Labour Conference Diary: Why Liverpool Is Ghastly

Please tell me that the 150 figure for BBC journos carried a healthy does of hyperbole. Please don't let that be true.

Not from where I am sitting. And I am looking at them now as I type this.

Iain,

I am really disapointed in your hachet job on Liverpool.

A cursory bit of research on trip advisor would of told you that the Adelphi is a terrible hotel with a terrible reputation. You have chosen the worst hotel to stay in. They are many fine hotel within spitting distence of where you are.

I appreciate you may have booked last minute, but perhaps at conference time the Adephi having rooms should of told you something.

As for it looking like a "bombsite", im sure you are prob talking about the approach to the city down Edge Lane. you are right it does look pretty awful at the moment and its massivly unfortunate that this is the route into the city off the motorway.

Other cities are lucky enough to have their areas like this not on the route into the city centre. Moss side etc

If you would rather attend a conference in a souless place like Birmigham than in a venue on a world heritage site I am sure you are not in the majority.

Liverpool has many fanstastic areas that look nothing like what you have described. Maybe have a quick look at Allerton, Woolton, Sandfield PArk, Cressington,Crosby, West Derby.

Great areas with lovely housing and standards of living.

I am sorry you have felt the need to be so harsh on a place you obvioulsy know so little about.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your visit to the City - it would appear you have neglected to open your eyes or even talk to anyone. If it is so Ghastly why has Group Lesiure awarded it UK's Best City and Conde Nast have it ranked 4th best place to visit in the UK - as well as most friendly city in the UK for about the third year running. You did very well driving in down the road widening scheme of Edge Lane which you declared to be a bomb site - well done - and checked into what is widely acknowledged as the worst hotel in the City in order to write your review. Again well done. Your home counties readership will be delighted at your ability to pander to their preconceived ideas. When do you suppose the city got ghastly by the way? During tho 80's perhaps? Hmm - who was in power then. It has certainly improved dramatically over the last 10 years although you seem determined to slag off your Liberal colleagues by declaring all the money they have spent during their time running the council over the last decade as "wasted" Well done again indeed. If only you'd planned your trip properly you could have dined in the UK's highest restaurant with views over the city Irish Seas and to Wales - but no. Not much planning gone into your trip at all was there. Let us know if you're coming again and we'll spray a load of graffiti everywhere and set fire to half of it to make it seem like London if you like.

ian iam so sad about your comments about liverpool.i know it is not perfect and some areas are in need of attention but it is a good city with a great heart please do not judge it on a quick visit the city has alot to offer if you give it a chance.j bradshaw

you are so right - the feeling is mutual

Iain, the way in from motorway is in the middle of being generated that is why it looks like Gaza. The Adelphi hotel is in probably the most run down part of city centre Lime street; have you listened to Beatles song Maggie May. This area is to be redeveloped with £200 million of private money over the next two years. The Lewises building accross the road with smashed windows(listed building)is to be transformed into 4/5 star hotel with cinema and shopping complex. So I agree you did not see best of Liverpool.

When I first visted Liverpool I thought it was a bit ghastly and intimidating but now I love the place and visit as much as possible.

I recommend you buy yourself a travel guide of Liverpool read it spend a weekend visiting these sites and then rewrite your article because it makes you sound like a stupid ignorant man.

regards

Iain, this may help with your trip:

Icons of Liverpool in world’s top list

Two Liverpool landmarks were chosen as the world’s favourite and most inspirational sights.

The River Mersey Ferry and the Cavern Club have been named in the list of the world’s 1,000 ultimate sights, published in the Lonely Planet’s World's.

The iconic Mersey Ferry is featured in the top 10 most spectacular river sights, alongside others including the Shotover River by speedboat in Queenstown, New Zealand and the River Amazon’s raft race.

The ferry first made waves in the 60s when Gerry and the Pacemakers’ song Ferry Cross the Mersey reached number eight in the UK chart.

The Cavern Club, best known for hosting gigs by the Beatles, features in the top 10 “best celebrity sights” category.

Iain, maybe you should go to cavern club, have a few beers and chillout! Or spend an afternoon on ferry and make the most of the sun. It will help you unwind!

Perhaps Iain's unusual silence on this means he has had a rethink and no-longer thinks that he he right and everyone else is wrong.

That Arch labourite Quentin Letts in the mail yesterday calls Liverpool a "unique grand city"

I know you probably don't have time to wander around taking in cultural attractions, Iain, but Liverpool is full of wonderful (or at least interesting) architecture. The two cathedrals, the Princes Road Synagogue (one of the best Moorish revival buildings in the world), St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox church, are just a start.

Its museums are pretty fantastic as well - the Tate and the Liverpool history museums and Albert Dock, and the Walker Art Gallery - one of the best in the country.

