Earlier this week we headed over to pastures new armed with our Merlin Annual Passes we had Warwick Castle in our sights. Unfamiliar with the location and the local facilities I turned to a familiar website of Premier Inn to help make our visit easier – with the Warwick Premier Inn being within easy reach of Warwick Castle we opted to make this our base for our trip to Warwick.
Booking
Searching on the Premier Inn website is really straightforward and can be done in a couple of different ways. You can search by the town/city you are looking to visit or by attraction which is great as it then gives you the option to change your selection by distance or price. There is also an option of being flexible on dates so that you can select the hotel with the best possible rate depending which date you stay.
With the additional option of booking not only your breakfast the following morning with up to two children eating free for each paying adult but selecting the meal deal option which gives you an evening meal and breakfast the next morning. As we didn’t know what time we would be arriving at the hotel we thought it best just to book breakfast for the following morning.
Warwick Premier Inn
The Warwick Premier Inn is located a 5 minute drive from the centre of Warwick which makes it easily accessible from the major roads and easy distance into the town.
Parking
Arriving at the hotel later than anticipated at around 8pm we expected the car park to be relatively full especially as it was half term. With the main car park full there were sign posts placed at the entrance to advised us that we would need to park in the overflow car park down the road. As we had driven passed the overflow car park we were aware that is was a few minutes down the road so we hoped to pull into the drop off zone outside the hotel to unload our suitcase, myself and the children whilst Mr Boo parked the car – however the drop off zone had been utilised as additional parking spaces and had scampered our plan.
After parking the car in the overflow car park we made the walk back to the hotel as a family with our luggage in tow. Upon reaching the hotel I noted that as there was no double yellow lines within the drop off zone other guests had obviously taken advantage of the space and parked there without a thought for other guests arriving later.
Check-in
Call me old-fashioned but I do like to be greeted upon arrival, however as there was nobody available on the small reception desk I used the automated kiosks to check-in and collect our card keys. The kiosk was efficient and found my booking easily, although I don’t feel it needed to print four room keys (i.e. one for each person staying in the room), a card key for each adult would have been sufficient. Once I’d collected the card keys and receipt we headed up to our room on the second floor.
Family room
Having stayed in many different types of family rooms over the years I do have to say that I think that Premier Inn have got the balance right. Understanding that children will be staying in the single beds therefore need to be placed in sensible places (you would think that this is obvious but trust me we have had a fold out sofa bed once for the children in another hotel chain which even I wouldn’t have slept on).
Whilst at first glance the rooms appear quite basic it is once you get inside and make use of the room that you find the little touches that really make your stay more comfortable. The king-size Hypnos bed, toasty quilt and a choice of soft or firm pillows makes the bed look so appealing especially after a long drive and a day out with the children. The black-out curtains not only block out any lights from outside but hopefully encourage Roo and Tigger to sleep a little longer in the morning (a mum can hope!). Air-conditioning helps to keep the room at a comfortable temperature especially when you have four sleeping bodies in there.
The bathroom is spacious enough for a family and with the option of using the bath or the shower it offers the flexibility between personal preference. With towels, bath mat and shower gel/shampoo provided it means less things that I have to remember to pack and carry on our journey.
Additional facilities are also included in the room as standard:
- Tea/coffee-making facilities
- TV with freeview
- Free WiFi (optional upgrade to Ultimate WiFi charged at £5.00 per 24 hours for up to 3 devices)
- Additional pillows
- Wardrobe/shelving area to help keep your belongs together
Breakfast
After a good night’s sleep we all woke up starving! so it was a good thing that breakfast was available in the restaurant. Greeted at the door by a waitress who double checked our room number before showing us to a table. She ran through the all you can eat buffet and offered us various different types of eggs to accompany the full English that was laid out in the hot buffet area.
Taking a little walk around to see what was available from a full English, cereals, toast, crumpets, yoghurt and much more. Mr Boo, Roo and I opted for a hot cooked breakfast Tigger being the fussy variety decided upon toast and butter. There was a fruit salad mix available which I knew that Tigger wouldn’t eat so asked the waitress if they had any fresh fruit available and after checking the kitchen unfortunately they didn’t. Personally I would love to see the addition of a fresh fruit selection being made available nothing fancy just some apples, oranges and bananas.
With so much to choose from on the breakfast buffet I have to admit feeling a little stuffed afterwards but I couldn’t miss out on beautiful fresh croissants and jam.
Boo Roo and Tigger Too’s thoughts…
We really enjoyed our stay at the Warwick Premier Inn, the room was clean and comfortable with all the facilities in good working order. We didn’t hear any of the other guests during our stay so didn’t feel like we were in a large hotel. The hotels location made it possible for us to be close by to all the amenities that we needed during our stay. The only let down for us as a family is the parking which whilst I can appreciate the main car park being full I do feel that there needs to be a rethink on the drop off zone (maybe a 15 minute wait maximum or similar so that all guest can make use of the area).
Our stay was priced at £85.50 for a family of four for one night’s accommodation and breakfast which I think represents great value for money.
Disclosure: We received a one stay and breakfast FOC for the purpose of review
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