2019 marks 50 years of the Seddon family owning and running the Elgin Hotel in Blackpool. To say a lot has change in the last half century would be an understatement…
The history of the Elgin, according to Irene Seddon
My husband John and I moved to Blackpool from Manchester in March 1969 along with our two children Nigel and Liz.
With very little hospitality experience, it was a real challenge for the whole family and we were often left wondering whether we had made the right decision to up sticks and leave our lovely life in Manchester. However, we persevered – and here we are today!
When we took over the hotel, there were 55 bedrooms but only two shared bathrooms and 10 toilets. It is strange to imagine this was once ‘the norm’, whereas nowadays, an en-suite bathroom in a hotel is hardly considered a luxury!
In the early 1980s after completing his Hotel Management studies at Strathclyde University, Nigel joined the business officially and began to take over the day-to-day running and management of the hotel.
Over the next 10 years, all of our bedrooms became en-suite and in 2001 we even had an opportunity to acquire the adjoining Bolingbroke Hotel, which we took on with bold plans for refurbishment and improvement.
We very much pride ourselves on the hotel that you see today. We have always believed in reinvesting our money into the hotel. Our annual refurbishment programme sees on average eight bedrooms and bathrooms fully revamped each year, along with some of the public areas.
We pride ourselves on offering high quality accommodation, excellent value for money and a home-from-home feel.
The affectionately-named Team Elgo works incredibly hard to deliver the very best guest experience and having just been awarded three-star status by VisitEngland, their dedication has not gone unnoticed.
Here’s to the next 50 years!