Accommodation suggestions and reviews

[richw]

The deposit thing is surely outdated? Unless it has a charged minibar?
It’s why a lot of people stick to the likes of premier inn and Travelodge. Might not be the best option but you know what you are getting, and that it is consistent across the country.

 

[BazingaTribe]

On the way to the Premier Inn in Aldershot on another work excursion. I've become a postal inspector for my NHS facilities organisation and despite a very bumpy ride from Basingstoke to Woking after a weekend agreeing to disagree with my stomach after I drastically undercooked something (my oven needed a new element and I don't think it's as powerful as the old one was), I got here in one piece.

But if you get off the train hungry, there is a fantastic Momo shop on the parade immediately in front of you. Aldershot is of course home to the Gurkha community, who dominate the local culinary scene. Given the choice of hot, mildly spicy pork dumplings (fried or steamed) or a pizza with cheddar instead of mozzarella (!sacrilege!) at the aforementioned Premier Inn, take the first option and have something a bit different. It can be really great to stumble on a place like this where there's something other than Wetherspoons or Burger King, and I thought I'd give it a shout-out as it's something a weary traveller would really appreciate.

 

[route101]

Stayed in my first German Premier Inn in Hamburg. I thought the room was on par with latest Premier Inns back in the UK but with a couch in room. Very similar to UK Premier Inns but perhaps a style more like a Motel One.

 

[Kite159]

The Vale Apart Hotel, Hull

Stayed here for a couple of nights, located around 0.9 miles (or so) from the station so took me around 15 minutes to walk from the station to the hotel (near the hospital). Bedroom was basic but functional for use as a base, quite decent thick long curtains which did a reasonable job at blocking out the light from outside. Reasonably quiet location (a bit of road noise but nothing that serious). Friendly owner along with some dogs (and a cat).

Negative is I had a room with a shared bathroom and it was a bit of a maze to reach it (and the shower wasn't that powerful), also the radiator couldn't be turned fully off so the room got quite warm. Would I use again? If I ever had the need to stay in Hull again overnight and I could reach the city when check-in was open (16:00-21:00) then if the price was right.

 

[Willie Bee]

Premier Inn Inverness Centre (River Ness)​

My wife and I have stayed here early this month and would certainly recommend it.

Be careful of prices though .. we managed to get 2 nights (a Saturday & Sunday) for £78, but the same room in June would be £379
(based on Standard Room, with standard booking)

This hotel is only a 10-minute walk from Inverness station.

 

[trainophile]

I must say Travelodge seem to have upped their game recently. I’ve stayed in several this year, so far Scarborough, York (Micklegate), Cardiff and currently in Edinburgh Central, and haven’t been disappointed with any of them. I binge booked when the offer was on, but at this time of year there’s still some bargains to be had.

It’s become my first go-to before I look on booking.com. The only thing to be careful of is that some of them are located for motorists not rail travellers.

 

[ChrisC]

Premier Inn Inverness Centre (River Ness)​

My wife and I have stayed here early this month and would certainly recommend it.

Be careful of prices though .. we managed to get 2 nights (a Saturday & Sunday) for £78, but the same room in June would be £379
(based on Standard Room, with standard booking)

This hotel is only a 10-minute walk from Inverness station.

I agree it’s a very good Premier Inn in a fantastic location at the side of the river. I did a 7 night stay there in 2019 whilst doing a Spirit of Scotland Rover. The breakfast staff were very helpful in enabling me to get a quick early breakfast on a couple of mornings before making a dash to the station to get the 0700 Far North Line train.

Like most accommodation in Inverness it can be expensive and you have to be careful with prices. My stay was in September, before hotel prices began to rise to their current levels, and even then it was more than I would normally pay for a Premier Inn. Prices to stay there during the summer months are now way above what I would be prepared to pay for a supposedly budget hotel like Premier Inn.

 

[Kite159]

Weaver's House B and B, Penarth (Cardiff)

Located just outside Dingle Road station on the Penarth branch (or a ten-minute walk from Cogan station, all be uphill) it's well located. Very friendly owner, it has 7 rooms. I had a room with a shared bathroom with a toilet/sink located close by with a shower (which I didn't try due to the time I finished) on the 1st floor. Has an included 'light' breakfast (croissants, fruit, tea/coffee, bread) with several shops close by (Sainsburys local, Co-Op, Greggs, plus cafes).

