Although named Newcastle South, this Premier Inn is across the River Tyne (south of Newcastle) in Lobley Hill, Gateshead. It is well situated for those visiting Tyneside and Wearside. It is not far from Gateshead Metro Centre – a very large shopping and entertainment complex.
There is a free car park (belonging to Premier Inn, immediately outside the hotel. As a blue badge holder I was able to park the car in a dedicated blue badge parking bay located just outside the well signposted Reception.
We arrived just after 2pm – the designated check in time for Premier Inn. We had been travelling in heavy traffic on a very warm and very humid day so we were pleased to get inside!. The Reception area was clean and tidy with a rack of neatly stacked local information leaflets.
The Receptionist greeted us, she was pleasant and friendly. She said our room was ready for us, handed us the key and explained about the Good night's Sleep guarantee that Premier Inn have. She also provided details on the hotel, the restaurant and meal times.
This Premier Inn is a small hotel with rooms on the ground floor and first floor. There is no lift, so wheelchair users would need to ensure they are allocated a ground floor room. The stairs to the first floor are not particularly steep with about 7 steps to the landing then another 7steps to the first floor.
Our room was in what they designated a quiet area which I was pleased about. Staff had drawn the curtains closed to keep out the sun (as it was such a hot day) so the room was cooler than outside which we appreciated. There was a large fan in the room (no air conditioning) .
Our bedroom and bathroom was clean and tidy. The Bathroom had both a shower and a good sized bath (The fixed shower being above the bath). Toiletry dispensers were on the wall. There was a good supply of fluffy towels. Staff had provided us with a good quality cotton sheet for us to use instead of the duvet which was on the bed (as the weather was so humid). There was a good supply of pillows some soft some firm support.
There is a flaming grill restaurant attached to this Premier Inn. There is access to it through an inside walkway from the hotel. We were visiting relatives for an evening meal (we only stayed at this hotel for one night) so did not eat an evening meal at the hotel but we did go for breakfast the following morning.
Breakfast was between 6.30am and 9.30 am. We arrived about 9.15/not long before breakfast was ending.
Premier Inn have a system where you can have continental breakfast for around £6.25 or a full breakfast (Continental plus a cooked breakfast) for around £8.75, both on an eat as much as you want basis. We both selected the full breakfast.
Whereas some Premier Inn's have a serve yourself facility for the cooked breakfast this one cooks breakfasts individually to order. We wanted mushrooms cooked in water (rather then the pan fried version on the menu), and eggs poached, and the remainder of the order grilled, Despite the fact it was almost time for the chef to finish we were not hurried, nothing was too much trouble.
Whilst waiting for the cooked breakfast to arrive, we helped ourselves to cereal and fruit from the serve yourself continental section. Everything on this section was still stocked, despite it being nearly the end of breakfast time. So all in all we were pleased with our breakfast experience.
There is a busy road outside this hotel. We normally live in a rural, very quiet area so are not used to noise. We were aware of traffic noise (we left our window open due to the warm weather) but the noise was not sufficient to disturb us, it was not over noisy.
Check out time is 12 oclock, we checked out soon after breakfast. Check out went smoothly.
We had booked this room in advance online and so had got it at the reduced rate of £39. – this rate meant we would get no refunds if we cancelled – a flexibile rate was available which cost more and that would have allowed cancellation with full refund up to 1pm on the day of arrival). We thought for the amount we had paid we got very good value for money. This hotel offers good, clean, comfortable, budget accommodation with good customer service and we would return to this hotel.
