2 /5 Matt Martin: It’s not the first time Ive stayed here. The first time I woke up stinking of urine, which it turns out the bed had been soaked in but had been left to dry.
This time I was thankfully staying in a different room for 6 nights on business. We had been booked the breakfast and meal deal offer for each day. The room was as you’d expect - bed was fine, pillows reassuringly hard and uncomfortable. There was a bath which you could fill up in a speedy 1 minute, in contrast the sink produced a pathetic dribble of water that you would need to leave running whilst you shower if you wanted to use the sink afterward. There was an extractor fan which would come on and go off as it pleased so always had to open the bathroom to clear the steam. The air con went down to 19 degrees which is warmer than I would like it to be and also never actually reached this temperature even after hours of operating. There are no windows to open in this hotel if you want some fresh air or struggle with air con. There was one day where I had to ask reception if I was allowed to use the air con as they had locked me out for some reason, which was annoying. Over all the room was fine and what you would expect from a budget hotel.
Breakfast was just how you get it at every premier inn, totally fine and it was a nice addition to have a bowl of yoghurt to serve from rather than having to open a single pot for 1 spoonful. The morning staff were really pleasant and a welcome face first thing.
The evening however was a different story.
On getting to the bar there were a selection of 3 flavourless lagers all pretty much the same thing. No cider in sight and the Guinness had ran out. There was no real ale in the fridge because “one guy had drank it all” which then changed to “theres a national shortage” according to the guy on the floor. The fridges weren’t exactly brimming with choice either.
The food was pretty awful, the atmosphere was similar to being in a library and the service blasé and sarcastic. Looking at the menu it was basic pub grub and pretty much the same menu I served when I worked at Wetherspoons 25 years ago. A couple of us ordered “loaded nachos” which almost seemed like an ironic joke when it turned up. A small plate with less than a handful of nachos on it with a few dribbles of sauce placed wherever it happened to fall off the spoon. To call this loaded really does take the Mickey of the customer. I ordered a chicken burger which came prepared with the care of a toddler and my colleague ordered a mixed grill, he was asked how he would like the steak cooking, which he requested as rare, I came well done with not even a hint of pink anywhere through the steak. When the kitchen staff member was asked by the floor staff about it he looked at the obviously well done steak and exclaimed that it was rare. Ironically there were some clock faces on the wall in the restaurant with various temperatures to cook a steak well done, medium and rare! When we went to leave we were told we had to pay extra for the morretti which was fine except they charged up for 2 pints rather than the 1 we had had and argued the toss with us. We paid it in the end and didn’t go back for the rest of the week.
If you’re staying here, don’t waste your money on eating dinner here, the place is drab, dingy, no music, cold atmosphere, cold service, cold food, bad staff and they live by the mantra that the customer is always wrong!
Theres an absolutely fantastic pub opposite this hotel that serves proper tasty, well portioned home made pub grub that is actually 10/10 and well priced. It’s got a lovely atmosphere, some sort of entertainment or offer on every night, it’s got a beer garden by the canal, it has a great selection of drinks. It’s everything that the premier inn is not. It’s no surprise that they’ve had to close off half of the restaurant when there are clowns running the place the way they are.
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