Iconic Metropole hotel in Blackpool remains closed to visitors

Summarised from LancsLive's report · Updated 18 Oct, 13:50 · Archive

Blackpool's Grand Metropole, one of Britain's oldest seaside hotels dating to 1785, remains closed to visitors.

Blackpool's Grand Metropole, originally called Bailey's Hotel, dates to 1785 and is one of the town's oldest hotels. It opened with 34 bedrooms, three dining rooms and a coffee lounge at a time when Blackpool had just four hotels: Bailey's, Hudson's, Hull's and Forshaw's. Of these, only two remain: Bailey's, which became the Metropole, and Forshaw's, which became the Clifton Arms.

The hotel changed hands and names several times. Local farmer Lawrence Bailey began construction in 1776, with the hotel opening in June 1785. In 1826 it was purchased by Robert Dickson and renamed the Higher Royal Hotel. By 1852 it had become Rossall's Dickson Hotel, before reverting to Bailey's by 1867. The hotel predates Blackpool's first promenade, constructed in 1856 from the hotel to the Houndshill area.

Read the report

• Will the iconic Metropole in Blackpool ever re-open?The hotel dates back to 1785LancsLive · 18 Oct, 12:00

In this story: Metropole · Blackpool · Lawrence Bailey · Robert Dickson · Robert Rossall

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