Premier Inn Abingdon (A34)

Stopped here for work for a couple of days for jobs in and around Oxford/swindon. Area. Plus points…it’s only a year old , staff in the afternoon work hard preparing the restaurant checking people in and serving drinks. Quite close to walk into Abingdon also. Bus to Oxford is close also. Tesco is next door and a fuel station. Negatives… hardly any staff before 5 literally skeleton staff as in 1, to run a bar if busy and check people in! They work hard and deserve better. Automated check in machines, forget them! Pay £3 a night to park no idea why it’s not like there many places to leave the car for? Just money making! No pub next door this is a massive loss even though it has a restaurant and bar it seriously is no where near as good, cosy or welcoming I know whitbread want to go this way but it is seriously the wrong direction I will always prefer to stop next to a beefeater , table table or brewers fayre.

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.

Very poor level of cleanliness in the room. The towels were stained did the sink and bath had not been cleaned properly. I requested a full room clean on the second night but this was not done (although the towels were changed). The staff did not seem interested at all and noting was done to improve the state of the room.

I have stayed here most months for the past year and every visit hits a new low. The restaurant has been closed on two visits as the chef wasn't in work which is a pain as there are no nearby restaurants. Can there really only be 1 chef employed here? Parking is now charged £7 per night which is unnecessary on top of the typically high cost to stay. Tv broke in room but staff were able to fix it. On a positive, the staff are pretty friendly.

I/We have stayed at the old Premier on Ock Road, many times and whilst it was getting a little dated i'm sad to say that this new one is not a patch on the old one in respect of customer service, cleanliness and value for money. Unless they very quickly get there act together it is going to soon start looking grubby and tacky. There is a distinct lack of cleaning and hoovering in corridors and communal areas, which we noticed earlier in the year, when i came with my partner. The check in guy on reception needs some proper customer service training. Its usual to at least say, Good Evening, what name is it please, rather than just barking out 'name' in an abrupt manner. That would be a bare minimum. Parking @ £7 a day which used to be free - really?? Breakfast was good, no complaints, but as the restaurant seems to close regularly at other times there would be little point in booking the 'meal deal'. Wi-fi was awful unless you upgraded. When we stayed in the New Year there where, what we thought, a few teething troubles - things are no better. I/We visit an elderly relative (sometimes i come on my own). It will be the Hilton next time.

The staff were only minimum and apart from man who seemed to be in charge totally disorganised. A lack of staff seemed to be the mager problem.