Premier Inn Chelmsford - Boreham

This stay was made for us by the staff, who were the nicest I've encountered at a Premier Inn. The receptionist was wonderful and gave us champagne glasses for our sparkling wine. Jasmine in the restaurant was kind and fantastic with people. She cleared tables, showed us where things were, checked we had everything and welcomed everyone who came in, always smiling. At breakfast, Dom did a great job keeping the food fresh. He made sure my vegetarian friend had sausages, and when I couldn't find croissants, he brought some out just for me. I'm really impressed. Chelmsford has seemed pretty grumpy and full of entitled suits to me as a local, so this made our stay.

Ann at the front desk was friendly and easily handled several requests, which earned this hotel its five stars. The bed was very comfortable and the sheets were soft. The room was a bit dusty, though otherwise clean. There was some noise from people walking along the corridor and doors closing, rather than from traffic. Better soundproofing would help, but it wasn't the end of the world.

We found plenty to do nearby after the reason we'd initially planned to visit Essex was cancelled. Braintree Shopping Village was nice, and I'd recommend Cluetopia escape rooms and Colchester zoo. The location had been perfect for our original plans. The staff we spoke to were all lovely and suggested other local activities, and the pub next door was a nice bonus. My two complaints are that the room was sweltering even with the air con on, so we had to open a window in January, and the TV remote needed a proper scrub.

The room and bathroom were OK, and I had no other issues. There’s a pub across the way, since the Premier Inn has a breakfast room but no restaurant. I would stay again. It backs onto a very busy dual carriageway, but the double airlock on the windows made it much quieter. There’s no air conditioning, though it does have an air-conditioning unit. It only went down to about 19C, and for some reason the room stayed hot even with 2C outside. I kept the unit set as low as it would go. It might be more useful for heating on cold days, but it wouldn't be effective enough in summer. There’s only one lift for the two upper floors. I asked at check-in about a ground-floor room, but got a flat no before being given my second-floor key. I wasn't sure if the hotel was fully booked.