Budget hotels discussion

[signed]

Yes I got mixed up, Formuala1 / F1 is/was the Accor brand.

Currently is. And the new refurbed with ensuite bathroom are really worth the price, it's extremely basic and cramped but it really does the job

 

[cactustwirly]

Motel One is a good budget option in Edinburgh, there are two of them and I have stayed in both. The rooms are bigger than Hub but smaller than PI and the breakfast continental - basically just a copy of their hotels in Germany (even to the extent of there being a couple of German type sockets in the rooms). I quite like them. I've also stayed in the Manchester one which has a nice view over Piccadilly station!

Found them to be quite an expensive option if I'm honest

Premier Inn are expensive these days.
I stayed in a Mercure that was cheaper than a Premier Inn and Motel One in Germany

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How are Holiday Inn these days?

I don't mean Holiday Inn Express, but regular Holiday Inn.

I'm between a Holiday Inn and a Novotel for a 3-6 months client. The Holiday Inn comes in £20 cheaper but I realised it's years since I stayed in a regular Holiday Inn rather than a Holiday Inn Express. I mainly want a comfy bed, a desk as I'll need to work, and ideally a nice continental breakfast (I'm not one for big fry-up breakfasts).

There is a proper budget option which is either £25/night private single room with shared bathroom, or £36/night double room en-suite, but the desk looks tiny and the chair uncomfortable. If there was a late-opening cafe, or pub nearby, I could potentially work there, but.. there's not! There's not even any decent AirBnb options (and I don't particularly like supporting them).

Depends on the hotel, pretty decent I'd have thought.

Both are solid options.

 

[Belperpete]

Premier Inn are expensive these days.
I stayed in a Mercure that was cheaper than a Premier Inn and Motel One in Germany

Agreed about PI, particularly as many of their hotels are in dire need of refurbishment. I stayed in one last year that was only marginally more expensive than the nearby TL - thought I'd bagged myself a bit of luxury, but ended up majorly regretting it. And PI charge nearly 50% more than TL for a cooked breakfast.

Mercure in the UK tend to be in the higher price bracket, but I have noticed that elsewhere in Europe they can be much more reasonably priced. Last time I was in Budapest, I stayed in one at very reasonable rates.

 

[route101]

Holiday Inn express, similar to Premier Inn but with a breakfast. Not sure what the difference is to a regular Holiday Inn.

Hampton by Hilton I would say in similar category.

Premier Inns in Germany are decently priced.

 

[Andyh82]

And PI charge nearly 50% more than TL for a cooked breakfast.

Travelodge breakfast is £9.99, Premier Inn is £10.99?

 

[Kite159]

Small but well designed rooms. No kettle if I recall. Most importantly some rooms don't have windows.

Sometimes (especially at winter time) when all you are doing with the hotel room is using it as somewhere to crash, arriving once the sun goes down and departing before the sun rises, not having a window isn't a massive issue.

Besides a windowless room has one less possible source of unwanted light from a poorly fitted curtain, and one less possible source of outside noise depending on the location.

 

[jon81uk]

Travelodge breakfast is £9.99, Premier Inn is £10.99?

Depends on the location of the hotel, Premier Inn can be up to £13.99 for cooked breakfast.

 

[Belperpete]

Depends on the location of the hotel, Premier Inn can be up to £13.99 for cooked breakfast.

Fairly sure I got ripped off £14.99 at the last PI that I stayed in. Whereas TL seem to have a set price for their breakfasts at all their hotels, with PI they have a rather vague "from £10.99". Which probably means that they have one hotel somewhere that charges £10.99, which allows them to advertise that rate, while the rest charge more. It has certainly been years since I last got a full cooked breakfast for £10.99 at a PI.

 

[Andyh82]

Fairly sure I got ripped off £14.99 at the last PI that I stayed in. Whereas TL seem to have a set price for their breakfasts at all their hotels, with PI they have a rather vague "from £10.99". Which probably means that they have one hotel somewhere that charges £10.99, which allows them to advertise that rate, while the rest charge more. It has certainly been years since I last got a full cooked breakfast for £10.99 at a PI.

I don’t think that is the case at all. I’ve stayed in/will be staying in Premier Inn’s in 4 different locations this year and the breakfast is/was £10.99 in all cases.

I imagine the ‘from’ is either, because they charge more in London, or because at some sites a third party pub serves breakfast who also take walk in diners, so they set the price.

