Premier Inn Abingdon (A34)

I’ve just (23:10) come back to my room after a day of worry about my father rushed to A&E in Plymouth. I so desperately wanted a hot chocolate to drink in bed but the bar was shut up for the night. The server came out to go home and asked if I was ok. He stopped to make me a hot drink. How so very kind of him. Thank you so much Josh. You made a really worrying day not seem so bad 😁🥰.

Where to start? On arrival on Saturday 23rd November, around 3.30pm we were booked in, to find out that we had to pay parking. We had booked the breakfast package, and had intended to book the evening meal whilst there, however, the restaurant was not opening until 6pm, so we would not have had time to eat in, so decided to eat in Oxford as we were headed to a show. We asked what time the bar closed, and were assured that it would be open until at least 11, if not later. We arrived back at 10.40pm, to find no staff anywhere, and the bar had closed. Having driven into Oxford, we were looking forward to a nightcap, but this was not to be. After abut 10 minutes of ringing, knocking and calling, we finally found a young lad, who, although apologetic, informed us that the staff were "tired" and had gone home. We went to bed, looking forward to our pre-paid cooked breakfast, only to exit the lift, to see a note stuck to the picture, stating that because there was no chef, there would be no cooked breakfast. To say we were a little shocked and angry, is an understatement. The staff member initially was a little non committal and said to speak to the "guy over there" motioning with his head to the bar - where there was no staff member. We manged to get some more teabags and milk, and went back up to the room to pack. When we came down again, we spoke to a different member of staff (James I believe) who was equally as shocked that the bar staff had gone early the previous night, and who assured us that we would be refunded for the breakfast. He gave us a guest relations card and asked us to get in contact. As I said before, we were shocked and angry that Premier Inn did not have a contingency in place, or able to offer an instant refund of the breakfast cost. It's seriously made me re-think my hotel choices in the future, and would now probably stay elsewhere if given the choice. Not good enough for a National chain.

.. except for its new position which makes it now a 25 minutes walk to the centre of Abingdon. The room was fine with the usual amenities. Front of house staff were friendly and efficient. Parking is now £3 per night and simple to pay using the screen next to the main entrance.

Premier Inns are usually reliable. Not this one. Plumbing shocking. Pipes knock and water pressure low. Tired hotel, rooms in need of modernisation. 1 set of towels for a double room. This hotel lacks the standards of other Premier Inns. I would not choose this hotel again.

Whilst the bed was comfortable as expected at a Premier Inn the rest of it didn't live up to the usual expectations. Messing about with self check in and paying for car parking on an app was not what we needed after a long journey. Then a mix up with meal deal drinks put a damper on things. In the morning we were greeted by a sign that there was no hot breakfast available due to staff shortages - not the first time looking at other reviews. This had already been booked at the time of booking the hotel. Reluctantly we took the offer of continental breakfast with a £2 each refund. We were not happy when we heard other disappointed guests being offered a full refund by a different member of staff. Had we been offered this we would have taken it and gone next door to the Tesco cafe or Greggs which was not too far away either. The room was ok, but the toilet lid where it was attached to the seat was filthy. The carpets in the corridor on the ground floor did not appear to have seen a vacuum cleaner since they were laid! All in all not a great start to our holiday. Can't see us staying here again.

Good things first; the room was clean and the bed very comfortable. Service was lamentable. The young man who served us in the restaurant was pleasant and polite,but he didn't really know what he was doing, he clearly had very little experience or training. The blame for this rests entirely on the shoulders of the overall management. Not only are they giving a very poor experience to guests but it puts the untrained staff into an embarassing position. Other things seem to be geared to the convenience of the hotel rather than the guests. For example, you have to pay for parking but you have to do it at a machine outside, can't be done at reception. After dinner in the restaurant we went up to our room, ten minutes later there is a knock at the door, the waiter is telling us that we have to pay for the meal, it can't be put on our room number. In the morning we are asked to pay for breakfast before sitting down. All in all a good example of how not to run a hotel, can't recommend it and will not use Premier Inns again.