You know what to expect with Premier Inn as their standards are consistently high. This one is no exception. It is a new building and ideally situated for exploring Durham as it is between the Market Place and the river, next to the Walkergate car park. This is a public car park but the Premier Inn have negotiated a slight reduction on the overnight rate for guests. Be warned, there are no directions from the car park to the Premier Inn, so on a wet evening, it was a stressful introduction trying to find our way out.
We were given the usual warm welcome at reception – Premier Inn staff are good – and given a room on the third floor. Fortunately there are two lifts. It was a large room with plenty of space with views across the river to the Passport and Immigration Centre and Wharton Park above the station. Although there is currently a building site just across the road from the Premier Inn, there was no noise from this when the windows were closed.
A kettle is provided with the usual tea bags and sachets of coffee. We had a king size bed with bedside tables. There was a desk and chair for working with a wide screen TV above. There was a single easy chair. The other person had to sit on the bed. There was plenty of hanging and shelf space. A bonus was the three hooks beside the door for coats. One fault was there was no rack to keep a suitcase off the floor.
The bathroom was a good size too with a decent size bath. The over the bath shower was good with a good jet of water. Towels however did let them down as they were often a bit thin. They dried well, but soon got wet.
The Premier Inn advertises 30minutes free wifi each 24 hours. We made the mistake of not logging out after a quick usage. Even though we quit firefox, we found we had still used up our free allowance. A mistake we did not repeat.
There is a small bar and restaurant on the ground floor. Breakfasts were good with a serve yourself hot breakfast with plenty of choice. The evening meal menu was a bit restricted with steaks, mixed grill, chicken, pizzas and beefburgers. They do a meal deal at £22.99 for an evening meal and full breakfast.
The Premier Inn is excellent for visiting Durham as the historic centre is only a few minutes walk. It is however, more expensive that the Premier Inns at Durham East and Durham North. Depending on when you book it can be over £100 per night. The saver rate is not much cheaper than the flexible rate.
