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Member since:20.03.2001
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This category is actually a bit misleading as there are 13 Premier Lodges in and around the Greater Manchester area - this op is about GMEX 2
========================================== I needed somewhere to stay in Manchester for an early morning meeting, normally I use the Britannia Hotel for their sauna like bedrooms and competitive rates, the Jarvis or the Thistle for weekend breaks. Sadly on this occasion the Jarvis was out of bounds at a wondrous rate of £129 room only and the other two don’t have car-parks. What has this got to do with where I stay you may ask – well the long and the short of it is that unusually travelling alone I didn’t particularly fancy wandering around multi-storey car parks on my own, stumping up £15 for an overnight stay and also having to lug a considerable amount of luggage and a laptop halfway across the city – OK maybe a slight exaggeration on the city angle, but I needed somewhere reasonably priced and with a car-park and also somewhere I could eat and have a nice quiet drink without having to stagger too far home.I had seen the strategically placed Premier Lodge numerous times on my way into the city and always wondered what it was like, but never really had the chance to find out. At that point I didn’t actually realise that was where I would be staying, I just merely browsed the website for a Manchester location that sported free car-parking and Premier Lodge GMEX 2 had just that.
BOOKING This can be done on-line or over a national rate telephone number. Personally on this occasion I elected to book over the phone as I wanted to ensure that they had all the facilities I thought. Answering was speedy, service friendly and within 5 minutes I was clutching my 5 digit reference number for the following night. I was required to provide
all my personal address details and provide a credit card number to confirm the booking – cancellation policy is 4pm on the day of arrival.
CHECK-IN I arrived at the hotel around 6pm after a leisurely trundle (ahem) up the M6 from Stafford (although in reality there is NOTHING leisurely about the M6 except possibly the queues), parked up in the spacious car-park and looked forward to my leisurely cup of coffee and bath whilst listening to the TV – and I continued looking forward as the check-in process was, to say the least slow – I queued for around 25 minutes waiting to be seen – apparently this outlet is seldom any different – although I should imagine the process was further slowed by the young lady at the front of the queue whose booking appeared to have been lost.
Once I actually managed to speak to the receptionist, service was friendly if a little cumbersome. Unlike Travel Inns, I was offered the opportunity to pay my bill on arrival or departure and was actively encouraged to run up a bill in the restaurant and bar. Breakfast needed to be pre- booked and cost £4.25 for continental and £6.25 for full English. Rate for the room at this particular outlet was £49.95.
The reception area of the hotel was very tatty with grubby crumpled carpets and I groaned at the thought of things to come. Thankfully my request of a smoking room had been noted and my room was duly allocated.
If you are out and about in this hotel, bear in mind that you will require your room swipe access card to use the lifts from the ground floor – quite a good security element – although I wasn’t filled with confidence to realise that the hotel actually had full 24 hour uniformed security – was this for peace of mind or was the area really that bad?
All residents are issued with a car park pass which shows their reg number, check in and departure dates, It must be displayed in the car windscreen for the duration of your stay or you risk being clamped. The hotel do advise however that this pass does not guarantee a parking space. There did however appear to be ample parking and although the hotel was full, the parking wasn’t quite so.
THE ROOM Big, Big, Big and a Super King Size bed to boot – just like being at home. Those of you who don’t like the sheets and blankets brigade will be glad to know that the Premier Lodges provide quilts and polyester filled pillows in abundance – although personally I don’t think the quilt smelt as fresh as it could have done – personally I prefer sheets. Towels were also supplied in abundance and there was no midget size here – the bath towels easily swamped my ample frame.
There was tea and coffee making facilities, remote controlled colour TV with all the normal channels and a few extra Sky ones to boot, including Sky One, Eurosport and the Box – plus an additional German channel, probably quite useful with all the time Man Utd spend in European competitions, or maybe they just have a lot of German fans. I know my student is an addict and they do say that not too many of their fans are actually Mancunians – this may explain the abundance of competitively priced hotels in the city which are guaranteed to be full every time there is a game on at Old Trafford. There was also a hairdryer – although hotel dryers always manage to irritate me as they as you have to keep your finger permanently pressed on the button to keep it on.
The kettle was firmly nailed to the unit – and both the cups and spoons required an additional wash before use, I think someone had licked them clean to fool the maids.
Heating appeared to be the sole responsibility of a lopsided blow air heater on the wall, and I had visions of a repeat of Glasgow that night – something I could without with a full day ahead of me and a 250 mile drive back down south the next day. As it happened, there must have been an additional source of invisible heating somewhere as the room was certainly not cold, and in fact was suitably warm enough for me to leave the window open all night – or at least until the Biffa truck turned up at 6am to empty the rubbish bins.
