Premier Inn St Andrews

There’s plenty of free parking, and an M&S right beside the hotel if you need to pick up food. The rooms were in good condition and the walk into the old town takes about 15 minutes along an easy, direct route. Service let things down a bit: nobody was available at check-in to help with a problem, so staff weren’t as helpful as they could have been.

The breakfast staff member was lovely, and the Black staff member and the slow-talking guy at checkout were nice too. But the check-in staff member came across as unprofessional and unhelpful, and I felt he was terrible at his job and didn’t care about it. We’ve stayed here once before, and the standard has dropped so much since then. The room was filthy. There was rubbish and hair on the floor, more hair in the bath, and the toilet was dirty. I don’t know what’s going on at this hotel, but the room clearly hadn’t been cleaned, and I’m very concerned about hygiene at Premier Inn. I wouldn’t stay at another Premier Inn again. Next time I’m in St Andrews, I’d happily pay £400 for the Fairmont instead.

The location is great, but our room was a real letdown. There was hair and grime on the bathroom surfaces and in the bath, and the floor looked like it hadn’t been cleaned or vacuumed. They hadn’t replaced all the amenities either. The shower kept swinging from cold to boiling, so we couldn’t use it, and the air conditioning in our room didn’t work. That was especially frustrating because the working air con was one reason we paid extra for an upgraded room. I’ve stayed at plenty of Premier Inns, so I expected this one to meet the usual standard.

We were here on 1 January for an event the next day. The beds were comfortable, but the room wasn’t clean: crisps were scattered around, and the carpet and sofa hadn’t been vacuumed. The carpet was dusty and dirty along the skirting boards too. In the morning, the water was freezing cold, so we couldn’t wash or shower. That caused a major problem with our plans for the event, and we had to make other arrangements. Nobody acknowledged it or apologised when we checked out. Guest Relations offered only a partial refund and called it a goodwill gesture, which they seem to think is reasonable. Premier Inn advertises a 100% satisfaction guarantee, but that appears to apply only if you haven’t slept well. Our serious morning inconvenience didn’t seem to count. I’m really dissatisfied.