Bournemouth Central hotel

Before I start, note I paid for PREMIER PLUS. Place was really dirty, run down and tatty. Air con did not work and door to balcony would not open so room was a sweat box. Went to front desk and asked if the door to balcony could be opened and was told “oh yeah some just don’t open, it’s going to get really hot up there”. I was provided a small fan that didn’t even take the edge off. Left the sign in the door handle asking for room to be cleaned multiple times and it never happened - not even a towel replaced. What a disaster of a hotel.

Beautiful art deco style building,central location for theatres and beach’s but that’s where the positive starts, the accumulation of street people and drug users is beyond the hotels control and they do have security at the door, but he seamed to friendly with the people he was keeping out On booking in my husband want to use the toilet had had to be let in the a security pass not a good start Rooms relatively clean but sadly furniture looking a bit old and tired On visiting the bar restaurant we had to wait for staff members to return but helpful and polite, the bar area was dirty and again in a shabby state food on the floor under several tables (Wednesday mid afternoon and not busy), we sat near the windows very dirty on the inside and out, adviced of sun got in our eyes to move table as blinds don’t work, we only had drinks as food that came to near by tables looked like it had been thrown on the plate The hotel was convenient for what we wanted to do, but as a regular premier inn guest across the county the standards and hotel fell far below what we where expecting

I imagine, in its time, this was once a very prestigious hotel but my experience was that this was not as good as most of the other Premier Inns I have stayed at. The first thing that we noticed was the smell in the Reception area and this lingered on upwards up the stairwells. It was not a nice smell. Maybe their drains need fixing? But you do tend to get used to that smell after a while. We were given a room on the third floor with windows facing inwards to the enclosed area at the back of the hotel. Now we like to have the windows open so that we are getting fresh air rather than relying on the hotel's air conditioning but that comes with a downside. If you have the windows open - even only slightly ajar you hear the almost constant rumbling noise from the ventilators on the roof the Kitchen lower down. That carries on most of the time from very early morning to quite late at night. It's like listening to a tumble drier and it does make it harder to get to sleep. On the positive side the breakfasts were good and each day we had a table next to the front windows. The breakfast lounge is on the first floor and from there you are able to look right over the tops of the pine trees towards the sea while you are eating you breakfast. Plus, of course, the hotels central location which is in close proximity to Lower Gardens, the very sandy beach, The Pier etc. Westover Road on which the hotel is located has bus stops for a whole plethora of different bus services which will take you all over Bournemouth and beyond. There really is no need to bring a car to Bournemouth. It is well endowed with public transport.

Do not stay here. We checked in at around 7:30pm on a Thursday evening and immediately felt extremely uncomfortable. The entrance to the hotel and the surrounding street were occupied by groups of men drinking, smoking what appeared to be cannabis and possibly other drugs, shouting, arguing and making aggressive comments to each other and to passers-by. The behaviour felt threatening and, at times, seemed deliberately intimidating. What made it worse was how dark the street and hotel entrance were. The area immediately outside the hotel is very poorly lit, which makes an already intimidating environment feel considerably less safe. We had pre-booked an upgraded room. The room itself was clean and the bed was comfortable, although everything felt quite worn. The advertised "Ultimate Wi-Fi" didn't work. I went down to reception and the member of staff gave me another code, but that didn't work either. By this point it was after 11pm, and there was also a man wandering around reception barefoot and vaping. I was told the hotel has security, but apparently they don't patrol outside the hotel, which is precisely where the biggest problem seems to be. I'm fit, 6ft tall and was travelling with my wife, and even I felt extremely uncomfortable entering and leaving the hotel. We saw older guests and younger people arriving alone who looked visibly frightened by what they were walking through to reach the entrance. The staff themselves were friendly and helpful, and I actually felt sorry for them. They appeared uncomfortable with the situation too. I've stayed in many Premier Inns over the years and have generally been impressed with what they offer for the price: clean rooms, comfortable beds and a reasonably quiet night's sleep. This was completely different. I appreciate that Premier Inn cannot necessarily control what happens on a public street outside one of its hotels, but surely more can be done to protect guests and staff. At the absolute minimum, the entrance and immediate surrounding area should be brightly lit rather than being left in near darkness. CCTV around the entrance would also seem like a sensible and relatively straightforward safety measure. If people are openly taking drugs, behaving aggressively and intimidating guests immediately outside the entrance, I would also expect this to be reported to the appropriate authorities. The room was clean, the bed was comfortable and the staff were friendly, but none of that compensates for feeling unsafe simply entering and leaving the hotel. A very bad experience and, more importantly, a genuinely concerning one. I could not take any photos or videos - I'd have been beaten up or worse. I'd welcome a conversion with the management team.

Lovely and clean. Staff friendly. Even though works being done, (which we had been informed about, previous to going there,) it was very quiet.