KK
Katherine K
May 30, 2026
I have stayed in a lot of Premier Inns over the years and have always been one of those people who defends them when others turn their noses up. Clean rooms, comfortable beds, reasonable prices. Sameness.
Bristol South managed to destroy that expectation and brand trust in under half an hour.
We arrived just before 11pm after more than 16 hours of travelling, exhausted and looking forward to sleep. Instead, we walked into a room that felt neglected to the point of being unusable, and left the hotel 30 minutes later.
Every surface was coated in dust. Not the sort of dust that gathers over a day or two. Thick dust on the walls, carpets, lamps... Within minutes both of us were coughing, sneezing and itching.
Then there was the smell.
I have never experienced anything quite like it in a hotel. Stale sweat, the pungent odour of unwashed feet, a heavy lingering stink of too many human bodies in a room that hadnāt been properly aired or cleaned for probably years (decades?). It hung in the room and seemed to get into your clothes. We felt physically revolted. We were still talking about it and heaving with disgust at the thought of it hours later.
The room was extremely hot, no air con, and the window opened barely an inch and the frame was coated in mould. The curtains came off when we opened them. The light card failed repeatedly, leaving us standing in darkness. Someone elseās used towel was hanging in the bathroom. There were no clean towels. The beds smelled unclean. The corridor outside was overflowing with bags of hotel laundry.
The young man on reception did try to help and checked whether there was a room available in the newer building next door, but it was fully booked. Had we known there was any chance of being allocated a room in this condition, in what can only be described as some sort of overflow outhouse, we would never have booked.
The thing that says most about this experience is that at almost midnight, after travelling since 8am across Europe by bus, train and plane, we then got back in the car and drove 2.5 hours home to Cornwall, arriving at 2.30am. We decided that driving through the night while exhausted was preferable to spending another minute in that room.
At one point on the journey home we found ourselves discussing whether a police cell might actually have been cleaner. Iām still not entirely convinced the answer is no.
Avoid.