Premier Inn Solihull South (M42)

Very warm welcome and everything as it should be. Swift service both at the hotel and Beefeater next door. Good location for motorway but it’s not in Solihull- it’s in Shirley which is a distance from Solihull itself. No problem to us though.

Not up to usual Premier Inn standard elsewhere. No-one on reception when we arrived. Extremely cold room with window wide open in mid November. Very inattentive waiting staff in the restaurant who were more interested in chatting to each other than looking after the few guests who were there. Kitchen staff seemed very inexperienced - chips barely lukewarm, chicken and ham pie extremely dry, the thinest and fattiest bacon I have ever seen on my smothered chicken. We use Premier Inn regularly but I would not go back to this one.

hotel on first entering didn’t look the best, the extra tea, coffee etc was a mess and almost empty, no water in drinks dispenser that’s there, waited ages for a member of staff to come tot eh desk who didn’t even apologise, no lift to rooms but wasn’t a major problem for us, room was basic felt uncared for but was sleep-able, we booked meal deal and was told we had to reserve a table but none available till 8pm this is late for us but we excepted that time, upon entering the restaurant 2 members of staff see us and both ignored us for a good 7-8 minutes before one come and sat us down and said a slight wait for food, 50 mins after ordering our mushroom starter was brought to us, again no apology on how long the wait was, 20 mins later our main meal, the restaurant wasn’t overly busy as only hotel residents can now use this huge building, there was two chefs on but what appears to be happening was one chef had to keep going behind the bar the other at times brought the food out, the two waitresses really didn’t want to be there and that was clear, food was hot and decent portions, drinks well we wasn’t offered any except the one that come with deal, next morning breakfast wasn’t much better, 35 mins for our cooked breakfast to arrive and wasn’t even hot, poached eggs were slimy and whites uncooked baked beans really dry and looked awful, by this point we was more then ready to leave the complex most likely never to return again, oh and receptionist seem to have to run reception and waiter/clear tables all at the same time it’s crazy how it’s being run, in fact you can see its being run into the ground 😢

On arriving I was given room 101. Very apt as the Samsung TV was never going to be remotely operated by a LG remote. The restaurant was closed so had to eat elsewhere and in getting a shower, the wash dispenser didn’t work. As it is held in more securely than Jimmy Saville in prison, there was no other way to get anything out other than dipping the pump in and out to get anything on me. A great nights sleep though thanks to the bed and a quiet corridor. Breakfast was a let down and not worth the £8.99 as they had no mushrooms or beans even though it was 7:00am. Worst Premier Inn experience yet but I gave a 3 for the bed and the staff.

It’s a premier inn. You get what you expect. Easy location, plenty of parking, quiet, clean. No issues with any of that. The breakfast is in the pub/restaurant opposite, fine, but the quality of the breakfast APPALLING not worth the money at all. Drive down to the Tesco’s café and eat there!