I have stayed and eaten at various Premier Inn hotels across the UK. Sometimes the experience is quite good, sometimes it leaves a lot to be desired. So now when I am travelling and staying at a hotel, I prefer not to book a Premier Inn. Sometimes though I am only staying a night, or I can’t find something suitable (and in budget), so I end up at a Premier Inn. Having stayed two nights at the excellent Georgian Townhouse in Norwich, the next night I was at the Premier Inn in Ipswich. There was a problem with my booking, but it was sorted in the end. It’s this kind of thing that is rather stressful when travelling, so much so that I would rather stay in a different hotel than a Premier Inn.
I had booked the Meal Deal which was £24.99, which is still good value. I did wonder what the meal would be like.
Back in July 2012 I did the Meal Deal, which was £22, at a Premier Inn in Cambridge. I had a prawn cocktail, a rump steak, and a crumble. It was a rather uninspiring meal, not awful (well the crumble was), but not amazingly delicious.
In April 2019 we were staying at the Premier Inn in Brentford, and were very disappointed with the food, as they had served a steak which was off.
In September 2021 we were at the Premier Inn in Edinburgh, the food was okay, but it just took so long to get to the table.
So, to be honest I didn’t have high expectations about the Premier Inn in Ipswich. I went down for dinner; I had booked a table. I chose a table and looked over the menu. I was informed that there were quite a few things unavailable on the menu. There was no steak, no gammon, and no mixed grill. I did quite fancy the mixed grill.
In the end I had Peri-Peri chicken wings for my starter which were a bit hot (as in spice).
These were freshly cooked, tender, and had an interesting flavour.
I then had The House Stack Burger. Two 4oz British and Irish beef burgers, Cheddar cheese, cos lettuce, red onions, tomatoes and burger sauce. Served in a brioche-style bun with skin-on chips and house slaw.
It did look a little insipid. The burger was rather flavourless and bland. They had no coleslaw, but they did make a little side salad for me instead when I asked about the slaw. The only issue was the cold plate, as a result some chips were hot, others were cold.
I was fancying something sweet, so I had the Triple Chocolate Brownie, made with white, milk and Belgian dark chocolate chunks. Drizzled in chocolate sauce and served with vanilla ice cream.
This wasn’t very inspiring, but it did taste of chocolate, and the cold ice cream enhanced the experience.
The meal reminded me why I don’t usually book a Premier Inn when travelling away.