In the case of Travelodge I believe they either offer their own breakfast or at old fashioned roadside ones, no cooked breakfast at all

 

[styles]

I don’t think that is the case at all. I’ve stayed in/will be staying in Premier Inn’s in 4 different locations this year and the breakfast is/was £10.99 in all cases.

I imagine the ‘from’ is either, because they charge more in London, or because at some sites a third party pub serves breakfast who also take walk in diners, so they set the price.

In the case of Travelodge I believe they either offer their own breakfast or at old fashioned roadside ones, no cooked breakfast at all

It says on their website from £10.99*.

The * then says that sometimes it is £11.99 or £13.99.

 

[cactustwirly]

Depends on the location of the hotel, Premier Inn can be up to £13.99 for cooked breakfast.

That's a hell of a lot for a cooked breakfast

 

[Iskra]

That's a hell of a lot for a cooked breakfast

Not really, when it’s all you can eat and includes drinks.

 

[cactustwirly]

Not really, when it’s all you can eat and includes drinks.

That's the same as a cooked breakfast and a coffee from a artisan brunch place.

 

[Iskra]

That's the same as a cooked breakfast and a coffee from a artisan brunch place.

Not round here it’s not! And Sheffield is generally at the more affordable end of the scale.

I just checked a trendy place at Kelham Island and a Full English is £13.50 there, and that’s without a drink and you can’t go back for more or have pastries included.

 

[cactustwirly]

Not round here it’s not! And Sheffield is generally at the more affordable end of the scale.

I just checked a trendy place at Kelham Island and a Full English is £13.50 there, and that’s without a drink and you can’t go back for more or have pastries included.

Well it's about the same

Do you need pastries with a full English?

 

[Iskra]

Well it's about the same

Do you need pastries with a full English?

It’s not the same because unlimited coffee, orange juice and more is included.

Sometimes. Filling up at breakfast can save you money and inconvenience later in the day.

 

[styles]

Well it's about the same

Do you need pastries with a full English?

I mean arguably nobody needs a full English either, but they may want it. 1 of each cooked breakfast item, black coffee, slice of toast and sunflower spread, and 1 portion of orange juice comes to 1035kcal.

But the question is more like.. do people want it? Yep.

I also think people who stay in hotels more sparingly often go all out on the buffet breakfast. I had a job for 1 year which involved a ton of travel, and I really just got sick of full cooked breakfasts, so the point I'm not sure I could finish one now. Now a really don't care much if a hotel has breakfast included provided there's a decent cafe or bakery nearby.

 

[jon81uk]

That's a hell of a lot for a cooked breakfast

Not really in London when it comes with unlimited coffee and juice as well. At a Wetherspoons in central London a large breakfast and unlimited coffee would be £9.70. So have some juice and fruit as well and it doesn’t seem a bad deal to get unlimited for £13.99.

 

[johntea]

For a budget stay idea in London I've just come across this...the Japanese idea of capsules

Seems like a very marmite idea but I might be tempted to give it a go, £40 - £50 in Piccadilly Circus

Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly | Affordable 1,000 Pods

Discover your private pod at Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly Circus. Central London sleep pods designed for calm, restful city stays.

www.zedwellhotels.com

 

[bspahh]

For a budget stay idea in London I've just come across this...the Japanese idea of capsules

Seems like a very marmite idea but I might be tempted to give it a go, £40 - £50 in Piccadilly Circus

Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly | Affordable 1,000 Pods

Discover your private pod at Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly Circus. Central London sleep pods designed for calm, restful city stays.

www.zedwellhotels.com

The Zedwell Capsule Hotel is owned by Criterion Capital which is run by Asif Aziz whose Wikipedia page says

The company again came under discussion in early 2025 after the Prince Charles Cinema stated that their landlord Zedwell LSQ Ltd (owned by Criterion Capital) were demanding both a significant raise in rent and a 6-month break clause in the new lease.[25] A petition entitled "Save The Prince Charles Cinema" was set up by the cinema in response. The petition gathered 115,000 signatures in its first two days.[26]

In 2025, reports emerged highlighting widespread maintenance issues and vermin infestations in properties managed under Asif Aziz's "Dstrkt" housing brand, despite rapidly rising rents.

 

[takno]

For a budget stay idea in London I've just come across this...the Japanese idea of capsules

Seems like a very marmite idea but I might be tempted to give it a go, £40 - £50 in Piccadilly Circus

Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly | Affordable 1,000 Pods

Discover your private pod at Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly Circus. Central London sleep pods designed for calm, restful city stays.

www.zedwellhotels.com

They can brand it "capsules", but it's clearly just a hostel with fancier partitions. The problem is that you get no sound insulation, but the illusion of privacy means that people get up to stuff within easy hearing range. Judging from reviews of similar places the capsules also have quite bad problems with ventilation and getting overheated.

