Our work as bloggers took us to 3 hotels in 2 weeks! ‘Living the life’ I hear you say! Well kinda. It just so happens that the 3 hotels we stayed at on those 3 occasions, belonged to the same chain – Premier Inn. So in this post, I will be reviewing the experience at the first Premier Inn which is in Bradford.
We had an overnight stay from Wednesday 2nd May 2018 to the Thursday morning. We checked in about 7:30 at night. We were greeted by a pleasant young lady at reception. The reception area was quite bright and purple in the inimitable style of Premier Inn. I like that you know what to expect where that is concerned and if you were to not find that décor at a Premier Inn, it would certainly be disappointing.
Check in took under 5 minutes. We were given directions to our room, informed of where breakfast would be etc. As we walked through the lobby to get to the lift to access our rooms, there was a distinct smell (of a dead rat?) wafting through the air. It really did put a dampener on things. Well, we went to the rooms we were assigned which were on the 4th floor. Alas, there was no electricity in either of the rooms! We checked for the phone to call reception to inform them of our dilemma but alas there was no telephone in the room either. (I don’t know about you, but I have travelled quite a bit and have come to expect a telephone in a hotel room.
It was still light so we were able to take in the décor of the rooms (one at a time). The beds were dressed in the usual style of Premier Inn. There were a double bed and a single bed which also served as a sofa. The décor was completed with a desk, a coffee and tea station fitted with a kettle, a large mirror, a small television which was hanging precariously from the wall and a cupboard to hang clothes. I particularly liked the two art pieces hanging in the room which had a hint of the Premier Inn purple.
In the first room, the bathroom was a decent size and well-proportioned for the room. There were three towels, one of which was very obviously stained. That was very disappointing. In the other room, the décor was the same. We are pleased to say that the three towels seemed okay (to the naked eye).
We had a quick refresh and headed back to reception to:
- Inform them there was no electricity in the rooms.
- Ask about the pungent smell that wafted through the air in the lobby area, and
- To request hot chocolate with condensed milk or herbal tea for breakfast (we are not fans of tea nor coffee).
Well by the time we got back to reception, the young lady was no longer there but instead a very accommodating young man who allowed us to air our concerns. He was very polite. He advised us that we had to put the key card into a little holder by the door to enable the lights to come on in the rooms. It was a bit embarrassing and we told him so, but we also did mention that that information should have been given at the reception at check-in time because not everyone has experienced staying at a Premier Inn and would know this information. He agreed.
In their favour is the fact that this eco-friendly idea is worthy of applause and more hotels should follow suit. If you are in your hotel room, the key card is in the slot so the lights are on. If you are out of the room then the key card has to come out with you so in this case electricity is not being wasted.
We asked about the horrible smell emanating from the lobby area and he said he had not heard anyone mention that before and also that he had not experienced it. In fact, he let us walk him to the area and then decided it did smell ‘a little off’.
He apologized that he could not guarantee that we would be able to have condensed milk but did say he would make a note that we were requesting hot chocolate and or mint to drink at breakfast time.
We chose to go out for a bite to eat and a drink and then tucked into bed about 10:00 pm. What a sleep! The bed was very very comfortable! I felt like I was encased in luxurious softness.
The shower in the morning was to die for! Warm! Refreshing jet stream!
Breakfast on Thursday morning was really lovely. There was a wide selection: various slices of bread and spreads, egg, toast, hash browns (which I don’t usually like but those were divine!), muffins, pancakes and croissants. And oh, there was also fresh fruit! Hot beverages were on offer and we did get hot chocolate, minus the condensed milk and 3 mint tea bags to have whenever we liked. After a leisurely breakfast, we had to pass the area of the horrible stench again to go get our cases.
Well at check out time, there was another member of staff we had not met before. We asked what was on our mind: ‘What is the cause of this smell emanating from the lobby area?’ Well, she had a ‘new’ take on things. She said Bradford always smell like that after a shower of rain. Poor Bradford, being lied about. We had been in various areas of Bradford all day, including the beautiful Broadway Shopping Mall and we had not experienced that smell. And in any case, the smell was only in the lobby area and a bit of it wafted through the lift!
Check out was a breeze. We had a lovely stay and would like to award Premier Inn Bradford 4 out of 5 Stars.
What do you enjoy most about being in a hotel? Do you like the Premier Inn Brand? Do let us know in the comments below.