Premier Inn Helston

My partner and I needed somewhere to stay as we were viewing properties the next day and we didn't fancy waking up at 4am to get there in time. The room looked very however the bed was incredibly uncomfortable and we only had 1 pillow in each. We checked in just after 11.30pm and we had just done a nearly 5hrs drive. We just wanted to sleep, we were exhausted so we didn't go and complain at reception as we needed to get to sleep.

I’ve stayed at this hotel on a number of occasions, usually visiting relatives for Christmas, it’s always been a great value, super venue, and that has not changed. But I guess the commercial ravages of 2020 have taken their toll on the hospitality businesses. I stayed on Christmas night. They were happy to check me in at 11.00am in the morning, not the usual 2pm advice. Screens at reception, sanitiser freely available, one way system in and out. No free sweets on the reception desk? Sign of the times. Let me say that the sleep experience is still the same, brilliant beds and cosy bedding, but I did notice some paring back of the experience. Only two sachets of coffee in the room, there used to be a whole handful, (although I think if you ask at reception, they will provide more) additional pillows, which I loved, have been removed, the character sofa has gone, replaced by a single chair. I only stayed one night, but I imagine if one stayed for longer, don’t expect room cleaning. I wouldn’t. The pub next door was however still open, The May Tree, Cornwall moving into Tier 2 from Boxing Day, they were over 2/3rds down on Christmas Day bookings vs LY. I was in Room 110, which is at the front of the hotel overlooking the car park. When I got back to my room mid evening on Christmas Day, there were just 9 cars in the car park, 1 was mine. How depressing. The pub was shut. No noise issues then! But, they keep great standards, still plenty of plug points, the heating system kicked in to make it cosy after about 1/2 hour, easy to operate, and the cleanliness of the room and bathroom were great. Free view telly channels all where they should be, but maybe a battery change in the remote control is about due in this room. And the free Wi-fi drops in and out regularly, it’s a low data service, don’t expect to transact anymore that a few calls and texts. I wouldn’t expect to have to upgrade to a Premium paid Wi-fi these days. Just a little more soulless than a normal stay... I am really hoping that Premier Inn as a (Whitbread?) group, who I know are looking for rent relief from the Government/property landlords, I do hope they get what they need to keep going. Breakfast was available at the May Tree, needed to be booked. £8.95 pp I think, I was heading back to my rellies, but a chocolate bar (new resolutions don’t kick in until 1.1.21) from the vending machine in reception did the job in the meantime. I now live in Cornwall, yes, great plan of mine to move house in a pandemic year, with the worst December weather ever 🤨 But I worry about all the other amazing Premier Inns in lockdown Tiers, who can’t open, or can’t make it economically viable to open. I am hoping to post another review for The Premier Inn, Helston, this time next year. Hoping that they, and all of us, have a better 2021. Sandy

A fairly new Premier Inn in an excellent location on the road outside Helston. It meant that over our 3 night break we were able easily to visit places in the area. Dare we admit we never actually went into Helston itself! We didn’t mind there being no daily housekeeping service due to COVID. It meant on one morning we could have a lie-in without fear of being disturbed. We were able to get extra tea, coffee and milk from reception. We were very impressed by food and service at the attached pub. Breakfast was enormous!

Was meant to be visiting the Helston Premier Inn 28th to 31st of October as we hadn’t seen our family for over a year. Unfortunately my niece caught Covid so cancelled the booking online having booked free canx - due to the Covid situation. Checked my emails yesterday and it turns out that it wasn’t cancelled. I cancelled the booking 3 weeks ago but they’ve said that as I didn’t get a cancellation email I didn’t do it. I did do it but there must have been an issue at their end with the website, despite their refusal to admit that there couldn’t possibly have been any issues. My work occasionally has IT issues that that need resolving so I perhaps need to get my work to invest in their systems. I met their Social Media manager at a conference last year so hopefully our paths will cross again in the future and they can give me a few pointers. He presented very well about how they were using Social to surprise and delight - not my experience today. At the end of the day it’s their word against mine and judging by the way they’ve treated customers throughout the Covid situation, based on what I’ve read in the press, I wasn’t expecting much. The hotel wasn’t full so they’ve lost nothing but I’ve lost £130. Not the end of the world but it’s the principle. We use the Premier Inn fairly often and now doubt I will again, but I’ll look for alternatives in the future due to this experience.

On calling the hotel a few days earlier to check on a few things the staff member I spoke to was rather abrubt. On arrival after the check in time I was told I was 'in luck' my room was ready! It was impossible to work without internet or phone signal which caused a lot of stress. Paid extra for the 'Ultimate' Wifi which also didn't work and was, in fact, worse than the free one. The place was packed and very busy with no way of getting in or out whilst socially distanced. After a few days this was wearing very thin and causing quite a lot of stress for us. Once in the room it was quite spacious and up to the usual Premier Inn standards of comfort. However, it has put us off completely travelling during Covid. We felt unsafe at all times out of the room. One tip I could offer to anyone wanting to log onto Wifi, if you have a laptop apparently you must have internet explorer installed as your default browser and log in through that. However it barely works when you are logged in.