Blackpool holiday apartments revamped ready for better days ahead

The Berkeley Apartments, near Gynn Square, are the pride and joy of Maggie D’Araujo and Simon Morris.

Despite having made their refurbishment plans last year, the couple have had to go through the first lockdown, the Scottish First Minister’s warning that Blackpool was a Covid hot-spot for Scots, the imposition of Tier-3 restrictions and now a second lockdown, since the scaffolding came down earlier this year.

Undaunted, Maggie, born in London, and Simon, who grew up in Blackpool close to the apartments and a pupil at Claremont Junior school, are grasping the nettle and are determined to not only succeed, but to help shift perceptions of the resort and spark a cultural sea-change.

As lovers of beautiful furnishings, arts and crafts and creativity, they have poured their soul into making their 13 luxury self-catering apartments as stunning as possible, equipping them with features and touches that augment the key selling point – that all apartments have a sea view.

Maggie, Simon, and their Yorkshire-based business partners, have chosen to incorporate the Left Coast Colour Palette into the design scheme for their four-floor 1920s building.

They said it was all about communicating the soul of Blackpool through colour and using the 35-strong range of colours, inspired by the people and places of Blackpool and developed by the creative agency Left Coast in collaboration with Johnston’s Paint.

Each apartment now has a feature wall painted in that colour. The sun lounge, painted in Salisbury yellow, also features a mural of an iconic painting, by Kevin Walsh, of Blackpool in its heyday. During the refurbishment, Art Deco features, including tiles, stained glass windows, were uncovered and incorporated into the new look.

Maggie said: “We certainly face a very different challenge from that which we originally imagined. When we planned our refurbishment last December, we had no idea what 2020 would bring and we have had to adapt as we have gone along, changing plans and schedules of works, according to what was possible.”

Simon said: “We are attracting bookings all the time, despite everything, and just need to think to the future.”

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