 

[route101]

I mean arguably nobody needs a full English either, but they may want it. 1 of each cooked breakfast item, black coffee, slice of toast and sunflower spread, and 1 portion of orange juice comes to 1035kcal.

But the question is more like.. do people want it? Yep.

I also think people who stay in hotels more sparingly often go all out on the buffet breakfast. I had a job for 1 year which involved a ton of travel, and I really just got sick of full cooked breakfasts, so the point I'm not sure I could finish one now. Now a really don't care much if a hotel has breakfast included provided there's a decent cafe or bakery nearby.

Yes, I stayed in Premier Inns, Holiday Inn Express and Travelodges for work. I remember getting sick of the cooked breakfasts, the sausages would bung you up. Usually prefer the Continental option now.

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£8 Breakfast at Premier Inn was pretty good. Still had the sausages, bacon and Scrambled egg. Only item I would usually get at normal full Breakfast at Premier Inn and not offered is the Black Pudding.

Was even good for Simon Rimmer who was staying and tried the breakfast.

 

[theblackwatch]

It's interesting that opinions on them are so polarised. I thought they were fine, but the only thing I really didn't like was the random allocation of window/windowless rooms. It seems obvious to me that a choice should be offered at booking, and the Premier Inn website is capable of doing this because you can pay extra for sea views and the likes at some hotels.

On the couple of occasions I've used them, there has been a choice of window or windowless rooms, normally a few quid different in price - and I've just done a quick check by starting a random booking at Milton Keynes and this still appears to be the case.

 

[Lewisham2221]

It's interesting that opinions on them are so polarised. I thought they were fine, but the only thing I really didn't like was the random allocation of window/windowless rooms. It seems obvious to me that a choice should be offered at booking, and the Premier Inn website is capable of doing this because you can pay extra for sea views and the likes at some hotels.

They do offer the choice of window/windowless when booking though (at least they do when booking through their own website).

I've never had a problem with easyHotels myself. They're small and basic, but they make that pretty clear from the outset. I've always found them to have a good standard of cleanliness and maintenance, which is the key thing for me, but then I only tend to use them for somewhere to sleep and shower.

 

[Bletchleyite]

On the couple of occasions I've used them, there has been a choice of window or windowless rooms, normally a few quid different in price - and I've just done a quick check by starting a random booking at Milton Keynes and this still appears to be the case.

There isn't a PI Hub in MK. Do you mean easyHotel?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2025 ==

They do offer the choice of window/windowless when booking though (at least they do when booking through their own website).

easyHotel might but PI Hub doesn't.

 

[theblackwatch]

There isn't a PI Hub in MK. Do you mean easyHotel?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2025 ==



easyHotel might but PI Hub doesn't.

Yes, EasyHotel - given you replied to a poster who had said they had tried the EasyHotel at Edinburgh, I didn't realise you were on about Premier Inn Hub!

 

[Kite159]

Travelodge seem to be pushing the 'select your own room' add on, for a booking for next Sunday in Cardiff I've received 3 emails advertising the benefits of paying an extra fee to 'secure a room away from the lifts' etc.

 

[TheTallOne]

Travelodge seem to be pushing the 'select your own room' add on, for a booking for next Sunday in Cardiff I've received 3 emails advertising the benefits of paying an extra fee to 'secure a room away from the lifts' etc.

If probably fall for that psychology.

I've stayed in hotels where my room was right next to the lift and you could hear it.

I think my favourite room would be top floor away from the lift. Hopefully get nice views, plus up the step count (as well as being away from lift/corridor noises).

Last hotel I visited I could feel the wall move as the person in the next room sat up in their bed.

 

[Belperpete]

I think my favourite room would be top floor away from the lift. Hopefully get nice views, plus up the step count (as well as being away from lift/corridor noises).

I generally prefer a high floor, but the problem with the top floor is that air con units and the like are often mounted on the roof, and can be very noisy. In the TL near New Street station, I had to ask to be moved down as it was unbearably noisy even during the daytime.

Also water pressure goes down the higher you get, which can mean very little shower pressure.

 

[nlogax]

22nd floor at the Premier Inn Westferry last night. Superior room with city view under £120. The aircon worked and the water pressure was tip-top. It's probably my favourite PI and right next to the DLR.