The room was relatively well sound-proofed – although I did hear someone stamping around on the floor above me around 2.30am – which may have had something to do with the fact that I had fallen asleep with the TV on rather loudly. Early morning calls can be arranged via reception or programmed on the phone yourself. Personally, from my viewpoint it seems that reception was always so busy I wouldn’t be willing to take the chance of relying on them to do it for me.
The en-suite was a reasonable size, with exceptionally modern taps. The shower was most definitely a power shower offering normal and massage settings, but again fixed to the wall which resulting in me having to wash my hair twice during my stay of one night. There were no freebie soaps and a fixed body/hair wash of Dove fame was firmly fixed to the wall over the bath and sink – this merely managed to result in banging my head on the one over the bath.
THE FOOD The GMEX Premier lodge has an integral bar and restaurant – drinks were quite reasonably priced – although more expensive than the bars I have been to in town. I paid £1.10 for half a Fosters and £3.00 for a Gin and Tonic – you are also allowed to take drinks up to your room at no extra charge.
For evening meal there was the usual meals that you would expect for a grill – I elected to have an 8oz Sirloin Steak with mushrooms, onion rings and fries and a pepper sauce for £10.90. I asked for the Steak to be well done to the point of cremation and then started panicking that it would be too tough for me to eat following all the problems I have had with my teeth. When the meal finally arrived – the steak was quite unevenly cooked – well done in some places and medium rare in others – although thankfully no blood. The waitress did offer to take the meal back but I decided to persevere and I am glad to say it was absolutely heavenly – the experience only spoilt by the group of cockneys on the next table who were slagging off Swansea with a vengeance and saying how boring it was and how the women were all slappers with no class or culture. Needless to say I was most unimpressed and discovering that they were going to be working in the area the following week, provided them with a list of places to eat and drink – that’ll teach them to watch what they are saying.
BREKKIE Oh – as you all probably know by now – my favourite. For £6.25 there was a choice of Orange or Grapefruit juice, a wide selection of cereals including Alpen, Frosties and Crunchy nut cornflakes – DIY coffee and Toast and a small selection of hot food including: · Hash Browns · Sausages · Bacon · Baked Beans · Scrambled Egg
I think I can honestly say it was the hottest (temperature wise) buffet breakfast I have encountered in a long time and was absolutely delicious – the hash browns were particularly scrummy
IRONING BOARD The room has lots of literature on facilities available at the hotel, one of which is an iron and ironing board. Now I must admit I am used to staying in hotels where these are delivered to and collected from you – so I had something of a shock when I had to pay a £5 deposit and collect and return it myself – after a couple of beers this had the capacity to be a potential disaster – thankfully the experienced passed without event.
THE CHAIN The Premierlodge chain are owned by Scottish and Newcastle breweries and currently have 120 outlets across the UK mainland with some 13 in and around the Greater Manchester area. Prices start from £42.95 per room and the rate will be the same whether there is one of you staying of a family of 4, although certainly not all outlets have family rooms or 6ft beds yet.
SUMMARY The overall décor of the hotel and room were quite tatty, but the room was spacious and warm with most of the usual facilities. The bar and restaurant had a particularly pleasant ambiance and the car-parking was mighty useful, so I shall overlook the fact that the hotel gave me incorrect details to my onward destination resulting in me taking 1 hour to arrive at the University which was only 1-1/2 miles away, and being late for course registration. Would I stay there again? Most certainly if I was travelling alone, although with so many hotels to chose from in Manchester I certainly wouldn’t overlook other hotels either and would see what was about.
Want to find out more: www.premierlodge.co.uk or telephone: 08702 01 02 03 -open 8 - 8 Monday to Friday and 10 - 4 Weekends.
Have you ever used laterooms.com? I always find a bargain hotel on that site. A couple of weeks ago, we paid £50 a night for a cracking hotel in Redditch! Don't you just hate stale bedding! At least they could use a bit of Fabreeze before you arrive if they can't be arsed to wash it!!! LOL! Sounds a very average kind of place.
I was coming back from Stafford after visitng my Gran on the stone raod, but didnot take it onto the M6 before breaking down. So much for setting off early to miss the traffic at Manchester. The Premier Lodge in Newcastle is a cracking hotel. Best Regards Barry
by (2%):
by (4%):
24.03.2004 19:23
I was looking for a review on the other Premier Lodge (GMEX1). Obviously there is none, but your review helped me indeed.
27.10.2002 21:50
Have you ever used laterooms.com? I always find a bargain hotel on that site. A couple of weeks ago, we paid £50 a night for a cracking hotel in Redditch! Don't you just hate stale bedding! At least they could use a bit of Fabreeze before you arrive if they can't be arsed to wash it!!! LOL! Sounds a very average kind of place.
27.10.2002 21:39
I was coming back from Stafford after visitng my Gran on the stone raod, but didnot take it onto the M6 before breaking down. So much for setting off early to miss the traffic at Manchester. The Premier Lodge in Newcastle is a cracking hotel. Best Regards Barry