Reading Central Hotel

I booked rooms at this hotel for a group of 16 guests visiting Reading for the weekend. They came from far and wide (Canada, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden) to stay for three nights. All of them had disabilities, including 6 wheelchair users. I live in Reading myself and had planned a programme of activities and tours around the local area for the duration of their stay. Everything about this hotel from start to finish was perfect. I made the reservations myself and everyone paid on arrival for their rooms. The staff behind reception were welcoming, helpful and friendly. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble. I was pleased that the hotel room we had (level 4 at the back overlooking the church) was peaceful. The bed was comfortable (of course). BUT a special mention has to go to the lovely Manju, who looked after us all so well at breakfast time. She was happy to fetch coffees and food for us and had a lovely smile and a very friendly and approachable nature. Thank you Manju! You are a real star!

Unfortunately not the best premier inn we have stayed in, check in no problem with friendly helpful staff. Room was pretty poor by usual standards, noisy from the road and movement above, chip on sink and some sort of sticking tape on the ceiling! Breakfast ok we just had the continental which served its purpose, just felt the whole place needed an upgrade & good clean. Next time we visit, we will be staying at the Caversham or Winnersh hotels although not as central a lot better standard.

Good value overall, comfortable and clean room. Just managed to get a parking space in the car park. We did the meal deal. Breakfast was quite chaotic - only two staff in the restaurant, struggling to keep up. Missing/delayed items at the breakfast bar so we didn't manage to have the full breakfast we hoped for. People standing aroung with half filled plates waiting for sausages etc. Evening meal was ok, what you'd expect for the meal deal price.

MyPremier plus room was great but I couldn't sleep with the window open as there's a constant loud hum possibly from air-conditioning unit on roof.

3 nights in a family room (121). Air conditioning is advertised but wholly ineffective, the room was stifling despite it being reasonably cool outside. Room was in desperate need of deep cleaning with significant numbers of cobwebs and black mould in the bathroom. All metal surfaces in the bathroom were stained. We booked room cleaning and yet the rather obvious Only 2 glasses in a 4 person room. Noise insulation from windows was reasonably good but every movement in the room above boomed through the ceiling. Unfortunately the window noise insulation is negated when you have to open the windows to overcome the ineffective air conditioning. Parking is a complete joke. The barrier is broken/out of use. So even if you pre-book through a third party there is actually little chance of getting a space. Park outside a space, despite paying and according to the signage you'll be fined £100 by camera enforcement. Breakfast is fairly typical for this brand. Plentiful in quantity but no particular quality. The coffee is awful and much of the cooked breakfast needs to have significant amounts of oil dabbed off. According to the signage they cannot source fresh orange juice which sounds mildly ridiculous. However the juice from concentrate that they use is perfectly adequate. Overall this felt below normal standards for this brand, it's a budget hotel and on some nights is better value than others. However budget does not mean that it should be dirty. Due to the combination of the lack of cleanliness and the pathetic parking we are unlikely to return. If we did then we'd park a couple of hundred metres away for less than Premier Inn charge.