Two streets back, and everything on foot
Hornby Road is the sensible address in Blackpool. You are in the middle of everything without being on the seafront, which means you sleep and still walk to the Tower in six minutes. Strides is at number 29, a white and blue terrace front with a bay window and the name over the door, and the couple who run it are usually the ones who open it.
Inside are ten en-suite rooms across the upper floors, from twins and doubles to family rooms sleeping up to five. Each has a private bathroom, a flat-screen television, a tea and coffee tray, a hairdryer, an iron and free Wi-Fi. Downstairs there is a dining room with a green patterned carpet where a cooked breakfast is served every morning, and a small residents' bar with red banquettes and a brick-fronted counter.
What guests write about, over and over and going back years, is the welcome. They name the owners. They mention being remembered. Several describe their eighth year of coming back. For a ten-room house at this end of the market, that is the whole proposition, and it is a good one.
The parking question, answered properly
There is no parking at Strides Hotel. Not limited parking, not permit parking, none. Several aggregator listings show a parking amenity for this property and they are wrong. Arrive with a full boot and you will be walking it in.
What you do instead: the Hornby Road pay-and-display further along the same street is a five to eight-minute walk and runs at roughly £2.50 for two hours or £12 for twenty-four, up to about £30 a week. The figure of £6.50 for a day that still circulates online is years out of date. There is also a manned overnight lock-up on the same stretch, and the council's Central multi-storey off Seasiders Way, opened in 2024, at about £4.50 for two hours, £19 for a day or £40 a week, thirteen to sixteen minutes' walk away.
One warning from the road: drivers have reported a confusing sign at the Hornby Road pay-and-display about a discounted rate if booked online, and penalties for getting it wrong. Read the board carefully when you park. Better still, come by train. Blackpool North is a flat fifteen-minute walk and you will not need the car once you are here.
Stairs, loft rooms and the honest bits
Every bedroom at Strides is on an upper floor and reached by stairs. There is no ground-floor room, no downstairs bathroom and no lift, and the owners confirm this plainly when asked. If stairs are difficult, this is not the right house, and we would rather say so here than have you find out on arrival.
The rooms at the top are loft rooms, with sloping ceilings and compact bathrooms, and they are the ones that draw the occasional grumble. Guests have mentioned a shower that takes a few minutes to run hot, a top-floor window that would not close fully, and blinds rather than blackout curtains in one room. Ask about blackout curtains when you book if that matters, since other rooms have them.
The house rules are firm and they are the reason it stays quiet: non-smoking throughout with a hundred-pound penalty, no pets, no hen or stag groups, and a minimum check-in age of eighteen. Children of any age are welcome, cots are free for under-threes on request, and there are no extra beds.
Why book Strides Hotel?
Ten rooms, two owners and a position you cannot really improve on for the money. Here is what that means in practice, and what it does not include.
You can walk to all of it
Coral Island is three or four minutes from the front door. The Winter Gardens is five, Blackpool Tower and the Comedy Carpet six or seven, Sea Life and Madame Tussauds six, the beach six, North Pier ten or twelve. Hornby Road is central without being on the seafront, which is exactly why couples rate the location as highly as they do.
Owners, not a front desk
Stuart and Carol run it themselves and have done for over a decade, and guests name them in review after review. That is the thing people come back for: a genuine welcome, a cooked breakfast made to order, and someone who will tell you which tram to take. Reception is not staffed around the clock, so tell them if you will be late.
A cooked breakfast and a residents' bar
A Full English or Irish is served each morning in the dining room, with vegetarian and gluten-free catered for if you ask ahead, and it is paid directly to the house on the day rather than through your booking. Downstairs there is a proper little residents' bar with red banquettes and a brick counter.
No parking, and stairs to every room
There is nowhere to park at the property. The nearest pay-and-display is further along Hornby Road at around £12 for 24 hours, and the Central multi-storey is a longer walk at about £19. Every bedroom is up stairs, with no ground-floor room and no lift, and the top-floor lofts are snug.
