Winchester hotel

Very accessible from motorway. Adequate parking. Good welcome at reception. Room was clean and tidy and air conditioning was quiet and effective. The stay was spoilt by the ridiculously high tog duvet, which is totally unsuitable for the end of summer, which made it impossible to sleep well.

The heating made noises, the meal was really awful and half of it was missing, breakfast was no better. I was travelling with a child and no one really lifted a finger until a guest went and fetched someone so we could check in, the carpet in the room was filthy, need I go on? Very understaffed. But still, awful.

Off on a short 3 day cruise, so to make it a proper break we added a few days ahead of the cruise. The first stop was Premier Inn, Winchester. First time at this hotel and like all Premier Inn it didn't disappoint. Didn't take the early check-in as wasn't sure on arrival time. So we parked up early and walked into Town. It's not really convenient placed for town as its a good 20/25 min walk and in places the path are narrow and badly lit. But back at the hotel, we got room 331 (Premier Plus room), it was very nice. Great large bed, super powerful shower. Plenty of plug sockets, and USB charging sockets as well. Decent Fridge as well. Little concerned as the room was next to the cleaners cupboard, so we were worried that it would be noisy when the cleaners arrived but no it was super quiet at all times. Now the one downside and sadly that was Breakfast, I knew there was a reason why I've stopped booking breakfast, it's simply worth nowhere near the £10.95 cost. Very poor quality, to start with: hot plates would have been a good idea, the food was well over cooked, the Juice (apple) very poor quality, hardly any pastries available. The Tea/Coffee wasn't bad. The only reason we booked breakfast was because the hotel is too far from town, sorry but not making that mistake again. Staff were very friendly. So at £64 for a Premier Inn room it was superb value, Hint: always pay the slight extra cost and take a Premier Plus room, they are far superior to the normal rooms. I can't think of any reason we wouldn't return to this one if we were in the Area.

Firstly, we stay regularly at Premier Inns up and down the country. Apart from the dreadful one in Weymouth, on the front, we would return to them all. Bude and Lewisham being the stand out ones. Good points: Probably the most comfortable bed we've had for a long time. Fantastic service Enjoyable breakfast, well presented Bad points: Usual poor Wi-fi and useless air conditioning. This is the same at every PI we've stayed in and been going on for years. Non stop radio blaring out from morning to night. Never experienced this before, is it for customers or staff? Again like all PI we use it is in urgent need of re-carpeting and decorating Check in not working - another common problem Communal toilets in need of a SERIOUS deep clean. NOT acceptable Location may be a little arduous for some, especially if you go in to town a couple of times day. There is a fairly steep journey back. Uber works, about £4 to £5.

The communal areas especially the entrance stairway to reception and reception itself were dirty, required maintenance and more thorough cleaning. The staircase felt unsafe and spongy and had been repaired in one section with black gaffer tape. The glass doors to reception were filthy with hand prints and greasy marks. Reception had out of order self checkin machine and the area was very tired, requiring a full makeover. Checking in was a joke (same as last year when we attended). As previously stated the self check in machine was out of order (as it was 1 yr ago) and there was just one staff member checking in a vast queue at 3pm which stretched out into the life lobby! Check in was tremendously slowwwwww. We stood in the queue for 30 mins. This really needs looking at. There should be two staff doing check in at busy periods - its not rocket science! Overall hotel does not give a great first impression