Accessible Room No. 10
5
5
Date of visit: September 2021
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Excellent
Room 10 has a wet room and, like almost all accessible rooms at Premier Inn it is a good size with plenty of room for a wheelchair user to move about freely. Width of main door: 86cm. The room is located on the ground floor and not far from the reception and restaurant. The king size bed was made up of two single zip and lock beds and, at a height of 41cm it was easy for my wife to transfer from her wheelchair. The mattress was comfortable enough, and two firm pillows and two softer pillows were available to us. The sealed window looked out on to the car park and grounds. The blackout curtains were effective, plunging the room into darkness. The A/C was very efficient and quiet, cooling the room to 19ºC. There were enough electrical sockets around the room, including the (now common) panel beneath the TV with HDMI and other inputs. Some of the accessible rooms we stay in at PI only have a socket at one side of the bed, or none at all; which is disappointing. Not so with this room; it had a socket at each side of the bed. Top marks for that! The basic Wi-Fi offered a good signal, with no dropouts. Mobile data (O²) was strong too. As is common with most of the hotels in this chain, the accessible bathroom was a good size, with a sliding door that opened to a width of 80cm. The thermostatic shower was easy to control but, while the temperature remained constant, the water pressure was not that strong. Not so weak though that you could not shower properly; it’s just that we a used to stronger pressure from PI showers. A frequent problem we encounter with PI wet rooms is the lack of a shelf in the shower area. Not having one makes it awkward for a disabled guest. In this bathroom was a corner shelf (see photo) that was easy to reach for my wife. Again, top marks for that! We only have one other niggle, apart from the shower pressure, and that is the vanity unit outside the bathroom; it is set too high for a wheelchair user, the bevel being at eye level and obscuring my wife’s view. This is a common problem in all new or updated PI accessible rooms we have stayed in. The hotel has a Thyme restaurant, which we did not use. It didn’t look that big though, so booking is probably advisable. Overall, this was an excellent accessible room, apart from the couple of niggles I have mentioned. I’m not sure how old the hotel is but there were no apparent signs of wear and tear.
Disabled Access In and Around
Excellent
There was barrier free access from the car park to reception, the restaurant and to our room. It looked like all accessible rooms, like ours, were on the ground floor. There are only two floors; there is a lift.
Parking & Transport
Excellent
This hotel has free parking with six disabled bays; I’m not sure if that matches the number of accessible rooms, but they were all taken by about 6pm. Please note that the car park is controlled by an outside operator, so, to avoid a charge, you need to input you registration number into the tablet situated in reception.
Accessible Toilets
Average
We didn’t use any public toilets so I cannot comment on them.
Staff
Excellent
All staff we encountered were pleasant and helpful.
Additional Information
COVID PRECAUTIONS: Currently, check-in is after 16:00 due to more thorough cleaning, but we checked about fifteen minutes before that and our room was ready. Only some staff wore face coverings. During the current Covid-19 restrictions housekeeping staff do not enter your room unless you specifically request them to do so; anything you need you can just ask at reception. Notices about social distancing, cleanliness and face coverings were posted about the hotel. Face coverings for guests was recommended but not enforced. Hand sanitizer was available at key locations.
