Manchester City Centre (Arena/Printworks) hotel

We have stayed at this Premier Inn many times before and on this visit it has changed a lot since previously. I was meant to be staying two nights but after our flight got cancelled I only got to stay the second night. I was concerned they'd give our room away thinking we were no shows so I emailed the hotel directly from the email I had been sent a few days earlier with the reminder of my stay email. I'm not sure why I bothered as I emailed at 8am on Sunday and still have not received a reply and it's Friday now. Thankfully our room was kept but it would have been nice for the email to be acknowledged. I also tried contacting via Twitter and got no answer until a day later but by that point I was already in the room. So the moral of that story is, don't have a problem that needs resolving at the weekend! You'd expect hotels would answer all days of the week as there's someone working every day of the week. When we arrived at the hotel around 9am the next day I instantly noticed that the foyer had changed and whilst it looked homely and welcoming before with lots of seating and a member of staff to greet you it now looked bland and uninviting. The long chair near the door was removed and only two seats around a table remained. I hope multiple people aren't waiting for a taxi at the same time as they'll have to stand! Taking away the staff desk makes the area feel cold in comparison and whilst the staff came quickly once the bell was rung I think there should be someone watching the door as that leaves the ground floor empty of any staff. Now the area is just one big empty cold uninviting entrance. As we were supposed to check in the day before the member of staff had no problem checking us in at 9am. I requested a room lower to the ground as I wanted to use the stairs but he said the rooms had already been allocated. I presume this is because of us having booked from the night before as I didn't think they usually got allocated until you checked in. The room was on the fifth floor but thankfully it had the cathedral view which I much prefer over the dirty river and car park view on the other side of the hotel. I was surprised it was next to the lift though as Premier Inn always used to have a policy where lone female travellers wouldn't be put next to a lift or at the end of the corridor but mine was the first room next to the lift. It wasn't noisy though, the street outside was noisier but it was a Monday though so not a popular day for hotel stays. The room was as I expected and I'd stayed in a room exactly the same as it a few times before. The room is a great size with lots of space. The bed is very comfy but I never managed to get a good nights sleep as I struggle to in hotels. The WiFi is usually terrible in this hotel but it worked pretty well this time. Maybe that's because I stayed on a Monday which will be quieter than the weekend. After staying in single rooms elsewhere throughout the year I was pleased to have two mugs but I was disappointed to see they're now glass mugs. I hate glass mugs, I don't want to see what I'm drinking through the side! They were clean though and added a modern look to the room. The bathroom wasn't too big but it was perfectly functional. I don't like the noise of the fan when the door is open as it's so unnecessarily loud but I know from experience it's the same in all of the rooms in this hotel. In the evening I wasn't feeling too well so asked if I could take food from the restaurant up to my room and this was no problem. I found the food very disappointing though as it tasted like it had been recooked. I ordered close to 5pm so I guess it's a possibility but I've never had that problem with food from their restaurant previously and have gone down for a meal just as early. I also ordered the same as every time so I'm not sure why the food tasted recooked this time with the chicken chewy and the chips so crispy it was like there was no potato in them. The one thing I was disgusted by during this stay was the cleanliness of the stairwell. It doesn't look like they've been cleaned in years. I have a photo I took of the cathedral from the stairs three years ago and whilst the windows were dirty then they weren't anywhere near as filthy as they are now. The windows are now so coated in dirt you can barely see out them. Don't these windows get cleaned when the rest of the building is?! There are also massive cobwebs hanging off the lights and the area just looks filthy, as if no one's stepped in there to clean the stairs in years. As you reach the bottom there's also no lights which makes it feel like you shouldn't be there but I've seen it the same in the Leicester Square Premier Inn. The staff had no problem keeping our suitcases for us once we'd checked out but I was baffled why they put them in a side room when they have a big luggage room opposite. The man getting them out must've been equally as baffled as he went to get them from the luggage room before realising they weren't there. Whilst this stay was more problematic than previous ones it's still my favourite Premier Inn of all I've been to across the country. I'd definitely recommend it but I wish they'd put the foyer and mugs back to how they were.

The experience was fine, but wasn’t impressed with bathroom, you need to run the water ten minutes before you get in shower, this needs looking at in room 109

Handy hotel if you're going to a concert and want somewhere close to the venue and shops. Rooms are OK and it has a bar and restaurant. We had a corner room and the layout was quirky! There is a lack of plugs in the room and if you like to charge your phone next to the bed or, like us, took a teenager with you who has to charge phones and headphones, be prepared to charge everything in one corner of the room, but no where near where your sleeping. Staff seem a bit stressed and there is lack of staff generally around the hotel, for such a big hotel, you'd expect to see a lot more staff around. We waited a while to be seated at breakfast and its was OK, the breakfast room is depressing and feels like a dated school canteen. Don't expect to see lots of choices, hot selection was good, as long as you time it right. I managed to get some sausages and eggs but my wife had to wait around until they brought some more out! I would be annoyed if i had only paid for the continental option though, one choice of pastries, crumpets that took ages to toast, fruit salad but only dirty bowls available and when you get back to your table, you then have to scout around the restaurant, trying to find cutlery. Plus you cant ask staff as they're not around and the ones that are, look ready to quit! We've stayed in other premier inns around the city and there are other ones that look a lot more modern and offer a wider choice of breakfast, plus the staff look like they want to be there. Overall, the stay was alright, just the breakfast experience didn't give us the 'buzz' you get from the adverts!

Always stayed here due to location and prive to park however 1 night parking is supposed to be £10 but when checking out that turned into £20 and the reception just said its not their issue, good luck getting hold of staff everything is now do it yourself, middle lift sounded like it was going to fall apart when we went in it, no glasses in the room either and dirty bath, been here many times but this will be the last

We had booked two night break in this hotel we had two rooms the rooms were spacious but dirty carpets chipped furniture hardly any hot water massive draft from my bedroom door staff were friendly with what contact I had with them but the whole hotel needs a serious revamp it is dirty outside & inside not a great building at all the premier inn would seriously need to have a look about revamping this hotel as it is in a great location but needs a lot of work