My bed was quite comfy, the only downside with my room was the roof light blind didn't want to stay fully down, it jumped up to leave around an inch at the bottom of the window. Certainly a place I would use again if the price was right (£45 for a Saturday night near Cardiff city centre with easy access to trains (and buses) isn't that bad).

 

[route101]

Premier Inn Inverness Centre (River Ness)​

My wife and I have stayed here early this month and would certainly recommend it.

Be careful of prices though .. we managed to get 2 nights (a Saturday & Sunday) for £78, but the same room in June would be £379
(based on Standard Room, with standard booking)

This hotel is only a 10-minute walk from Inverness station.

I have noticed similar with the Oban Premier Inn, must be really popular.

 

[route101]

Meininger Hotel Amsterdam. Trying to book one night in March but only letting me book a minimum of two nights at the weekend. Anyone come across this?

 

[Willie Bee]

Liverpool One Premier Inn .. UPDATE !

My wife and I have stayed here a couple of times previously and have just returned from another stay.

We have stayed at several Premier Inn hotels and on each occasion we have checked out on the final day, just after breakfast, then left our bags in the hotel to collect later, i.e. near to the time of our train home. This we also did here .. up until now

We always assumed this would help the hotel staff to get on with room cleaning, rather than having to wait until 12:00 (the official checkout time)

Now, at this hotel they state they will NOT store bags for departing guests.

OK, we’ll be awkward then, so I headed back to our room with our two suitcases. In the lift I spoke to a woman who had arrived the previous day, who explained she had had to wait until after 16:00 before her room was ready.

I told her the suitcase story .. it’s obviously related.. if all folk are just going to check out at 12:00, it won’t give staff enough time to clean all rooms before the 15:00 check in time.

It seems rather a stupid policy to me .. if they could do it before, why change.

Manchester Central PI actually mentioned they are happy to store bags for visitors, arr9iving early or leaving late.

 

[Haywain]

It seems rather a stupid policy to me .. if they could do it before, why change.

Manchester Central PI actually mentioned they are happy to store bags for visitors, arr9iving early or leaving late.

A couple of months ago I used a Premier Inn in Preston to store luggage while I went to a football match. I hadn't stayed there and was just using it as a left luggage facility.

 

[Butts]

A couple of months ago I used a Premier Inn in Preston to store luggage while I went to a football match. I hadn't stayed there and was just using it as a left luggage facility.

How much was that ?

 

[Haywain]

How much was that ?

£6.68 - I booked it through a website called Stasher.com. I don't know if Premier Inn do it directly and probably should have asked as I had stayed the night before in the Premier Inn in Wigan.

 

[Willie Bee]

£6.68 - I booked it through a website called Stasher.com.

Brilliant.. I had never heard of that website .. and I'm sure many other folk here haven't either.

Funnily enough that Premier Inn who wouldn't take my bag are advertising on the site.. at £4.69 per bag per day. You would have thought the PI staff would have mentioned this

 

[Haywain]

Funnily enough that Premier Inn who wouldn't take my bag are advertising on the site.. at £4.69 per bag per day

I looked and it's the only one of the Liverpool PIs that isn't listed.

 

[Willie Bee]

The hotel is usually referred to as Liverpool One, but it's named as Liverpool Central Station on the Stasher website

The station is about 150m from the hotel

 

[Haywain]

The hotel is usually referred to as Liverpool One, but it's named as Liverpool Central Station on the Stasher website

I see, I wasn’t aware.

Funnily enough that Premier Inn who wouldn't take my bag are advertising on the site.. at £4.69 per bag per day.

That's the base price, there are extras on top although I can't remember whether they were optional (a booking fee of £0.99 and a "guarantee fee" of £1.00).

 

[trainophile]

I’m expecting any day now for PI and Travelodge to alter their checkout time to 11:00 or even earlier. They have been a godsend when other groups and private hotels often kick you out as early as 10:00.

PI used to let you check in from 14:00 but that changed to 15:00 during Covid and never went back. That and hairdryers gave them a slight edge over Travelodge, but now they are not competitive price wise, and it’s easier to find a more affordable booking at Travelodge, although they can get a bit silly too at times!

 

[Blindtraveler]

PI And me have fallen out big time over there. Downgrading in standards, hiking of prices and food offerings

Waverly hotel, Crewe

Reviewed many, many, many, many many pages back but an update for 2025. Still good. Still friendly. Still clean and with great staff

 

[IanD]

PI And me have fallen out big time over there. Downgrading in standards, hiking of prices and food offerings

With me, it was shutting loads of the attached pubs claiming they were restaurants despite being advertised as pubs and serving people who were not eating.