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Interesting Points About Strides Hotel
- There is no on-site parking. Several aggregator listings show a parking amenity for this property and they are simply wrong
- Blackpool Tower is about 500 metres away, a six or seven-minute walk. Some microsites claim 1.8 kilometres, which is not true of this address
- The parking figure of £6.50 for 24 hours that circulates online is years out of date. The nearest Hornby Road pay-and-display is around £12 for 24 hours
- Breakfast is paid directly to the house on the day rather than through the reservation, and vegetarian and gluten-free are catered for on request
- The house is non-smoking throughout with a £100 penalty, and hen, stag and party groups are not accommodated
- All ten bedrooms are on the upper floors, reached by stairs. There is no ground-floor room and no downstairs bathroom
- Hornby Road is unusually dense with small hotels, and several carry similar names. This one is Strides Hotel at number 29
- Cots are free on request for children under three, and there are no extra beds. Children aged 13 and over are charged as adults
Rooms & Accommodation at Strides Hotel
Twin Room
About 15 m², two single beds
Fifteen square metres with two singles, on an upper floor reached by stairs. Best for two friends or family members sharing who want to be central and are not planning to spend the day in the room. Some of the top-floor twins look out towards the Tower, which is worth asking about when you book.
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Double Room
About 15 m², one double bed
The standard double, fifteen square metres with the same fittings as the twin. Best for a couple on a Blackpool weekend who want somewhere clean and central rather than spacious, and who will be out at the Tower or the Winter Gardens most of the day anyway. Ask for a room with blackout curtains if you are a light sleeper.
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Triple Room with Shower
About 20 m², two adults and a child
Twenty square metres for two adults and a child, with a shower room. Best for a small family who want one room rather than two, and who are happy with a bunk arrangement for the child. The extra fan is a genuine help in a Blackpool August.
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Family Room (2 Adults + 2 Children)
About 20 m², sleeps four
Twenty square metres sleeping four, which for a family weekend in the middle of Blackpool is exactly the room most people are after. Best for parents with two children who want the arcades and the beach within a few minutes' walk. Cots are free for under-threes on request, but there are no extra beds beyond the configuration.
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Family Room (2 Adults + 3 Children)
About 20 m², sleeps five
The largest room in the house, sleeping five in twenty square metres, so expect it to be tight rather than roomy. Best for a family of five who want one bill and one room in the town centre. Children aged thirteen and over are charged as adults, which is worth factoring in before you book.
Check PricesIs Strides Hotel right for you?
Best Suited For
- Couples and families who want to leave the car behind and walk to everything
- Anyone arriving by train, with Blackpool North a flat fifteen-minute walk
- Guests who want owners who remember them rather than a reception desk
- Families needing a room for four or five in the middle of town
Worth Considering Alternatives If
- Anyone who cannot manage stairs, since every bedroom is on an upper floor and there is no lift
- Drivers who need parking at the door, because there is none at all here
- Hen, stag and party groups, which the house does not accommodate
- Guests who want a spacious room, particularly at the top of the house
Amenities and policies
In Your Room
- Private bathroom with a bath or shower, towels, toilet paper and a hairdryer
- Flat-screen TV
- Tea and coffee tray with an electric kettle
- Desk and wardrobe
- Iron and ironing facilities
- Heating, carpeted throughout
- Socket beside the bed
- Free Wi-Fi
- Non-smoking
- Blackout curtains
The House
- Residents' bar
- Dining room where breakfast is served
- 24-hour guest access with no curfew
- Luggage can be left after check-out
- Daily housekeeping
- Fax and photocopying, and an invoice on request
- Not available: Lift
- Not available: Pool, spa or restaurant
Food and Drink
- Full English or Irish breakfast
- Vegetarian and gluten-free
- Residents' bar
- Not available: Room service
Parking and Transport
- Not available: On-site parking
- Hornby Road pay-and-display
- Central multi-storey, Seasiders Way
- Blackpool North station is about 1.2 km, a flat 15-minute walk
- The Blackpool Tramway runs the length of the Promenade, five minutes away
Policies
- Not available: Smoking
- Not available: Pets
- Not available: Hen, stag and party groups
- Children of any age are welcome; those aged 13 and over are charged as adults
- Cots and extra beds
- Minimum check-in age is 18
- Bankcard and cash accepted
- Check-in runs from 12:00 to 21:00 and check-out is between 07:00 and 10:00
Location and getting around
Blackpool is Britain's original seaside resort and Strides sits right in the middle of it, on Hornby Road, two streets back from the Promenade. That is the sweet spot: central enough to walk to everything, far enough from the front to sleep. It is also a street unusually thick with small hotels, so make sure you are looking for number 29.
