In May 2015, Ian M said about Mercure Bolton Georgian House Hotel
We had driven up from the South of England by road, travelling by faith, and in sure hope, that some form of quaint English accommodation, brimming with character and appeal, would "pop up" somewhere towards late afternoon . It didn't !!
In ignorance, we left the M62 and tried the labyrinth of roads winding around the industrial midlands, studded with traffic lights and bus stops, to find nothing but rows of cramped stone building, and dirty brick terrace houses, blackened with industrial grime, which offered no hope of finding any accommodation whatsoever.
We re-joined the M62 and drove further west, to again try our fortunes in the Blackburn area. Here we discovered that the English Pubs were places focused on drinking and dining, with not the slightest intention of providing accommodation .... anywhere.
From one of these establishments we were directed to the Mercure Bolton Last Drop Village Hotel" . The barmaid, a local for 60 years gave us directions , with the parting encouragement that " You can't miss it " which with our luck that day, meant that we probably would. To our relief , in steady rain which had persisted all day, we arrived.
The huge building standing majestically on the hill, looked like a peace time rendition of Colditz Camp with fairy lights, and immediately our relief was evident, as nightfall was now approaching, after a long day on the road.
Happily we entered the inviting foyer, and upon announcing our needs, were told that two weddings had been booked, and in consequence, they had no accommodation available : next, waves of dripping sports cyclists began arriving , complete with their bikes, looking for the sauna , and there appeared to be a shortage of staff at the desk . The hotel staff rang a sister Mercure Hotel and found that a room was indeed available. It was only fifteen minutes away according to them, but as first time visitors we really had no idea about how to get there. After a twenty minute wait, with the dripping cyclists, y they accessed a google map which they printed out and produced directions from the same source to assist the onward journey.
The fifteen minute drive was represented by a 2 centimetre squiggle on the map , which prompted us to fire up our "Tom Tom" which had a fading battery. Whilst trying to enter the address, we wondered who the idiot was that invented "Bolton Blackrod"
as part of a place address. The Tom Tom wanted a street number , and did much thinking about this name, but the staff had said again " You can't miss it".
They were right. We didn't miss it and were pleased to be quickly processed and allocated room 780 on the 2nd Floor. The room provided was an unusual shape: certainly not square, but the space was most adequate, as was the bathroom.
Two things stood out. The first was the size of the TV. It was a modern appliance, but the screen was the size of an overgrown postage stamp. We could have done with binoculars to watch the TV whilst in bed. The image was so small. The other item that surprised me was the stingy supply of coffee. There were only two paper tubes of instant coffee for two people, and two decaffeinated paper tubes of coffee.
The room was functional and comfortable however, and featured double glazing. It was nice to find that the windows actually opened meaning the room can be ventilated by atmospheric air. The queen size bed was ensemble style and comfortable enough, but it featured a sort of modern four poster contrivance: for what purpose ? I have no idea. WiFi was available in the room, and quickly accessed at no extra cost.
We thankfully had dinner not long after arriving at about 8:45 pm. We were told that the restaurant serves until 9:30 pm. The food and service was to the highest standard. Breakfast in the morning was set up as a self serve affair, with good cooked and continental breakfast variety. Two things offered, amongst others were the black pudding, and fried bread: quite characteristic of Lancashire.
We departed the Mercure Hotel, Blackrod, somewhat wiser for the experiences of then past 24 hours, and very thankful that we had at least found it after a tedious day in the rain.
Source: tripadvisor.co.uk