I stayed at this Premier Inn about 8 years ago and that visit was pretty pleasant, so I decided to go back and book it again.
For my first visit to London, it was great to be so close to Waterloo Station. I booked the Premier Inn again for a trip with a friend in my most recent visit to London. And nostalgia for my initial London visit could not save this experience we had at The Premier Inn Waterloo.
Aside from the great transportation option of being so close to Waterloo Station, it's also right in eyesight and walking distance to the London eye (5 mins), Westminster Bridge/Big Ben (10 mins), and County Hall (right across the street).
The Premier Inn hotel is built right into a historical landmark, The "General Lying In" (maternity) Hospital.
First off, the lobby is not in the best shape, with many broken check-in machines and furniture that has seen much better days.
As a plus, though, there is a Starbucks in the County Hall plaza right across the street, which we visited often, on our most recent visit.
The room was ok, but it seems way more cramped than on my first stay all those years ago. Our room did have a nice view out to County Hall with a semi-view of the Eye behind it, so that was nice - and the large window did let a lot of natural light in.
The bathroom was ok sized but right next to one of the beds (if you do the two bedroom configuration), so you better be very close friends or spouses to stay in that type of room, because you'll be going to the bathroom right next to them with a thin little door between you. We also saw a tiny bug in the bathroom too, so that was not the best.
Another issue we had was that we stayed for an entire week and were told by the front desk that they do not change any sheets or clean your room if you weren't staying there 10 days or more. My friend even had a womanly spotting issue with her sheets and they still would not change or clean them! I've never heard of anything like that and it made the entire visit very uncomfortable.
The old phrase "location, location, location" does not save this one, because the location IS great but I don't think that alone was worth all the issues we ran into here. read more