Coral Island, the big free-entry indoor arcade, is about 250 metres away, three or four minutes on foot. The Winter Gardens and Opera House are five minutes. Blackpool Tower, Grade I-listed, 158 metres tall and open since 14 May 1894, is about 500 metres and six or seven minutes, with the Comedy Carpet laid out beneath it. Sea Life and Madame Tussauds sit together on the Promenade about six minutes away, and Central Beach is the same. North Pier, the oldest of the three and the most elegant, is ten to twelve minutes north.
For anything further, use the tram. The Pleasure Beach is about a mile and a half south, fifteen to twenty minutes on the Promenade tramway rather than a walk, and Blackpool Zoo is a short bus ride inland. Blackpool North station is a flat fifteen-minute walk, and the nearest airports are Manchester at about ninety-three kilometres and Liverpool John Lennon at eighty-seven.
- Coral Island: About 250 m, a 3 to 4-minute walk
- Winter Gardens and Opera House: About 400 m, a 5-minute walk
- Sea Life Blackpool and Madame Tussauds: About 450 m, a 6-minute walk
- Central Beach and the Comedy Carpet: About 450 m, a 6-minute walk
- Blackpool Tower: About 500 m, a 6 to 7-minute walk
- North Pier: About 800 m, a 10 to 12-minute walk
- Blackpool North station: About 1.2 km, a 15-minute walk
- Hornby Road pay-and-display: A 5 to 8-minute walk along the same street
- Blackpool Pleasure Beach: About 1.6 miles south, 15 to 20 minutes by tram
- Blackpool Zoo: About 3.1 km inland, a short bus ride
Getting to Key Locations
Within a 15-minute walk: all 3 places below.
Coral Island
4 min walk
A 4-minute walk from the front door, Coral Island is Blackpool's biggest free-entry indoor amusement centre, a pirate-themed warren of arcade machines, rides and a bowling alley that swallows a rainy afternoon whole. It is the single closest attraction to the house, and the reason families book this street.
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Photo: Nathanemmison, CC BY-SA 4.0
Blackpool Tower
7 min walk
A 7-minute walk to the seafront, Blackpool Tower opened on 14 May 1894, stands 158 metres tall and is Grade I listed. Inside are the Ballroom with its Wurlitzer, the Circus at the foot of the legs, and the Skywalk with its glass floor. The Comedy Carpet is spread out on the pavement below it.
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Photo: Ian Petticrew, CC BY-SA 2.0
North Pier
12 min walk
A 12-minute walk north along the front, North Pier opened in 1863 and is the oldest and quietest of Blackpool's three, with white Victorian ironwork, a theatre at the end and an onion-domed kiosk halfway along. It is where you go when the arcades have worn you out.
View on MapGetting to Strides Hotel
- By train, which is the easy way: Blackpool North is the main-line terminus and it is about 1.2 kilometres from the door, a flat fifteen-minute walk or a five-minute taxi. Come out onto Talbot Road, head towards the town centre and the sea, then bear south through the centre to Hornby Road. Coming from further afield, change at Preston or Manchester; the whole journey from Manchester is roughly two hours.
- Driving, and where to leave the car: There is no parking at the property. The Hornby Road pay-and-display further along the same street is the nearest at roughly £12 for twenty-four hours, and the council's Central multi-storey off Seasiders Way is about £19 for a day and a thirteen to sixteen-minute walk. Pack light for the walk from your space, and read the tariff board carefully before you leave the car.
