Premier Inn Norwich Airport

I had a really frustrating experience with this hotel, and I feel like I need to share it. I booked over the phone because I knew my check-in time would be unusual—I told them clearly that I’d be arriving between 3-6 AM on the morning of February 21st and leaving late on Thursday night. I even explained that it was a long drive (3-4 hours), so I’d be getting there in the early hours of Friday morning. The person I spoke to reassured me that my booking was set for Friday morning and that the reception desk would be informed. Fast forward to my arrival at around 5 AM, and the receptionist had no idea I was coming. Apparently, my booking was made for the 21st after 3 PM (their usual check-in time), and to make things worse, the notes said I’d be arriving at 3 AM on Saturday morning—completely wrong. Because of this, they refused to give me a room. I kept explaining the situation, but they just kept saying they don’t allow check-ins before 3 PM and that I couldn’t book a room at that hour. So what was I supposed to do? Sleep in my car with my 4-year-old? The whole reason I called instead of booking online was to avoid this exact problem. If I had booked online, I knew I would’ve needed to book for Thursday night to check in after 3 PM. But when I asked about that on the phone, the person reassured me that they had confirmed it and that everything was fine. Clearly, it wasn’t. After all that, they made me wait almost two hours before I gave up and booked a room at a nearby Holiday Inn Express instead. No apology, no attempt to fix their mistake, nothing. I was in town for an important medical interview that morning, and this just added so much unnecessary stress. Most hotels, when they mess up like this, at least try to make things right—maybe offer a room, a discount, something. But this place showed no accountability at all. Really disappointing experience.

A lovely warm welcome from staff. There was always someone on reception which was nice and they always greeted us when we came in or left. Room was clean and as expected. Most disappointing bit was breakfast due to minimal staffing in the restaurant. Plus one of the staff was miserable and not very helpful. I really felt for one member of staff that looked like she was trying to do it all single-handedly. She was rushing around so much its an accident waiting to happen or she will burn out.

I often stay in this chain for work, but this particular hotel wasn’t the best. Staff were nice, helpful and friendly. The corridors are very long with only one entrance, so if you’re down the end it’s a mammoth walk with the case. No lift! Not great lugging suitcases up the stairs. The wifi didn’t work at all, not even the freebie version. Everything else was standard as it’s a chain, but the absence of lift and wifi let this branch down!