I don't really think you gave the place a chance.

You came to Liverpool and didn't even have a walk along Hope Street?

And why on earth did you stay at the Adelphi?

Your piece is the equivalent of ordering a potion of chips in a restaurant, and then concluding the menu is limited.

Iain, I disagree with your (albeit short) tourist guide to Liverpool. Never visited before this conference and I have to say I WILL be coming back again. The docks are indeed very attractive, but from my meanderings around the City (I, too, was stuck out some way from the conference venue and at an unashamedly budget hotel which at only £120 a night sounds like better value than your experience!) I found the place to be full of interesting buildings, mix of architectural styles and varied commercial, civic and religious buildings of some significance. I want to come back to the Museum of Liverpool, as well as the Tate and the Walker galleries. R

So basically, you all agree the Adelphi is terrible and that the drive in to the city is an eyesore.

Glad we got that straight.

I always knew people from Liverpool had chips on shoulders. The reaction to what I said rather proves it. I suppose I am not entitled to an opinion. There are places I like and places I don't like. I love Manchester. I like Birmingham more than thought I would. I don't like Liverpool. Get over it. It's only my opinion.

You are entitled to an opinion but ghastly come on that is rather insulting! Not heard any of the city guide experts call Liverpool ghastly but you know better!

An apology is in order for city of Liverpool and Adelphi hotel who have probably warmly welcomed you to the city. I guess that will not happen though!

No wonder people in this country have no respect for politicians or people in politics.

It's a shame you didn't have a little longer to look around the city, Iain. As others have mentioned, there's lots to see and do in Liverpool. One could easily spend several days exploring the Maritime Museum alone. Liverpool has something of a reputation, especially to people rooted in the south, but give it a chance and you might be pleasantly surprised.

I note you have not said you would make time to have a look round the better parts of Lpool, perhaps the reasons it is seen as a tourist destination.

I disagree with most things you have ever written Iain, but I would never of said you were arrogant until this post

I am not saying it is arrogant for you to have a negative opinion about a city. Just the heavy handed blunt way you have gone about it.

I know you dont care what I think dont worry.

I can assure you Steven that the welcome was not what I would call a welcome!

I always knew people from Liverpool had chips on shoulders. The reaction to what I said rather proves it. I suppose I am not entitled to an opinion.

So, you're entitled to an opinion....aren't the people responding to your blog also entitled to an opinion? And what on earth has any of this got to do with chips on shoulders...they go on butties don't they?

Ian, get your head out of your arse for goodness sake, you're giving the Tories a bad name or are you trying to compete with Boris.....

Iain, here are links to regeneration projects.

First one is what edge lane/Gaza will look like in a couple of years time when hundreds of millions of private and public money is spent on improving main route into Liverpool.

http://www.liverpoolvision.co.uk/A_Changing_City/Edge_Lane_Project/Fly-Through.aspx

Second one is what the area surrounding Adelphi will look like in a couple of years time when £200 million of private money is spent.

http://centralvillageliverpool.com/

Liverpool was left in a real mess after Margaret Thatcher years. Since 90s half the city has been rebuilt but the work is still continuing.

If people like Duke of Westminster is prepared to invest 1 billion pounds of his own money on Liverpool one shopping complex then maybe Liverpool is not as ghastly as you make out.

I spent nearly ten years going to conferences in Blackpool, most of which were spent listening to other journalists complaining about the bloody awful hotels/restaurants/conference facilities, sometimes with some justification (eg the Scottish Lobby man, now a deputy editor on a national newspaper, forced to sleep on a bed with plastic sheets.) It amuses me to hear that people are still complaining, even now they've moved away from the traditional seaside venues.

Yes indeed, Iain, Liverpool is so ghastly that dozens of new hotels have opened in the past few years to accommodate all the visitors. You should have picked one, rather than the disgusting Adelphi. Didn't you do any research? How silly.
And what do visitors find in our city? Parts that are a mess? Of course. But also More Grade 2 listed buildings than anywhere outside London and stunning World Heritage sites that cities such as Birmingham and Manchester would die for. No wonder the latest Lonely Planet guide to Britain praises Liverpool's "magnificent waterfront" while ignoring the myriad attractions of Birmingham, a place you say you like.
Sorry you didn't enjoy my home town, Iain, but please don't condemn it totally on the basis of a drive along Edge Lane and your poor choice of hotel.

"It’s now that I understand perfectly why lots of famous people profess to love Liverpool so much they move away at the first opportunity and never return if they can help it . . . I always knew people from Liverpool had chips on shoulders".

