Inverness West hotel

We were looking forward to staying at Inverness West as we have stayed twice previously with no issues. The current ad ‘You know what you’re getting with Premier Inn’ couldn’t be further from the truth. It became clear from arrival that staffing was short and overstretched. The only reception staff member was having to cover the dining and bar area as well. This was the same every day. Dinner is now run by the Premier Inn itself rather than the Chef and Brewer. Some of the usual items are on the menu but avoid the Paprika Roasted Cauliflower starter and the Mediterranean Chicken main. Both are just the weirdest courses with the weirdest combination of ingredients I’ve ever had in any Premier Inn. Breakfasts were the usual fare but lack of staff again meant that items were not restocked quickly enough on all three mornings, crucial when there was at least one coach party staying there. We had requested the room to be cleaned and tidied at reception, as guests are instructed to do, two days running and had placed the relevant card on the door. It didn’t happen on both days despite complaining to reception. Additionally, whoever had been in the room before us was a heavy smoker since the room was kippered. A staff member had to come in with room spray to dissipate the smell. Note that windows do not open in the hotel which would have helped freshen up the room. On our final evening, we only popped in for drinks in the bar. The toilets were in a hopeless state still. One was closed and marked out of order, whilst the other hadn’t been cleaned for at least three days as it was exactly in the same state each day. The toilet checks sheet was last marked on Tuesday, despite it stating that ‘Toilets must be cleaned end of every shift. DMs must check’. We left on Sunday morning. Overall, the short staffing had led to some systemic issues. The staff, bar the room staff, were doing their best to cover all bases but not quite succeeding. An area manager needs to get in there as soon as possible to resolve staffing and cleaning issues. I regularly use Premier Inn hotels and have never experienced such a level of problems. The stay was shambolic and hopefully unrepeated in a number of forthcoming bookings I have elsewhere. Sort it out!

Room was unclean on arrival. Got that clean by a young member of staff. Who was on her own. Breakfast was appalling. If you want dinner just check how the chef is feeling that day as on the first night the kitchen was closed. And on the last night as there was a group of 52 coming in we where not allowed to have dinner even tho we went down at 7pm and the big group where not in till 7.30pm.

Room was comfortable, no problems there, but entrance, foyer, restaurant untidy and unstaffed. When finally attended to, the guy wasn’t engaging, one word answers and disinterested, pretty unwelcoming place all in all and I’d not return.

Certainly no where as good as previous visits. Definitely needs more staff and staff that looks like they want to be there! and better menu!

We pre-booked our stay and, just one day before our arrival, received an email advising us that building work was taking place and that there may be some noise. Whilst I appreciate that works sometimes have to be carried out, we were completely understanding of this and had no issue with the potential noise. However, what was particularly disappointing was that, after travelling approximately eight hours from Derby to Inverness, we arrived at the hotel expecting to be able to have some food and were then told that the restaurant was not available for us to use. This was not mentioned in the email we received regarding the building works, nor were we given any prior warning that the hotel’s food facilities would be restricted in this way. We were simply told that we could order a takeaway to the hotel instead. After an eight-hour journey, this was extremely frustrating and disappointing. Had we been made aware in advance that the restaurant would not be operating normally, we could have made alternative arrangements before travelling. Instead, we arrived at the hotel with the reasonable expectation that we would be able to eat there, only to find that this was not possible. I appreciate that the hotel may be undergoing temporary works and that some disruption is unavoidable. However, if a facility as fundamental as the hotel’s restaurant is unavailable or operating on a significantly restricted basis, I believe guests should be informed in advance. It is particularly disappointing that we were given notice about the possibility of noise, but no notice whatsoever about the food situation. The fact that we had travelled such a considerable distance makes this even more frustrating. A simple email or notification before our arrival would have allowed us to plan accordingly. The service that we received simply wasn’t good enough and not how we planned to start our holiday.