away. It was like a well-oiled machine and ran really very smoothly/didn't feel too chaotic. The quality was good, everything was hot and there was plenty available. Everything is served buffet style and we enjoyed pastries, fruit, yoghurt, coffee, tea, juice and cooked breakfasts. The mini hash browns were delish!

Anything else I should know?

It's worth noting that despite being a 4* hotel, the Big Blue does not have a spa or pool on site. You are just across the road from Blackpool's Sandcastle Water Park though if you fancy a dip. We loved our stay at The Big Blue and I don't think we'd stay anywhere else in Blackpool now, the only downside for us was the parking situation. On-site parking is free (although a £10 charge is being implemented next spring) and we managed to grab one of the last spots when we arrived at 5pm. However, you can only park until 1pm on check-out day. This meant that we had to move our car in the morning before visiting the Pleasure Beach which wasn't really convenient. There is free on-street parking across the road with limited space and a paid-for car park at the Pleasure Beach and on the sa front.

You can find out more about The Big Blue Hotel here. If you're looking for a fantastic family hotel in Blackpool, I can definitely recommend. 

Disclosure : We paid for our own stay. 

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