Southampton (Cumberland Place) hotel

Unfortunately this hotel needs a complete refresh as everywhere smells of stale tobacco with the exception of the lift and the bathroom of the room we stayed in. Staff were very friendly and helpful but I would stay somewhere else in Southampton

I was visiting the city from a very nearby town for a couple of events over the weekend. Not wanting to travel in-and-out both days which would mean endlessly sitting in traffic - Southampton is a pain to dry in/out of on a good day, but when big events are taking place you are better off walking and staying in the city, which is how we found ourselves in the Premier Inn at Cumberland Place. It’s in the perfect position for anywhere you want to visit. A five-minute walk gets you to the Mayflower Theatre and Train Station - if you wanted to travel a bit further for the day. A ten-minute walk sees you in the heart of the main shopping area with a wide ranging mix of shops, from small eclectic ones to the bigger John Lewis, Ikea and M&S located at West Quay. Ten minutes further will see you at Ocean Village where there are some great food/drink places. Thirty minutes walk will get you the football ground, if you happen to be a visiting fan. The small park literally the other side of road has benches, is well lit at night, and there are plenty of trees to sit under if you want some shade. There were five cruise ships in when we stayed and the hotel had the ships listed on their board at the reception which I thought was a good thing. A short taxi ride from the hotel will get you to the docks ready to begin your cruise. They seemed to have a really good system/set up from what I could see for cruising guests who were staying the night to embarking. We had a twin room which I knew consisted of a double bed and a sofa bed. I was not expecting that sofa bed to be the size of a full single, with the most comfortable mattress I have slept on years. My travel companion said the double bed was super comfy and she slept longer at the hotel than she has at home in the decade since she got married. The blackout curtains definitely make a difference. A kettle is provided along with tea bags - PG Tips so take your own if like me you enjoy a strong cuppa *not to premier inn, Yorkshire Tea would be a good move!* along with coffee, sugar and milk. If you used all the ones in your room they had more downstairs at the reception. Make your cup and sit in one of the lounge chairs chatting with your travel buddies, or completely on your own reading a book. If you’re a people watcher there is always someone walking by so grab yourself a window seat. The bathroom and room itself were spotless. The only downside to the bathroom was the awful squealing noise the shower made. Whilst it didn’t bother us I am sure our neighbours weren’t too happy at the noise, although having said that, we never once heard our neighbours. There is also no fridge in the room; we were visiting when the outside temperature was in the low thirties, and whilst the air con in the room worked exceptionally well, it would have been nice to have something we could have cooled our water bottles in. A minor thing but one which definitely have enhanced our stay. Bit of a spooky one when we got back from our night out to find our TV was playing away to itself; we had never once turned it on and the remote was at the back of the unit nowhere near anything else! - Spooky :) We had breakfast both mornings we were there which was delicious. A good price too. They were running a buffet style and there was a choice of three different fresh fruit juices, fresh fruit, croissants, pastries, multiple cereal choices. The toaster had differing varieties of bread you could choose, along with different butters and spreads - including apricot jam, marmite, and your traditional orange marmalade. A coffee machine provided everything from a flat white to a latte, and there was also tea making facilities. The traditional english fry-up is also catered for. There was the option of scrambled and fried eggs, bacon - which wasn’t rubbery like a lot of hotels can be - sausages, has browns, mushrooms, tomatoes and baked beans. As it was a buffet style you could have as little or as much as you wanted. A couple next to us started with fruit, went onto cereal, then had some pastries, before grabbing a plate of fry-up, and finished with a round of toast! It is delicious but I put on a stone just seeing what they were eating! Would I stay again? Absolutely. I honestly couldn’t fault the place.

Good stay with family before going on holiday ideal area for going on the cruise pity the bedroom smelt could do with sorting out the smells in the bedroom room far too hot not enough staff good area to stay

Convenient to the train station and Guild Hall and a short walk to the waterfront. My room was clean and quiet. I took advantage of the meal deal and prepaid for dinner and breakfast. Good selection of food and very handy to be able to dine in house.

Great Service from Maria. A very nice and charming member of staff. Thank you.