Premier Inn South Mimms/Potters Bar hotel — Hotel in Hertsmere

This is a great place to stay if you like escape rooms because everything about it seems like a problem solving exercise.

The first puzzle was finding it. It was midnight, pitch black and we couldn't work out where on earth we were supposed to be going. We drove between junction 24 and 23 twice and went around the South Mimms roundabout at least 4 times before spotting the tiny signpost that just said 'hotel' rather than Premier Inn. I couldn't work out whether that was because they wanted me to feel better about my stay (by making it feel like the Savoy was just around the corner), or worse (by not naming the hotel chain in case I got embarrassed).

The next puzzle was working out where I was supposed to leave the car. There seemed to be only about 11 spaces outside the hotel and then around a dodgy looking corner, a bigger car park with SHQ signs everywhere. There was absolutely no suggestion that this was in any way linked to the hotel that must not be named. It seemed like there was no other option so we just went for it and hoped for the best.

We then hauled all our luggage through the dingy car park and around the full perimeter of the building to find the Reception. On entering, we found puzzle number 3... paying for parking.

The machine was in the foyer and just said 'pay on arrival'. Pay for what? The room? Breakfast? When we tapped the screen, we discovered that parking is £10 a night - outrageous when the location is at a service station on the M25 and you can ONLY get there by car. It seemed like a petty way of squeezing as much out of guests as possible. The game continued though when we were asked when we were leaving. We were offered not a date, but the very ambiguous 'tomorrow'. It was 4 mins past midnight. Did it mean tomorrow later today, tomorrow from the date of booking... we went for the former and the date of departure appeared as Monday rather than Sunday as we were expecting. We clicked the back arrow to start again and then ended up being charged twice. "It's a totally separate company, I can't refund you, here's a number to ring" was the helpful response of the receptionist.

Puzzle four was finding the room which was on floor -1. Yes, that's right... minus one! "It's just down the corridor and left" said helpful receptionist without a hint of irony. 10 mins later, after a trek with our bags through the Mines of Moria, we arrived at room 127. Normally the 1 indicates the floor number, but not here... it's just part of the whole number of rooms you need to pass on your journey to bed.

We got there in the end but it didn't feel like a great start to our visit. I definitely felt like we had had to prove ourselves worthy of a stay in this motel.

The rooms are very small when there's 3 of you. No bath, just a stand up shower. It was fine. The extractor fan in the bathroom only seemed to come on if we also ran the air con, so what happened in the ensuite most definitely didn't say in the enquire!

It's not the best Premier Inn I have ever been to and still better than any other motel option I have found... which is really saying something about the other options out there.

Oh, one more thing. Is it possible that guests might want a cup of tea when they arrive AND one in the morning? Putting just one per adult guest is mean spirited. Come on Premier Inn. I am sure that you can find room in your profit margin for another couple of teabags, especially as you made us work so hard for...

Soon as we came into the reception there was a member of staff called Heena who was finished serving the customer however still having a conversation with him. My partner and I were stood behind patiently waiting. After that she rang the buzzer for two more of her colleagues to come one was a manager and the other was a young blonde lady not too sure what her name is. No one acknowledged us or greeted. Manager (Mid-late 40s male Indian looking), Heena and the blonde lady all stood there talk for a good 5-10 mins with the other customer about names and what they mean in their countries and we still were waiting. Finally Heena called us by nodding her head ! And we said can we check in as any normal people would and she starts talking to the same customer from the other side of the reception as he’s now walked off to the other side of. At this point we could already tell this place has ridiculous customer service skills, but it gets worse. We asked her about the parking here as we’ve been to other premier inns and they have discount codes sometimes however she did not know anything. We said that’s fine. Then she further one goes ahead and gives us the last room at the end of the building then down the stairs then another corridor to the end room 341 very long walk. We asked her for directions before we made this walk to the room and she told us just follow the signs while she huffed and puffed under her breath. We come back from the walk to our room and asked for a room close as my parter has an artificial leg and cannot walk for too long. At this point Heena asked the manager if there’s anything they could do however he was like ‘no you have booked this room” however that is not true as you cannot pick the room number before you get somewhere and surely you have more then one room as we got appointed room 341. My partner still tried making them understand why he needs a room closer however they did not budge and had a stinking attitude from the start. Heena at one point had said “I don’t understand” after my partner had said he has gotten a metal leg installed recently so he cannot walk to far. She still replied “I don’t get how this is our problem” and at this point I said to the manager can you not do anything about this as it’s not a fair situation. “He replied with we cannot change the room once you’ve been given it when you’ve checked in.” At this point nothing was working out and my partner and I just left to get food as we also had a long drive from London to get here. This experience was atrocious...

Here is my feedback for the Premier Inn South Mimms / Potters Bar

This is a mixture of my recent experience + some previous experiences (in the last 2 months).

• Guy at reception was wearing a t-shirt, not even the uniform • At check in - he didn't understand my premier inn business account card, I had to pay again (tried for 10 mins to argue that it should be invoiced to our company - that's the point of a business account). • I tried to book a table in the restaurant (they normally ask me at check in), but he said I have to walk to the restaurant. I did - but no one appeared for 10 mins (more on that later). • I finally managed to book a table. I tried for 8:15, but the staff member said "oh we have 9 people coming soon, so only 8:45). There were perhaps 5 people in the restaurant and the 9 people never turned up. • When I turned up at 8:25 (a few mins early)., I was shown to a table and then had to wait 10 mins for a menu, and then another 10 mins to order a drink/food. = 08:45, coincidence? • Another 15 mins later I had to chase up my drink - the lady serving said "oh I asked the bar for it". I don't care when she asked, only when I will get it. • The food was overall fine - no complaints there. • The service was SO bad, that one customer had to approach the staff at the bar/till to order more food/drink. • The lady on the next table chased her wine up twice and when it came it was white wine instead of red wine. • The rooms are super cold. Reception told me, the guest has to put the heating on when they arrive (it takes quite a long time to warm up). It's winter and 2C outside, with draughty windows - does the hotel expect the rooms to be warm? • if you get more than 10 rooms away from the central corridor, the wifi does not work. • The service at the bar is almost non-existent. I often wait for 10 mins before even seeing a human. On a positve, the premier inn beds are always comfy - by far the best part of the hotel (in fact the rooms in general are nice). • The demeanour of the staff is poor. Very demotivated, bordering on impolite. Are they paid so little that they don't care?

Overall - Premier Inn normally is quite good for a budget hotel, but this one is letting the side down dramatically. It's in an affluent part of the country - why...