Birmingham City - Aston hotel

Had a lovely stay, everything was clean and the food was decent. But the star of the show was all the staff, even those in the kitchen. Everyone had a smile on their faces, obviously enjoyed working there and were so kind and generous to us all. We came with our 1.5 year old which isn't always easy and they really helped make sure we were OK. Even gave her a little teddy! Shout out to Ana, Tia, Mehrnaz and Amiira!

Of all the Premier Inns in Birmingham, Richard Street, Aston, is actually my family’s favourite. Previous to this last stay, we were here 4 months ago for a friend’s birthday party. We had a lovely stay. Our family room was perfect for a 2 night stay. On this occasion, I am unable to leave a good review. My family and I paid for 2 family rooms for 2 night stay - 226 & 228. 226 was smaller than 228. My son with special needs and daughter could not walk around their beds, they had to crawl in. There was no space to move around. The other room had ample space. On first inspection of room 226, the walls were a little grubby, they could do with an eraser being used to remove all the dark smudges. The carpet could do with a good steam clean. The chair had visible stain marks on it. I usually make my son a cup of tea and allow him to sit on the chair. Not on this visit! The bathroom was by far the worst I have seen. The pictures will speak for themselves. The bathroom door didn’t stay shut unless you locked the door. There was a problem with the water pressure. You could barely get any cold water running for the shower or the sink. It meant that if you used the tap for washing your hands, after a few seconds the water would be scalding hot. It meant that we couldn’t allow the children to use the tap and shower by themselves. We did complain to hotel staff about this. The young man came straight away to check things out. But it seemed like it was an overall problem with the hotel, rather than just linked to our rooms. The problem was never solved during our 2 night stay. The lift really needs a daily clean. I could see all the dirt in the crevices. The cleaning staff looked miserable and unfriendly. It almost felt as though we were in the way! What made our stay bearable was the reception and restaurant staff. Always greeted with a smile. They went above and beyond at times too. Monika helped us out with our autistic princess - she has quite a limited palate and only eats naked chips or rice at meal times. Due to our late arrival back to the hotel and no decent parking spaces left, Stephen found us an alternative place to park. This helped my heavily pregnant daughter a great deal, as she was also our designated driver. He also provided me with a massive jug of water with ice when I requested it. Thank you both so much. I wanted to also thank Kofi - I believe he was the maintenance guy. Dan and Merhenez - Breakfast as always was perfect. Tea and coffee area, as well as food were always clean and tidy. Due to the time of our arrival to the hotel - past 10pm with small children, we didn’t bother to complain to the hotel staff about the state of the rooms. Some will say, that this was a missed opportunity for Premier Inn to get things right. On leaving I did let a staff member know about how I felt about this current visit. The staff members response was that I could have made my feelings known earlier and maybe they would have been able to do something about the situation. In my opinion, hotel rooms are on guard/duty at all times. If there is a problem with a particular room, do you allow people to stay in it? My dilemma with this particular stay. The rooms were purchased on a special promotional offer which ran in May. The question I am asking, when is a deal a good deal. Do you complain when things are not right, and how much leeway can you give. Can you just place people in rooms based on how much they pay or is it just luck of the draw! Come on Richard Street, don’t let things slip any further.

I visited Premier Inn Birmingham City – Aston around 9 pm on July 18 to see some friends who were staying there. When I arrived, I went to the reception to ask about the parking arrangements and whether the hotel validated parking. The lady at the desk confirmed they did, took my car registration, and told me to come back when I was leaving, which I did after about an hour. Two weeks later, I received a parking penalty notice in the post. I returned to the hotel to find out why, and coincidentally, the same staff member who helped me that evening was at reception. After explaining our earlier conversation, she said she couldn’t remember me and claimed I was supposed to pay for parking. When I asked why she didn’t mention this at the time when I specifically asked about parking, she told me I should have asked the guest I came to visit what the parking arrangements were. Why would any visitor need to ask a guest when the first point of contact is the hotel’s own staff? I received no apology for the mistake, and the lack of accountability was very disappointing. This situation could happen to any visitor unfamiliar with the parking rules, and unfortunately, the staff were no help at all.

The room was very spacious, a bit too warm. The staff at the restaurant was very very good. We can not fault them. A credit to themselves. Service, food and overall hospitality was great. However the cheesecake was awful very powdery and arterfical. Avoid at all costs.

Let's start with the staff we had the pleasure of meeting on arrival, Lorna, Tia and Ana and in the morning we met the beautiful Mehrnuz (I think that's how it's spelt) all the girls were amazing...thank you so much. Dinner was one of the best Premier meals I think we've had and we've had a few believe me, Chef and breakfast waiter were also charming, sorry guys, didn't get your names but thank you also ....bed was smaller than usual in our room and unusually not that comfortable and the room was a bit "tired" but other than that, I would highly recommend for location and wonderful staff x