- Arriving during Illuminations season: From early September to early January the seafront traffic is heavy, worst on Saturdays. Do not try to drive to the Promenade. Aim for a car park on the inland side, leave the car there for the whole stay, and walk or take the tram. The town centre around Houndshill is pedestrianised in any case.
- Getting around once you are here: Walk to everything in the centre and take the Promenade tramway for anything further along the coast, south to the Pleasure Beach and Sandcastle Waterpark or north towards Bispham and Fleetwood. The tram stop is about five minutes from the door. Reception is not staffed around the clock, so tell the owners if you will be arriving outside the 12:00 to 21:00 window.
Blackpool from Hornby Road
Blackpool does not need much introduction and it does not apologise for itself. What it does need is a base you can walk from, because the good bits are strung along six miles of seafront and the middle of them is a few minutes from this door: the Tower, the Comedy Carpet, the Winter Gardens, Coral Island, the beach.
The headline is the Illuminations, which for 2026 switch on Friday 4 September and run nightly until Sunday 3 January 2027, stretching six miles along the Promenade from Starr Gate to Red Bank Road. August brings two more: the free Air Show over the Promenade on the 8th and 9th, and Rebellion Festival at the Winter Gardens from the 6th to the 9th, over three hundred bands across nine stages and celebrating its thirtieth year. Central rooms sell out early for all three, so book ahead.
For food, Baileys Bistro is inside the Newholme at number 26, essentially across the street and under two minutes away. Bailey's Cheese and Charcuterie on Clifton Street is a ten-minute walk towards the seafront and worth an afternoon. Book the Tower and the Circus together to save, ride the heritage trams at least once, and do not try to drive to the front in Illuminations season.
Watch: things to do in Blackpool
A quick run through what is worth your time in the town you step out into, most of it within a walk of the door.
Who is Strides Hotel for?
Book it if you want to be in the middle of Blackpool, walk to everything and be looked after by the people who own the place. That combination, at this price, is genuinely hard to find, and the returning guests in the reviews are the proof. Do not book it if you need parking at the door, cannot manage stairs, or want a big room. Come by train, take the top-floor room only if you travel light, and it does the job very well.
What guests say about Strides Hotel
Scores and review counts are aggregated from verified guest bookings on major travel platforms.
Very good
Read enough of these and a pattern emerges: people book Strides for the position and come back for the owners. The location and the hosts are the two highest-scoring things on the listing and have been for years, with cleanliness and value close behind. The criticisms are small and specific rather than general: compact loft rooms at the top of the house, a shower that takes a few minutes to run hot, a fiddly Wi-Fi login, one window that would not shut properly, one bouncy mattress. Nobody complains about the welcome.
Praised a genuinely friendly family who could not do enough for them, a spotless room and a location he described as first rate.
Lee
Rated the hosts, the value and the central position highly, with nothing she wanted to flag on the other side.
2026-08-15Praised a genuinely friendly family who could not do enough for them, a spotless room and a location he described as first rate.
2026-08-10Loved how close everything was and how cheerful and helpful the owner was throughout. His one note was that the mattress was a touch bouncy.
2026-07-19Found the owners welcoming and the rooms immaculate and comfortable. The only thing she mentioned was that the shower took a few minutes to run hot.
2026-07-19Called the location brilliant and the owner lovely, and thought it very well priced. In the top-floor twin the window would not shut fully, which let in some road noise, and the room had blinds rather than blackout curtains.
2026-07-05Described an easy check-in, a nice owner and a comfortable room with blackout curtains, well placed for a family trip to Coral Island.
2026-06-14Good to Know Before You Book
There is no parking at all
Not limited, not permit-only. None. The nearest option is the Hornby Road pay-and-display further along the same street, a five to eight-minute walk at around £12 for twenty-four hours, or the Central multi-storey off Seasiders Way at about £19. Drivers have reported a confusing tariff sign at the Hornby Road car park, so read the board before you walk away.