Do you actually have anything worthwhile to say rather than simply parroting sub Harry Enfield style cliches like every idiot south of the Watford Gap has been doing since 1990? I was born and raised in London but was fortunate enough to spend 5 years studying in Liverpool before returning home for work and family reasons.(I really love London too. See, it is possible to love two different places and not be a hypocrite). Incidentally, it's well known that The Adelphi is a poor hotel, as someone else mentions why not do some research. Or maybe the point was you chose a hotel you knew you'd hate as you had this dismal excuse for an article planned all along.

I don't know why you didn't like Liverpool Iain, since you share with it the same thin-skinned tendency to sulk whenever either of you is criticised - witness your childish "I suppose I am not entitled to an opinion" comment above.

So you managed to end up in what is widely known to be the worst hotel in the city (ever heard of Tripadvisor?) and your first choice of restaurant in this major city was... Pizza Express.

Hmm.

I'm sure you're a busy man but you clearly didn't bother to actually look round the place, did you?

Which didn't stop you doing a hatchet job on the city and its people. People defending a city they are fond of against totally misinformed tripe like this does not "prove they have chips on their shoulders like wot I always knew."

It sure proves something else though...

Iain as Mr Heseltine said:

“Liverpool is Liverpool. We have all lived with this, all my political life. I love them, but they do their thing – you can predict what they do. It is a cross we have to bear, to be honest.

“Liverpool is a place transformed. It is unrecognisable in my 40 years of experience in this particular field, despite the headlines, the aggro and the language and the tensions.

“In my view, it is now on an unstoppable upward cycle and I profoundly welcome that. But no politician who ventures along the Mersey must expect to emerge unscathed.”

Appologise for your very poor article and let it be!

its Iain rationale for disliking Liverpool that damns him the most.

the Adelphi, good god.

I have been checking up on Iain. This guy is a nobody. Look at his youtube figures, nobody takes this guy serious.

Now F off to the great Tunbridge Wells where ever that is. Non discript town down south I presume.

I do not know why I am wasting my time with you.

'Professional scousers move away at first opportunity'

'all scousers have chips on their shoulders'

'they'll have you hubcaps you know'.

Blah, blah, blah.

Tired, dull cliches that have been doing the rounds for the past 30 years of more.

If you are going to do a hatchet job, why not do it with a modicum of wit and thought.

Can you really make a living churning this turgid shit out ?

"I always knew people from Liverpool had chips on shoulders. The reaction to what I said rather proves it"

Proves nothing of the sort .... None of those who have commented have either implicitly or explicitly stated they are Liverpudlian. In fact some of the comments infer at least that some of them are NOT!. So, on the basis of no evidence whatsoever, you seemed to have inferred the opposite to suit your cliched thesis. Which perhaps says something about your original observations?

Tis maybe lucky for you that you've carved a niche living by being a political hack and not being a lawyer (or any other profession demanding some level of critical faculty above junior school).

Anyhow - yes everyone is entitled to their opinion (I have a friend who doesn't like San Fransisco of all places! whilst I love it). However, the way you present your view in a tired, cliche ridden, mean spirited and dismissive way - whilst at the same suggesting your friend who loves the place is somehow mentally defective suggests thats it is more likely you who apparently has a chip on their shoulder (for whatever reason).

For those who wish a more reliable and considered viewpoint, a counterbalance to your rant may be the view from the bible for the discerning well heeled traveller - Conde Nast Traveller Magazine - who voted Liverpool 3rd best UK city to visit (after London, Edinburgh) in 2009 and 4th best last year (Oxford just squeezing past). I can only imagine that for you, for a magazine that caters for luxury travel to make such a statement shows it has no taste, but then again with an HQ in NewYork it perhaps hasnt been blessed with the same level of Middle England Toryboy prejudice perception filter to blinker its view of Liverpool that you have been fitted with. Have a nice day!. (By the way - in case you are still counting phantom chips - I'm not from Liverpool!)

Did Liverpool's history not intrigue you

between 1830 and 1930 about forty million people left Europe in search of a new and better life.

About nine million of them sailed from Liverpool, mainly travelling to North America, Australia and New Zealand - the 'New World'.

I guess to you though it was more about where Pizza express was located.

Can we take you seriuos anymore!

Iain you are small minded, ignorant and an attention seeker.

Once in a while you should leave the small world you occupy-- if you did maybe you would expand your mind.

My apologies for even leaving a comment, I feel guilty giving you the attention you obviously crave.

Each to his or her own I guess. I visited Liverpool for the first time for conference and I was bowled away by how good it looks and how friendly the people are - the weather helped! Everyone I spoke to at conference thought that Liverpool was much better than they had been led to believe by media reports over the year.

I will certainly be returning.

What I love about Liverpool is the easygoing way in which it responds to criticism. It really ought to consider sending mentors out to other cities to help them avoid over-reacting to things. The fabled Liverpudlian sense of humour could help so many places overcome their irritability and laugh off their misfortunes.