Premier Inn London Hendon (The Hyde) hotel — Hotel in London

I stayed in this hotel for one night when I went down to a fencing competition in February, and the experience was disappointing. The bed was very comfortable, and I had a good night sleep, but everything else fell short of my expectations. In the room itself, the sinkhole was rusty and it should have been replaced a long time ago. And that is only the start of the issues. At dinner time, the service was non-existent. One of the two waitresses was disinterested, incompetent and rude. There were very few tables occupied, however, she was not alert at all. I ended up having to miss out on my dessert at the end as it was getting very late (I needed a good night sleep for the competition), and she was not coming to our table. We had to wait at least 20 minutes for her to arrive and clean up our plates. She was not at all friendly or apologetic. She looked as if she could not be bothered to serve anyone. That is not even the worst of it. At the start of our meal, her colleague came and took our order, and I ordered a peppercorn sauce with my steak, which her colleague put into the order. Unfortunately, the peppercorn sauce did not arrive, so I tried to call the waitress (who did not come for at least 10 minutes as she was talking continuously to another couple who were leaving), and when she finally did come, and I told her about the problem, she claimed that the peppercorn sauce had not been on the order. I thought that her colleague had made a mistake, and I decided to leave it. However, when I went up to her colleague at the end to pay for the bill, she claimed that the sauce was in fact on the order, and I had to explain everything to have it struck off the order (as I never received it). So, the waitress had lied about the order, rather than admitting the mistake that had been made by her and the chefs, and as a result, I had nearly ended up paying for something that I did not even end up receiving and her colleague nearly took the blame. I was so shocked by this. And I thought the problems would end there but they did not. The next morning, when I went down for breakfast, the toaster by the bread section was not working. The refrigerator was broken down too and there were pots of yoghurt in it that had probably been there all night. The yoghurt was room temperature and unsafe to consume. This presented a major health hazard. Making an error with an order or being lazy and slow is one thing, but lying about an order or serving yoghurt that has not been refrigerated is off limits and unacceptable. I have never experienced anything like this and I will not be returning to this...

Check-in, having arrived to be third in the queue, took 30+ minutes. One self check-in terminal was already DOA, the other followed soon after (imagine, if you will, an ambulance waiting outside a hospital), the cause apparently being that "the Internet is down in this area". This area is specifically the spots either side of the check-in desk which itself was working (almost) fine, at least from a technological point of view. PBCAK.

Fortunately this neighbourhood outage didn't spread to their WiFi access points which worked just fine. Staff training may benefit from compulsory viewing of The I.T. Crowd with particular emphasis on the recurring "turn it off and on again" gag, reference to a technique so well known that has been found to be employed among hitherto undiscovered tribes in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest.

The lift buttons bear no relation to the floor you'll end up on unless you're fully conversant with the rules of Numberwang. If you can crack the code, a job in the security services awaits you. The right combination takes the lift directly to GCHQ. For the few of us without the requisite PHD in quantum mathematics, secure access via the stairwell doors to floor 2 has been disabled to save you the trouble of using your key card.

Clean room but the air con / heating unit didn't seem to be linked to the controls in anyway. At least, not the controls in my room. It only ran cold for two minutes at a time of its own choosing, then turned itself off, then started again of its own accord at random but frequent regardless of being turned on or off. The good news is that climate change, in spite of our imminent demise as a species, makes this tolerable. In December. In the UK.

The desire for a restorative fry up the next morning was scuppered by sausages (I think) that appeared to be something that belonged to an ex-kangaroo and was subsequently eaten by an ex-minister in the jungle (the franks, not the beans). A kangaroo that has sat in the bath too long. You know how your fingertips go all wrinkly? That, but over the entire finger. Soaking a packet of Frazzles in grease and sticking them under a hot lamp is never going to fool me into calling it bacon, but the inventiveness is to be admired.

Note: It is a Good Night Guarantee, not a Good Stay Gurantee.

Note 2: If you wish to invoke the Good Night Guarantee while still on site (advisable given the volatile nature of local Internet provision), you can do so by addressing your concerns with morning receptionist, but please respect the admirable Inclusivity & Diversity policy. The receptionist is mute....

The hotel is located on the first 5 or 6 floors of Hyde house which is basically an office block. This is no problem as you don't interfere with the upstairs offices and they have a separate door and parking.

The check in process was reasonable simple. The only way they could check you in is via self serve machines, however there are two machines and a member of staff on hand to help you if you get stuck. It was fairly faultless, the machines just seem to be slow and leave you a bit frustrated waiting for them to think about what you just asked them. We were given rooms on the first floor just past the restaurant, and they were very nice. Not too small, but at the same time they were sized economically.

You get a double bed, a desk and chair as well as a lounge chair. Nothing special, and all in premier inn purple. The bed is premier inn's new investment across some new hotels. It is very comfortable and really helps you sleep and is a great improvement over the old beds and you can notice the difference. The rooms also get a nice big 32-40 inch tv with the standard freeview channels and a nice surprise over the usual choice for a 19 inch tv usually out fitting a premier inn. The room I stayed in had a walk in shower and was not fitted with a bath, however the shower cubicle was almost the same size as a regular bath so you don't feel claustrophobic having a shower in the morning.

The onsite restaurant is so so. The food is good, and cooked well but there is a limited choice; and upon entering we were told everything is either oven cooked, grilled or microwaved as they have a small kitchen with no fryer. Not something that you want to hear, but the food was acceptable. I have had better, but worse as well. The staff were incredibly friendly and cheerful, although me and my college found them too keen to take away empties or finished plates from the table whilst others are still eating, and slow to provide a menu or take an order for food! They were still very inviting and polite!

Would I stay again? It is not somewhere I would come to stay for a holiday as the nearest tube is a fair walk, and there is nothing in the surrounding area exciting, but for our business the location is ideal, so I will...