Imperial gets spruced up in time for political conference season

The Imperial hotel in Blackpool has undergone a £1m refurbishment in readiness for the new political conference season.

The four-star venue will be used by the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in September and October respectively. The Labour party is booked in for February 2006.

Named Hotel of the Year 2004 at Blackpool's Tourism Awards, it has upgraded 121 of its 181 en suite rooms and the no.10 bar has been spruced up for the fringe meetings that take place during the conference season.

General manager Alison Gilmore said: "Refurbishing the Imperial is almost like painting the Forth Bridge, in that we're constantly looking at upgrading our facilities to keep ahead of the competition."

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