Watford (Croxley Green) hotel

The staff always make you feel welcome and nothing is to much trouble.

Breakfast - where do I start? When I originally made our booking I was disappointed to find out that your restaurant was closed. But never mind we'd got the rooms that we wanted four two days in London as we were going to a concert at Wembley Stadium with my step daughter and her friend and they were our concern and we could make alternative arrangements for breakfast the following morning. Upon arrival the receptionist told me that the restaurant was open, so we booked and paid for the breakfast option for the four of us the next morning. So off we went to the concert, the girls had an amazing night and we went for some food close by, so all was good at this stage. The next morning we came down for breakfast at around 8.45am before we set off back home and here's where the problems began. We were told that we could sit where we liked, but there was no cutlery on the table we wanted to sit at and when I asked for some cutlery the girl in the restaurant (who was working on her own) told me there was none available and to try and find some from the other empty tables? To say I was gobsmacked at this response is an understatement. After our 'cutlery hunt' we had secured a knife and fork each and so we went to the hot plate to get some food. The baked beans had almost solidified in the dish and there was barely two spoonfuls. The scrambled eggs had gone a browny yellowy orange type of colour and were clearly not fit for human consumption because they were so dried up and had clearly been made an hour or so previously. The bacon looked very tired and fatty, but there were sausages which looked edible. I selected two sausages and a slice toast, but the butter for the toast had been sliced into 3 slices and left on a plate in the cold area (I'm not sure what day or month it had been sliced, but it wasn't the same day as our visit!) Please try and excuse my sarcasm, but writing this is very difficult without dropping into a sarcastic tone. I returned to our table to try and enjoy my food. I put my hand on the table, but the table was very sticky and had clearly not been cleaned or wiped from previous usage. My stomach churned, this breakfast experience was going from bad to worse. Our table looked out onto the nearby street where people walked past and one such person walked past and allowed his dog to pee right in front of us!! I mean for gods sake close the curtains or draw the blinds you do not want to see that in a morning. The outside of the hotel on that side of the dining room was full of dirt, litter and fag ends - this was our breakfast view. Once again you have to ask why does the hotel not sweep this area - basics, absolute basics. I'd had enough by now and sought out the help of the reception area team and in particular the general manager and she summoned the catering manager who didn't really look that bothered about the issues we'd come across. The receptionist told us that matters would not improve until the takeover of the hotel took place and she offered me a refund of our breakfast charges, which I gladly accepted as we'd clearly been ripped off.

We had a very good stay, I would highly recommend if you are staying in the area. We arrived slightly earlier than check in, we managed to get parked with no issues and the friendly helpful staff checked us in. When we got to our room it was bigger than expected, it’s was lovely and clean and had everything we needed. It was a little warm but they had provided us with a couple of fans. The beds were very comfortable and to be honestly we were pleasantly surprised for the price we paid, so close to London. I would 100% stay here again.

I normally bemoan Premier Inn for having removed hospitality from the hospitality industry by replacing a human welcome with a machine, but in this case I think a machine would have been preferable to the surly, non-communicative, mumbled 'welcome' I was given by the receptionist. No eye contact, no actual welcome, no explanation of where to find my room, restaurant opening hours, where/when breakfast would be available - nothing other than an outright grumpy processing of payment. As for the restaurant, it could not have been worse. When I walked in there were two staff members behind the bar - one chatting to another customer, the other eating her dinner. She ambled over to me, and continued to eat whilst also speaking to me and picking food from between her teeth. She told me that only four items from the extensive menu were being served that evening, so I chose one, paid for it and a drink, and went to sit down. 50 minutes later, someone from the kitchen who also appeared to be serving food, walked past my table a couple of times before asking me if I was waiting for food. When I said yes, he said that he hadn't been told that and asked what I wanted. He then hollered "another lasagne!" to the kitchen, and repeatedly told me to wait 6 minutes for it. When the food finally arrived, an hour after I ordered it, it was absolutely inedible. I had a couple of mouthfuls before leaving and walking to the shop next door to buy a packet of crisps and a bar of chocolate for my dinner. The overwhelming stench of weed wafting from the group of youths sat on the pavement as I walked from my car to reception turned out to be the highlight of the visit.

The room was stifling hot and on turning on the fans provided us and the bed were covered in a snowstorm of dust. We had to leave the window open but the road outside was so noisy it made sleeping very difficult. There was an extra charge for the carpark which we were not told of and the machine outside for booking in your car was flickering so badly because of the heat that we could not read it. The receptionist, a very helpful young man, had to come outside and put in our details. There was no air con in the room but there was in the corridors and reception. Guests were leaving their room doors open at night in an attempt to cool the rooms.