Premier Inn Saffron Walden hotel

The hotel is fairly typical for a Premier Inn, perhaps feeling slightly tired even though the hotel was only built a few years ago. Bed was comfortable, shower/WC fine. There are no views from the hotel as it is on a small commercial site. Plenty of parking. Around 20-30 minutes to walk into town. The restaurant is very poor however. The Beefeater (also owned by Whitbread) closed in July 2024. The restaurant now only serves people staying at the hotel. Many food items on the menu are unavailable even early in the evening. They list 8 bottled beers on the menu but only had Heineken the night we were there. There was only one person working in the kitchen. He looked to be quite efficient, but simply couldn't keep up with the demand. The "waitresses" were also running the front desk. That leads to neither task being done properly. The low levels of stock and staff makes me wonder if the restaurant is being deliberately run down. If so, it is a shame. With no restaurant the hotel becomes a lot less appealing. There is a notice of a planning application to change the internal layout of the hotel. Perhaps that is related to removing the restaurant or moving to breakfast service only? Aldi is nearby for buying snacks and salads, and Costa does breakfast items but it isn't the same as having a restaurant in the hotel. The hotel staff were doing their best, but looked rather "frazzled". There was a fire alarm at 1:30 am. The fire service took 20 minutes to attend (which isn't the hotel's fault of course). No communication to everyone stood outside during the wait, although, as we walked back through the doors there was an apology for "any inconvenience".

I have stayed at this hotel a number of times. This time we were staying prior to a family wedding. I had recommended it to other members of my family and friends. In the past there have been issues with the restaurant - lack of staff, availability of food. On arrival we were informed that the restaurant was unavailbale that evening (Sunday) and also for hot breakfat on the Monday, due to "a fire in the kitchen." Why was the Permier Inn correspondence System unable to pre warn us of this? Can it be that difficult? What compounded my annoyance was that other members of the extended party were told that the reason for the restaurant being unavailable was due to the chef not turning in. I do not appreciate being lied to. I contacted Premier Inn Guest Relations only to receive a bland response with no recognition of my central complaint.

There was an issue with a fire alarm sounding in the early morning 6.am, On check-in no notification had been given as to what would be required if this occurred, once down in reception to look for instructions no register was taken of people standing around, they were also allowed to stand in the reception area seat on the seating and some even opened laptops ? they were also allowed to smoke within the door entrance to the building? The alarm had been raised by 1 room (227), as shown on the alarm panel. Once the Fire Brigade had attended and confirmed no fire was present within minuets of attendance, as suspected, we were allowed back to our rooms. No explanation was given for the alarm, it was suspected to have possibly been caused by a smoker, smoking in the room. The staff seemed to be at a loss how to manage the customers during this situation. over all very poor control by Premier Inn.