It was hard not to choose the Premier Inn London County Hall Hotel for my recent trip to London. All of the pictures that I saw online looked fantastic.
It was a bit of a roller coaster of emotions upon arrival however. The location was perfect, and it looked incredible from the outside. Unfortunately, the lobby had all the charm of a cheap budget hostel.
But then I saw my room. It was amazing. I slept very well. Should I have been surprised that breakfast the following morning was a bit of a letdown?
My full review of the Premier Inn London County Hall
Long story short, the Premier Inn is a mid-tier hotel inside of an active (and very historic) government building. It doesn’t make any sense to me either, but stay with me here…
Location
You’ll find the Premier Inn (and the London County Hall for that matter) just a five minute walk from the east end of the Westminster Bridge. As a matter of fact, it’s just a stones throw away from the Park Plaza Hotel, which I absolutely loved.
Is it a hotel? A government building? Maybe a museum? I don’t care what it is, because I’m jetlagged AF, and this is where I’m sleeping tonight. No matter what.
This is an excellent hotel to stay at if you want to be within easy walking distance of Big Ben and the Parliament building. Westminster Station is just a 10 minute walk away.
Entrance spotted! They don’t make it easy though. Blink and you’re gonna miss it.Interesting. You’d think for a hotel that calls themselves ‘Premier’, they would have been tripping over themselves to use any font other than Arial Regular for their brand identity. I wonder what other kinds of corners they’ve cut?It was at this moment that I started to think that maybe they were exaggerating about the whole ‘premier’ thing. That said, this is a government building, so perhaps that’s the design aesthetic they were going for. They nailed it!
The lobby (and checking in)
Once you see the lobby of the Premier Inn, you’ll understand why they don’t normally include pictures of it on all of the booking sites. It’s one of the most sparse looking (and government-spec) hotel lobbies I’ve ever seen.
Self serve check-in (with kiosks and glowing purple neon) was not something that I was expecting. At least now the Arial Regular thing was starting to make a bit more sense.
There is no reception desk. You will be required to check in yourself via one of the four kiosks. However, there was a very bored looking employee standing around who was more than happy to do all the screen tapping for me. I didn’t have to do anything.
*sigh*. All I’m gonna say is that this entire experience so far has been the hotel equivalent of “the carpet not matching the drapes”.
Getting to my room
I wasn’t feeling all that optimistic as I stepped onto the elevator. The lobby and check-in experience was a letdown considering how luxurious of an experience I was expecting this to be. Thankfully, things improved the closer I got to my room…
“His sphincter tightens as the elevator ascends to level 6.”And then, just like that, all seemed right with the world. I’m starting to see some legitimate style and design here in this hallway!Wait. Isn’t it my Premier Plus room? The differences between British English and American English are so confusing!
Premier Plus room overview
I booked a Premier Plus room for my one night stay. This is a fairly significant upgrade from a standard room, as it’s a very nicely sized suite with lots of space to spread out (or frolic about, if that’s the kind of thing you’re into).
To summarize what we’ve seen so far: 1). A spectacular looking exterior 2). A fairly cheap looking main entrance 3). An even cheaper looking lobby 4). A very nice looking (and huge) Premiere Plus room. What an afternoon it’s been for my travel-battered soul. I may not have expected kiosks in the lobby, but the red velvet chair (illuminated by a single spotlight) was a given.The fact that it’s nowhere near as creepy as the one that was in my room at the H Hotel LAX is a plus. At least this one is soft, inviting, and not so haunted looking.This is, like, big y’all. And I’ve only shown you one room so far!The rounded corner of this desk was much appreciated (by both me and my testicles). Somebody was using their noggin.
Bottled water and WiFi are complimentary. Room service (featuring a fairly significant menu) is available for most hours of the day.
Yeah, there’s a refrigerator. No, you can’t have any of my water (because I’m both jetlagged and dehydrated).Of course there’s a hairdryer hanging on the wall (next to a lit mirror) in the main room near the entrance. Why wouldn’t there be?The exact moment when I started feeling bad for all the crotchety things I said at the beginning of this review. This is a really nice room, you guys.Oh yeah. There’s a bed in here too. Let me show you…Who needs mirrors on the ceiling when you’ve got glowing purple light to set the mood?Shit, this king size bed could’ve been a slab of concrete and I wouldn’t have loved it any less. I was that tired.Expectation: walls thin enough to hear arguing politicians while I slept. Reality: walls only thin enough to hear the guy in the next room farting and belching. Same thing I guess.What you’ll see when you poke your head up wondering WTF is going on in the next room (which is an especially scary thing to do when traveling solo). “Can’t a guy get any sleep in here?!”
The view
Despite its excellent location, the view from the rooms can be hit or miss in this hotel. Mine wasn’t all that great actually. The only thing that I saw were windows from other buildings.
Not the most thrilling view that I’ve ever had from a hotel room, but it is very British (which is never a bad thing…especially if you’re in Britain).
Here’s the view from the window next to the elevators. Negotiating yourself into a room with a view of The London Eye is the correct move methinks.
The bathroom
The bathroom seemed a little small despite how large the rest of the room was. That said, it was very nicely designed and everything was situated in a way that made sense. It is worth noting that there was no bathtub. It’s a shower or nothing when staying here.
Yup, that’s a bathroom alright. A nice one too!Based on the history of this building, it’s not inconceivable to think that (at any point in the last 100 years) some very important legislation was contrived exactly where that toilet sits today. I can concur that it’s an excellent place to do business.There is no tub in this bathroom, but there is a shower with water pressure strong enough to leave welts in your skin. It’s a good kind of pain BTW.The towel situation was a little disappointing if I’m being honest. They were not only scrawny and thin, but weak and cardboardish as well (much like a certain hotel reviewer that I know).FYI, you haven’t lived until you’ve stepped out into the world smelling like lavender & bergamot.
The restaurant (and breakfast buffet)
I didn’t pay for breakfast at the time of booking, but it was easy enough just a walk into the lobby restaurant at 9 AM and fork over the fee. It was US$30 if I recall correctly, which is a lot for what you get.
It’s a bit of a trek to reach the restaurant here in the lobby. At least I’ll know that I’ll have earned my breakfast when I get there.One half of the breakfast buffet (featuring hot items such as eggs, bacon, mushrooms, beans, and roasted tomatoes).The other half of the breakfast buffet (featuring hot items such as eggs, bacon, mushrooms, beans, and roasted tomatoes). Boy are you ever in luck if you came here for a full English breakfast!You didn’t think I came here for anything other than a full English breakfast, did you?
This restaurant serves breakfast lunch and dinner. I didn’t give lunch and dinner ago, but I’d imagine that it’s as decent (but limited) as the breakfast buffet is. Food quality is okay BTW. It’s hardly an award-winning menu, but it’s good enough.
Pros and cons
Although you probably wouldn’t know it walking in from the street, this is a very nice place to stay in a central part of the city. Just don’t expect to be greeted at the door like a rockstar.
Pros
Very centrally (and conveniently) located within central London. Big Ben and the Parliament Building are just a 10 minute walk away.
The Premier Plus rooms are very nicely sized. Totally worth the upgrade IMHO.
It’s a very quiet property despite being so centrally located.
There are many great restaurants within walking distance, but the on site restaurant is convenient if you aren’t feeling adventurous.
Cons
Self serve check-in makes the experience feel really cheap right from the get go.
Don’t expect anything more than cafeteria style food in the lobby restaurant.
Scott has been traveling the world since 1997, and is the founder and author of SleepAndReview.com. He never had any aspirations of being a hotel reviewer, but one thing let to another, and...well...here we are.
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