Arundel

Another great week stay at Arundel premier inn comfortable beds. Stayed in a wheelchair access room due to no standard room but didn’t bother me. Staff been amazing cleaned the room once when I’ve asked them too. This time you have to put in your registration number for parking which isn’t a problem. Not a good signal if you are with o2.

Outside of hotel looks like a run down prison camp..inside was fine and could not complain. The staff were friendly and the room was clean. The linked beefeater pub was a disgrace , hence we never ate there. On walking in you are hit by the smell of raw sewage. The bar was filthy and trays of dirty glasses were strewn all over the bar. The tables were full of dirty plates that sat there for an hour before being cleared up. The staff were clearly rushed and they were understaffed which I am finding is the normal way for premier inns generally now and any linked restaurant. What finished me off was a couple with a baby and young child. They both appeared high on something and at one point asked thw barman to watch their baby while they both went to the bathroom to change the other one..Even my Mother could have worked out they were going in there to sniff a line or two. Needles to say we stayed for one drink and left. We have historically used premier inns every 4 weeks for years and have made the decision that we will change hotel chain as the standard across many hotels has plummeted over the last year due to the way Premier inn are running things and the lack of staff, who appear to have to multi task a number of different roles now resulting in poor service

Arundel is beautiful, but as you climb the hill out of the little town and the hotel swings onto view… you heart will sink! The previously white rendered Georgian style building is now green with algae & grey with traffic film, masonry repairs are screaming out to be completed, lose wires trailing off walls, a carpark and approach to the main entrance strewn with debris from the bin store that you are forced to walk past, a miserable inviting main entrance and an overwhelming desire to find a different hotel; I’ve never experienced such an unloved appearance! We weren’t able to check in as we arrived a little early and so we went into Arundel to see if we could find alternative accommodation. As there were none available, we returned to the Premier Inn defeated. The staff were extremely pleasant as we were being checked in and helped us out with advice for the area/booking breakfast. The lobby was clean and well appointed, with a vending machine for cold drinks and snacks. You have to use you room card to access the rooms so security felt tight. Our rooms were well appointed in the expected Premier Inn style but housekeeping were given the impossible task of having to clean around failing infrastructure: when bathrooms have ‘blown’ mdf trim and mouldy, loose sealant, you can’t make these areas appear clean and well presented; the hotel needs a complete maintenance overhaul which is long over due. Beds were comfy, if small - aside from the accessible rooms, which have king size beds, all beds are a standard double size, which was disappointing. However, they are comfortable and we enjoyed a settled nights sleep. All of the staff we met were pleasant, including the waiting staff in the beefeater restaurant where we ate our prepaid breakfast. Breakfast was average, an extremely limited continental selection and the option to order a hot English breakfast, but we enjoyed what was on offer. The restaurant had a fausty odour when we walked in, again it was tired and grubby despite evidence that it may well have undergone a refurb in the past 2-3 years, it was also tired and unloved with equipment shoved into recesses and cubby-holes and litter strewn around the carpark… again, the approach was uninspiring and definitely uninviting. The only saving grace really is the attitude of the lovely staff… but why don’t they love their workplace enough to care for it? I worry that this is a reflection of their employment conditions… perhaps they are all fed up of asking for improvements to be made and being ignored…?? The customer should NEVER have to be concerned about any of the issues noted in this review, that’s the whole purpose of a chain brand - consistency! Come on Premier Inn, you certainly wouldn’t be including this outlet in one of your celebrity adverts as a flagship site, so instead of hiding it, improve it… quickly!