A completely adequate and convenient place to stay prior to a cruise in Southampton!…read more
We stayed 5 nights at the Premier Inn prior to a cruise out of Southampton. I give it 4 solid stars. The hotel, location and amenities are great, it's the service where it breaks down slightly. Read on for the PROs and CONS and why we didn't give it that extra star...
PROs:
Clean, modern, has everything you need in your room like iron, hair dryer, several USB outlets, toiletries in pump containers, nice towels, coffee, tea, 2 (delicious) chocolates daily.
Very conveniently located. We walked to the cruise terminal with our luggage. We walked to the train station, the car rental, the ferry terminal, the large mall next door, high street shops, restaurants, IKEA, tourist spots. (We're in our early 50s and relatively in shape).
We paid extra to be on the 5th floor and it was very quiet.
We paid extra to have the daily hot and cold breakfast which was great and convenient. It included cereals, Greek yogurt, fruit, pastries, toast, full English, soy milk, juice, tea and a fancy coffee machine where you could get a self-serve latte or cappuccino, etc. The spacious breakfast area is just off the lobby.
Two lifts available.
In the lobby they have digital boards listing all the departing cruises, which is convenient.
Extra instant coffee and teabags available in the lobby.
Bar with drink specials and happy hour off the lobby.
CONs:
After calling the hotel probably 10 times from the USA to ask questions about parking before our trip, someone FINALLY picked up. They told me we could pull in the layby (pullout) outside the hotel to drop off luggage and pay to park in the mall next door. They were very rushed and obviously wanted to get off the phone. I almost changed our reservation based on this lack of service.
If you want maid service, you have to track down a staff member EACH DAY and say "I'd like maid service today". When you're a busy tourist, you don't want to spend time doing this. Just freaking give me automatic daily maid service!
Similarly, if you pay for breakfast, you have to hunt down a staff member who hopefully speaks good enough English and tell them you want to book a breakfast time slot for the next morning. I tried asking them if we could simply book the same time slot for our entire 5-day stay, but that didn't seem to be possible. OK, then we will try and track someone down EVERY DAY and tell them we want to book breakfast at 7am!
There are two digital self check-in kiosks in the lobby, but they didn't work for us, so we ended up checking in with a real human being who was stood behind a podium in the lobby, who was obviously there as this probably happens a lot...! She was very helpful.
Paid parking is in the mall next door. After our drive from Heathrow to Southampton and one night in the parking garage, we decided to return our rental car early and walk or use trains as it was less hassle navigating the roads and parking.
Not much space to drop luggage off, only a small, hard-to-find layby (pullout) outside the hotel. We parked in the parking garage at the mall and walked our luggage over, which was probably a 5 minute walk.
Having to pay extra to be on the 5th floor and paying for breakfast.
NOTE: If you're coming from Heathrow, you may consider taking a National Express Bus. The station is a 7 min walk from this hotel. On retrospect, we wish we'd done this instead of navigating the roads in a rental car and having major hassles from the rental company. (Another review!) Happy cruising!
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