Every bedroom is up stairs
All ten rooms are on the upper floors and there is no lift, no ground-floor room and no downstairs bathroom. The owners confirm this directly when asked. If stairs are a problem, this is not the house for you, and the top-floor loft rooms involve the most of them.
Breakfast is paid to the house, not through your booking
The cooked Full English or Irish is settled directly with the owners on the day rather than added to your reservation, so confirm the current price when you book. Vegetarian and gluten-free are catered for and special-diet menus are available if you give them notice.
The house rules keep it quiet
Non-smoking throughout with a £100 penalty, no pets, no hen or stag groups, and a minimum check-in age of eighteen. Children of any age are welcome and cots are free on request for under-threes, though there are no extra beds and children of thirteen and over are charged as adults.
Tell them if you will be late
Check-in runs from 12:00 to 21:00 and check-out is between 07:00 and 10:00, and reception is not staffed around the clock. If your train or your drive will get you in outside those hours, let the owners know in advance. Guests do have 24-hour access once they are in, and luggage can be left after check-out.
Cancellation terms depend on your rate
Some rates include free cancellation and others are non-refundable, and the exact policy shows on the rate you pick before you confirm. The card you use may be pre-authorised before arrival.
Call Strides Hotel
Call the owners to ask about blackout curtains, a Tower-view twin at the top of the house, breakfast for a special diet, or to tell them you will be arriving after nine in the evening.
+44 1253 623895Photos of Strides Hotel
Frequently asked questions
No. There is no parking at the property at all, despite what some aggregator listings claim. The nearest option is the Hornby Road pay-and-display further along the same street, a five to eight-minute walk, at roughly £2.50 for two hours or £12 for twenty-four hours. The council's Central multi-storey off Seasiders Way is about £19 for a day and a thirteen to sixteen-minute walk. Ignore the £6.50-a-day figure that still circulates online; it is years out of date.
Check-in runs from 12:00 to 21:00 and check-out is between 07:00 and 10:00. Early check-in or late check-out can sometimes be arranged but is not guaranteed. Reception is not staffed around the clock, so if you will arrive outside those hours, tell the owners in advance. Once you are in, guests have 24-hour access and there is no curfew.
A cooked Full English or Irish breakfast is served each morning, and it is paid directly to the house on the day rather than through your booking, so confirm the current price when you reserve. Vegetarian and gluten-free are catered for and special-diet menus are available on request, but give the owners notice rather than springing it on them at the table.
No, pets are not allowed at Strides Hotel. The house is also non-smoking throughout, with a £100 penalty for smoking in the building, and there is a designated smoking area outside.
No. All ten bedrooms are on the upper floors and are reached by stairs. There is no ground-floor room, no downstairs bathroom and no lift, and the owners confirm this directly when asked. The top-floor loft rooms involve the most stairs of all.
Blackpool Tower is about 500 metres away, a six or seven-minute walk, and Central Beach and the Comedy Carpet are about the same. Coral Island is nearer still at three or four minutes, and the Winter Gardens is five. Some aggregator microsites quote 1.8 kilometres for the Tower, which is not correct for this address.
Yes, several. There are family rooms for two adults and two children and for two adults and three children, both around twenty square metres, plus triple rooms for two adults and one child. Cots are free on request for children under three, there are no extra beds, and children aged thirteen and over are charged as adults.
No. The house does not accommodate hen, stag or similar party groups, and parties and events are not allowed on the premises. Minimum check-in age is eighteen. These rules are why it stays a quiet, family-friendly place to sleep in the middle of Blackpool.
Ten, all en-suite and all on the upper floors: twins, doubles, two triples and two family rooms. It is a small family-run guest house rather than a hotel in the usual sense, which is exactly what guests say they like about it.
Walk. It is about 1.2 kilometres and a flat fifteen minutes. Come out onto Talbot Road, head towards the town centre and the seafront, then bear south through the centre towards Hornby Road, where number 29 sits. A taxi takes about five minutes if you have heavy bags.
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Two streets back, everything on foot
Ten en-suite rooms, a cooked breakfast and owners who will remember you, six minutes' walk from the Tower. Leave the car at home. Check your dates.
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