For our recent trip to London, the accommodation was complimentary, courtesy of Premier Inn. The County Hall hotel is one of the group’s finer hotels and it’s not hard to see why when you consider the location, right next to the London Eye. We found it ideally placed for walking into the West End in the evening: a short stroll over Hungerford Bridge to reach Northumberland Avenue and Trafalgar Square. The walk back is even quicker if you’ve seen a good show: I was fairly skipping along after Singin’ in the Rain. The only time I stood still was to gaze over the river towards the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament lit up at night; quite breathtaking.
If you need to use public transport, the Premier Inn, County Hall, is very near to Waterloo, Westminster and Embankment underground stations but we walked to most attractions from the hotel.
Check-in was both speedy and quite novel with special self-service machines. However the personal touch was still there as very helpful, friendly staff were in the vicinity to guide us through the procedure. The lifts were nearby to take us to the third floor. At first I thought they were extraordinarily slow until another guest came along and knowledgeably popped his keycard into the slot, which called the lift. Yeah, I knew that.
Our double room was very spacious for a London hotel and was spotlessly clean. More often than not hotels let themselves down with dusty skirting boards or little patches of mould in the bathroom. I couldn’t fault this place. Granted it has a corporate look about it so is missing the touches of individualism that can make a room special. It may not have sex appeal but the sensible lack of flounces and dusty bedcovers at least meant Dougie didn’t start sneezing as he is prone to do when there is too much boudoir bedding.
My favourite bit of the room was the area which housed the TV, kettle, safe and wardrobe. The hangers would have been easier to use if they had been turned 90 degrees but full marks to Premier Inn for providing a hair dryer next to a mirror and with an extra socket for straighteners. How many times have I been faced with a hair dryer fixed to the inside of a drawer with a flex too short to reach a mirror? And another gold star for providing hair dryers which don’t need me to constantly keep my finger on the ‘on’ button. It’s the little things….
Other facilities in the room included 30 minutes free WiFi a day or a fixed amount of £3 for 24 hour provision. Dougie loved the fact that the room was properly lit with a decent ceiling fitting; saved wandering around at night doing that interminable flicking switches routine. The shower was great: powerful, hot and didn’t water the whole bathroom. The toiletries were in large dispensers: impossible to sneak off with but far easier to use.
Food? Breakfast was relaxed on the Friday morning but a bit frenetic on the Saturday. It must be quite frustrating for hotel staff when everyone turns up together at 9am. The staff here were constantly on the ball, finding extra tables and keeping food stocked up. An all-you-can-eat buffet was £8.50 and children eat free. (children under 16 can also stay free of charge in the family rooms). We tried the dining room in the evening and it was an attractive room with very attentive staff. The food was reasonably priced, with plenty of meal deals such as two courses for £12.50. The quality of the food was a little hit and miss: Dougie’s steak was a bit tough but my chicken fajitas were gorgeous: over all, decent fuel after a long day sightseeing.
Although Premier Inn pride themselves on providing reasonably-priced accommodation, it’s worth remembering that this hotel is in a prime spot and therefore not a £29 a night hotel. Saver rates are available from around £99 and our room, for the time we booked it, would have cost an average of £139 a night. This is still a good price for the location and it is certainly worth considering, especially for a family.
Premier Inn have a Good Night Guarantee: you are promised a good night’s sleep or your money back. Damn it. We did have a good night’s sleep, thanks to the comfy bed and the solid construction of the hotel – no creaking corridors or slammed doors. Dougie did snore a bit. Do you think that would have counted?
Looks good, and I can't believe the price for such a central location in London. I worked for in Holborn for years, and would walk to work across the bridge taking in the sights along the way. Your post reminded me of them! So glad you had a great stay! Emma 🙂
I wish I'd stayed above ground more when I lived in London in the 80s. I must have been like a little mole, shuffling about underground. All those sights that I missed!
Ahh fond memories of Premier Inns (I used to work for them back in the day), although I've never stayed in one in Central London.
The staff here were all excellent; nothing too much trouble, always a smile and plenty of them. They obviously pick the right people….well, they do now 😉
I'd love to go back to London as an appreciative adult – this place sounds very nice! Son#2 will be in London on a school tour with his theater/re group end of May, but I have a strong suspicion they won't be staying anywhere nearly so posh.
Interesting you should say this looks posh as Premier Inn is more known for being a budget/middle of the road brand. However the building and location puts this hotel in a different bracket.
I'll be interested to know where your son stays and also what shows/plays he plans to see.
That's a nice pile and no mistake!
It's a fascinating building: used to be the council offices and now has Premier Inn at one end, the Marriott at the other and somewhere in between the London Aquarium and the London Eye's visitor centre.
There's nothing more important than a good night's sleep. Well done Premier Inn for making such a luxury possible. It's not an easy thing to do in hotels.
I couldn't quite believe it when we went down to breakfast and all these other guests were there. It had been so quiet overnight I thought we had the place to ourselves.
Sounds incredibly reasonable and incredibly good value for central London!
It gets some very good reviews on Tripadvisor and justifiably so: a great find.
I've used Premiers a few times and found them good (one at Gatwick's a bit shabby and the shuttle doesn't run in the small hours). I wanted to book the one near Waterloo last Sept, but it was full 🙁
I think this one is getting an excellent reputation now so I'm not surprised it gets full. Friends of mine had gone there last year and told me about it so I knew it would be a good 'un.
And when we went last year, like you we were also very and pleasantly surprised at the cost (we did have to pay incidentally!!) as well as the service and standard of the accomodation. I don't think we found a single member of staff that wasn't pleasant or unwilling to help us.
It really wasn't far over the water to get to the centre of London and our visit to the Savoy was just 10 minutes walk away from the hotel!
I would certainly recommend this place to anyone. Having recommended it, i'm really glad you enjoyed it!!!
Ah thanks for chipping in here, Craig and Chantel. I remember you telling me how good the staff were; you weren't wrong.
I don't remember you telling me about the Savoy? That's posh. Though didn't you also have a special birthday meal at Jamie Oliver's place? We had a great pre-theatre Chinese meal at the originally-named 'London Chinatown Restaurant'!
The other great thing about that spot is the stroll along the river towards London Bridge. This takes in Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre and various other landmarks and there are usually some street performers to watch too.
Yes, you're so right: the Thames path is great, isn't it. I started looking at the city objectively when we were there and realised that it's no wonder visitors love the city: it really was very special.
The other landmark nobody has mentioned is The Shard on the south side of the river. Although not quite finished yet it is still an impressive sight and worth googling by your readers.
Premier Inns are far superior to Travelodges and worth paying the little extra. Of course if money is no object then the neighbouring Marriott would be the first choice for a London stay!
I haven't stayed in the Marriott, which is in the same County Hall building, but we did stay at the Park Plaza a couple of years ago and that's just behind it. It was pretty good though our room overlooked Waterloo station and its tracks. It was a lot pricier than the Premier Inn, though I remember (or do I?) a great evening slurping martini cocktails in their bar.
When we 'rode' on the eye some years ago I remember thinking 'what a great location for a Premier Inn' and think that next time we go to London we might try staying there..it sounds great.
Glad to have done the research for you, Libby!
Gonna book now.
I hope you like it 🙂