Premier Inn London County Hall

Had booked the Travelodge at Convent Garden but decided to change hotels after seeing this one. Asked for a room with a view and got a partial view of the Eye - not bad! Paid L238 for Fri and Sat night with breakfast which is reasonable for London and great for this location. Previously I have stayed in Kensington nad used the Tube but from this hotel you can walk everywhere - we went from Trafalger Sq to Buck Palace, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park, Mayfair, Soho, Holborn and back to our hotel (fairly fit but possible). Breakfast worth it as there is loads of choice and saves trying to find somewhere else when you get up and are hungry.

If you are around Buck Palace it is worth going down to the barracks down the road as we passed by and saw the guards bandsmen practising (Austin Powers theme tune!!) and it was a good way to see them close up wihtout all the crowds (they stand in the court yard). Other recommendations are the Princess Louise pub in Holborn (Grade II listed victorian pub - lovely) and loitering outside the Ivy to star spot (papps are there if anyone might be about).

My wife has wanted to go to see Dirty Dancing in the West End for ages and i managed to get tickets for the show. As a treat I thought that it would be nice for us to have a couple of nights stay in London proper.(We live just outside London)

I was aware about this hotel/hotels in The County Hall and knew that its location was perfect, right in front of The London Eye. It is right next to Waterloo station and Tube station and is great for moving around the city. Also it is an nice, pleasnt 20+mins walk over the river to Covent Gardens, Houses of Parliment etc etc.

I booked the hotel through there own website(cheaper) and had no problem with the check-in. Gave them my name and card and asked the usual questions about breakfast, papers etc etc. We were staying for two nights and i asked about late check out. They offer it for an extra L25, but it is till 5pm.(Great) We did not use this as they also offer a secure room for you to leave your bags in and collect later in day if you want. They give you a tag for every item you leave. Don't lose the tags.

We stayed in a double room, No.207 and it was facing the street with big statue in the window, so no real view out. It is a pretty good size room with huge comfortable bed, two chairs & table, wardrobe, small 10 channel TV, Tea and coffee, hairdryer etc etc. The bathroom was not that big but the bath/shower was good with plenty of towls for us two. The shower head is fixed and you have to bend down a little when you are 6ft2.(only downside about room) But it is an amazingly powerfull shower and after a day or night walking/show/bars etc it is perfect to pick you right back up.

We only used the restaurant for breakfast, L7.95 and found it to be really good. It is self service, eat as much as you want. We did not try the restaurant at any other time but did look at the menu and can say that it looks good and if it is like the breakfast, then i am sure that it will be good. The bar area it nice a cosy with a mixture of leather sofas and table and chairs around and it is opened till 1am, which is great if you want a night cap. Be aware that you are not aloud to do charges to your room.

We found the staff to be on the whole great and everyone that we had dealings with were happy to help us and nothing seem to be a problem to them. The room maid on our floor was so polite and said hi everytime she saw us.

Overall this hotel is great if you want to take your loved one away and equally we saw business men/women and familys there and everyone seems quite happy with the hotel.

It is not the cheapest hotel in London but it sure has a great location and base for getting everywhere around London.

Go see Dirty Dancing,(Great). Do the London Dungeons and get the pants scared off yourself. Get taken back to your hotel in a peddle rikshaw. Do the London Eye. Try to go just before sunset and you will get amazing views of London as it get dark and the lights come on. DON'T try and go on a Saturday afternoon. We came back to get our bags on our way home at 3:30pm and there were 100's of people in line waiting to go on it.

If you want to do something different then i would advise trying the Absolut Ice Bar off Regents St. Has to be pre-booked. You get a free drink, a coat and gloves. It is a bar made of Ice and is a cool -5c inside it. You get 40mins inside and belive me it is enough time. It is really really COOL (or cold as my wife would say)

Lastly. If you have never being in London before. Bring real good walking shoes.

Stayed here with one of my groups for a second straight year as the location is great, and the food good.

However, wireless internet is very important to travelers these days and I bought a weeks worth of wi-fi from Swisscom for around $90 USD.

The signal was good in the bar, below average in the reception area, and worse than dial-up in the rooms. Waaaay worse! Other Premier Inn clients thought so too.

I complained to the hotel who put Swisscom in touch with me twice. Of course they said they had checked the system and could find nothing wrong, but having connected to wi-fi signals in numerous hotels, this was simply not true.

My second attempt at resolution brought about a message from Swisscom to call one of their managers, which I did and left a message.

He didn't call back, and consequently I'll think twice about staying at a Premier Inn where Swisscom is the wi-fi provider.

Sorry about the rant, but I stay at lots of Premier Inns and they're ALL good!