 

[185143]

With me, it was shutting loads of the attached pubs claiming they were restaurants despite being advertised as pubs and serving people who were not eating.

The last Premier Inn I stayed in was dreadful. The room was far too warm with no AC. I'd opened the window but it was raining overnight with the gutter immediately outside leaking it's contents onto the floor directly outside my window rather noisily. No lift to the upper floors and my room was obviously as far away from reception as possible. I'd just come off a ferry so had plenty of duty free as well as my luggage.

The receptionist was lovely, very friendly and even offered to help me with my stuff. That was about the only redeeming factor!

Wasn't much change out of £75 either, could no doubt have got better, but wanted the guarantee of a late check in if the ferry had been delayed.

I went into the Brewers Fayre attached to the Premier Inn in Margate a few months back. They had loads of items missing from the menu and were very obviously short staffed. That said, the staff again were lovely and explained that they were closing the following week and turning into just a restaurant for the hotel, and all being made redundant. The food was decent when it finally arrived, and I got a pint on the house when they messed up and realised they in fact hadn't sent the order to the kitchen. All felt very Fawlty Towers like!

Premier Inn seemed to very much be the "go to" option 10 years ago, standards have slipped drastically.

 

[Willie Bee]

Any suggestions for a decent Travelodge near the centre of London, for the end of March ??

My daughter and her friend have just decided to have a weekend away. They'll be travelling down by train to KGX

My wife and I have visited London a few times and on each occasion stayed at the PI hub hotel at Goodge Street (see my post, ref. 1495) which is great, but there are no rooms available.

We've never stayed at any Travelodge, hence my question

thanks

 

[trainophile]

Any suggestions for a decent Travelodge near the centre of London, for the end of March ??

My daughter and her friend have just decided to have a weekend away. They'll be travelling down by train to KGX

My wife and I have visited London a few times and on each occasion stayed at the PI hub hotel at Goodge Street (see my post, ref. 1495) which is great, but there are no rooms available.

We've never stayed at any Travelodge, hence my question

thanks

Travelodge London Central Kings Cross Hotel - Book Now

Travelodge

www.travelodge.co.uk

We've stayed in this one a couple of times. It's fairly old and creaky, being an old building, but perfectly acceptable for a couple of nights. Just a short walk from Kings Cross station, which is the main advantage.

 

[D6130]

Travelodge London Central Kings Cross Hotel - Book Now

Travelodge

www.travelodge.co.uk

We've stayed in this one a couple of times. It's fairly old and creaky, being an old building, but perfectly acceptable for a couple of nights. Just a short walk from Kings Cross station, which is the main advantage.

When we stayed there last year, it was undergoing a fairly major refurb....so it should be better now.

 

[Butts]

Regarding complaints about Premier Inn haven't they still got the 100& Satisfaction Guarantee or your money back?

Decades ago on trips with the kids I got many free nights by asking for Bath Sheets rather than the Bath Towels that were standard (and too small)

 

[Willie Bee]

Travelodge London Central Kings Cross Hotel - Book Now

Travelodge

www.travelodge.co.uk

We've stayed in this one a couple of times. It's fairly old and creaky, being an old building, but perfectly acceptable for a couple of nights. Just a short walk from Kings Cross station, which is the main advantage.

Thanks, I sent details to my daughter, but this hotel doesn't offer twin rooms.

Yes, accessible rooms do, but it doesn't seem right to use this type of room, if not really needed

 

[D6130]

Thanks, I sent details to my daughter, but this hotel doesn't offer twin rooms.

Yes, accessible rooms do, but it doesn't seem right to use this type of room, if not really needed

Has she thought of staying at an out-of-town PI or Travelodge....Stevenage for example? Frequent fast trains to Kings Cross or St Pancras and probably cheaper - including the train fares - than staying in central London.

 

[Willie Bee]

Has she thought of staying at an out-of-town PI or Travelodge....Stevenage for example? Frequent fast trains to Kings Cross or St Pancras and probably cheaper - including the train fares - than staying in central London.

Thanks

Yes, I did suggest this to her.

 

[Kite159]

Regarding complaints about Premier Inn haven't they still got the 100& Satisfaction Guarantee or your money back?

Decades ago on trips with the kids I got many free nights by asking for Bath Sheets rather than the Bath Towels that were standard (and too small)

Highly unlikely they will bring that back owing to how open it is to abuse.