Travelodge Portsmouth

We moved in while our floors were being sanded. Not a bad Travelodge, with rooms that have baths. Reception staff were lovely, and a big thank you to Marg for helping us sort out a new room. We were first put in an extremely noisy room, with what sounded like a compressor or water cooler tank above our heads. There’s plenty of free parking, a supermarket next door, and public transport a two-minute walk away. Lots of places to eat within five minutes, including the pub next door, Italian, Turkish and Indian restaurants, spoons, pizza, McDonald’s and Greggs.

For an overnight stop before a ferry crossing, the room was clean and quiet on the third floor. But the shower was pathetic, with hardly any pressure, and it took ages to rinse off the soap. There are lots of smokers outside the building, and the outdoor area could use a good litter pick. The shower really let the room down.

I stay here because it’s so handy for the ferry port and has good car parking. It’s literally across the roundabout from the port, straight out of the car park. The rooms are a decent size and reasonably furnished, with standard USB charging, TV, and tea and coffee facilities. A biscuit would’ve been nice, tea’s too wet without one. The bed was good, and the linen and towels were clean and lovely. There’s also a pub and eatery on-site. This year, though, I’m a little disgruntled for the first time. Reception and check-in were perfect, but the second floor smelled rank. Even with the window open, the smell of whatever they use in the rooms was awful. The carpets had numerous stains, though these tough, resilient contract carpets shouldn’t be too difficult to clean. There was a loud hum outside, like a fan or something, that was still there with the window closed and kept me awake until after 2am. It’s still there now. Then beer barrels were delivered noisily at 08.03. These all seem easy enough for management to sort out.

The premises are only a three-minute drive from the Ferry Terminals, which is especially handy for an early departure. The rooms were clean and comfortable, and pleasantly better than I expected for a very reasonable price. Staff were pleasant and helpful, and onsite car parking was a plus. The boxed breakfast for £5.95 was the downside.