Premier Inn Saffron Walden hotel

Stayed with my husband for an overnight stay and took advantage of the £26 meal deal offer, 2 course evening meal with a drink and unlimited buffet break. Wow what good value for money. Great selection and good food choices. Giovanna served us our evening meal she was a delight, funny, attentive and deserves a pay rise for sure. Even though she was busy she may sure everyone was happy and not kept waiting and did everything with a smile. I always love a premier inn, however I felt a little let down by this one, the room felt like they were not as clean as the ones I had previously stayed in. Stairwells needed hoovering. Bathroom had timescale. Just felt tired and not as inviting. Receptionist needs some customer service training. I felt her attitude to some people quite rude. Overall stay average

Great place to stay. Usual great quality You'd expect from this Chain. They were very short staffed, but the staff worked really hard mucking in and doing all the jobs they could. Behind the bar, Serving, front of house and clearing away. Definitely recommend

The hotel is fairly typical for a Premier Inn, perhaps feeling slightly tired even though the hotel was only built a few years ago. Bed was comfortable, shower/WC fine. There are no views from the hotel as it is on a small commercial site. Plenty of parking. Around 20-30 minutes to walk into town. The restaurant is very poor however. The Beefeater (also owned by Whitbread) closed in July 2024. The restaurant now only serves people staying at the hotel. Many food items on the menu are unavailable even early in the evening. They list 8 bottled beers on the menu but only had Heineken the night we were there. There was only one person working in the kitchen. He looked to be quite efficient, but simply couldn't keep up with the demand. The "waitresses" were also running the front desk. That leads to neither task being done properly. The low levels of stock and staff makes me wonder if the restaurant is being deliberately run down. If so, it is a shame. With no restaurant the hotel becomes a lot less appealing. There is a notice of a planning application to change the internal layout of the hotel. Perhaps that is related to removing the restaurant or moving to breakfast service only? Aldi is nearby for buying snacks and salads, and Costa does breakfast items but it isn't the same as having a restaurant in the hotel. The hotel staff were doing their best, but looked rather "frazzled". There was a fire alarm at 1:30 am. The fire service took 20 minutes to attend (which isn't the hotel's fault of course). No communication to everyone stood outside during the wait, although, as we walked back through the doors there was an apology for "any inconvenience".