Taunton Central (North) Hotel

This was my first stay here and I probably won’t be returning. Staff were nice and friendly and I was allocated a room on the ground floor. The room was tired and shabby with bits missing out of the bathroom door and chips in the bath. Also the carpets needed a good clean. The floors were horrendous as previous reviews have mentioned. Creaking loudly every step you made. The room was also boiling hot with no air conditioning. The location is decent, 10 minutes from the motorway junction and a 20 minute walk into town. I didn’t eat in the restaurant but instead had a walk into town. Definitely in need of a refurb.

On the positive side, very clean, and staff extremely friendly. The beds are comfortable, and the bedding is good quality. There was apparently renovation work going on, and both the Premier Inn website and reminder e-mails warned me of this and apologised in advance for any inconvenience or disturbance. This left me confused, as there was no evidence of ongoing renovation, and if in fact the renovation has already happened, I have to wonder what was renovated. The rooms are done in classic Premier Inn style, and the carpets and curtains looked new. Some of the fitted plywood furniture was worn and damaged, and my room had a cracked bathroom basin. As others have mentioned, there is no air conditioning (though there were two fans in my room, and the windows do open). Also, in common with other Premier Inns, no safe, no fridge and no iron or ironing board. The big problem, though, and the reason I would not recommend this Premier Inn as a place to stay, is noise. Nothing to do with renovation work, or the surrounding area (which is a modern-ish housing estate), and everything to do with the structure. The floors, whether in the rooms or in the hallways, creak chronically, and the walls are paper-thin. You will not spend any time here without disturbing your neighbours, or being disturbed by your neighbours. Every step you take, and every word you speak, will be felt in the room(s) next door. If there was any renovation, it completely ignored the floors and the walls. The only place the floor didn't make any noise was the bathroom. I would estimate that the building dates at the earliest from the 1980s, so it's not as if you could say that the wood floors under the carpets are creaky because you're in a historic building. I didn't eat in the hotel restaurant, which looked OK to me, but which according to other reviews is not great. There is a menu in each room, which fascinatingly announces what food is available during the restaurant's opening hours, but neither the menu nor the door of the restaurant itself tell you what those opening hours are. The only alternative nearby sources of food and drink are a local early-till-late shop about 5 minutes' walk away, and a larger (and not very hygienic-looking or smelling) Tesco Express about 10 minutes' walk away. The centre of Taunton and the railway station are walking distance away (about 20-25 minutes). Premier Inns are consistent in look, but not always in state of repair or quality. The chain obviously showcases its newer hotels, but others, like this one, often need TLC.

The staff were all great, room was great except it was far too hot to sleep even with a fan running all night. I asked for a room with a walk in shower due to hip replacements, I was told point blank we do not have any! We were there for three nights and I could not get a shower. Breakfast room was tiny and not as shown. Getting breakfast is like joining a rugby scrum, long queue for 1 toaster which takes ages. hot food OK.

Stayed for a friends wedding. Everyone and everything was perfect. The staff went out of their way to make sure the team had everything we needed. Was one of the hottest days but they went out of their way to make sure we had extra fans. Nothing was too Much trouble.

This hotel does not have air conditioning. On a sunny day the first floor and rooms becomes unbearably hot. With two air fans blowing, sleep still was uncomfortable and not as guarenteed. We were forced to cut a visit short, to escape the unrelenting stifling heat.