Premier Inn Victoria PT 2

I'm sorry you had difficulties in the shower. Why was it impossible to shower? Was it because of the step?

Next time, I would try asking for a different room. If one room is not working for some reason, then you can always request another one. I've done that several times.

I'm glad you made it safely to the airport. Which hotel are you staying at there?

Yeah, I've found the baths to be steep-sided with nothing to hang onto, and I'm quite nimble.

The main selling point is the comfy bed, and you know what to expect. So when folks stay at a Premier Inn, it's the consistency and the removal of the unknown. But they're not exciting or different or have any wow-factor when you're on holiday.

Next time you travel, specifically ask for an ”accessible room”. If you encounter such a hazard in your future travels, share your concerns with the staff to see if they have a more suitable room.

As far as stairs from the street, look at googlemaps street view before you book.

Im curious about the accessibility issues from the street. Its not surprising that the entrance isn't step free, since it's inside a historic building. But it has an external lift that can be called just by pressing a buzzer. Was it out of service for the duration of your stay?

The wifi issues are well known. We've always upgraded to the Premier Plus and have had no issues.

As was recommended, given your issues, you would be well served in future by specifically screening future hotel stays for their accessibility, especially requiring an accessible bathroom.

Glad you enjoyed your stay!

Regarding accessible rooms, I believe that by law all hotels must have at least one accessible room, and chain hotels are likely to have more. I would definitely request this next time.

When in London, we have recently been staying at the Premier Inn Paddington Inlet. It is about a 1/4 mile walk from Paddington Station where the Heathrow Express and Elizabeth Line comes in from the airport.

This is a modern high rise hotel that has a great restaurant/pub in the basement. The rooms are clean and new. The neighborhood is more commercial and not residential so it is very safe. We most often eat at their restaurant but will pick up a quick lunch around the train station or underground station.

What we like is that there are a number of underground lines to catch there. We try to avoid the Circle Line because of the lack of escalators and elevators, but it does hit many of the popular tourist sights. And with the train station there is always a long line of taxi's to take us anywhere we want to go.

Hello everyone

I am home and trying to settle in. Will try to answer everyone individually but may take some time because there is so much to get caught up on.

CJean

There was a way to ring a buzzer and request something that would assist me in getting up and down the stairs. I never tried. It did not appeal to me.

There are ads on American TV about these lifts that help you get up and down stairs in your home. For me, it is just a turn off.

I do not feel like sitting in a bucket unless I am on an amusement ride.

I do not want to be on display.

Hi Mardee

You had to really lift your foot to step up into the shower. I mean really lift your foot or at least I did.

I hung something that I hand washed in the shower and I had to lift my knee and draw it up to get in the shower. Then to get out, I had to very carefully hold on and carefully get out of the shower holding on. It was not as simple as stepping in and out of a shower. It was a deep step.

Also I could never get the bathroom warm. The room got warm but never the bathroom. It was always really cold.

I never thought of asking for another room. I assumed this would be a problem in every standard room bathroom.

In my opinion, I do not need an accessible room. I do not need toilet bars or pull strings around the toilet.

Hello again Mardee

I did not stay in a hotel at the airport.

I stayed in the airport attempting to sleep in a seat but I was actually directed to a 24 hour coffee shop that has very comfortable couches and chairs and does not mind travelers crashing. I think it was Nero's.

Then there were people sleeping on the floor, etc etc.

I was going to sleep in a hotel but felt that I would not have enough time in the hotel. My plane left at noon and I was allowed to go through security about 5 am which I did.

And keep in mind that as an insomniac, there is no guarantee I am ever going to sleep. I could have paid for a hotel room and sat in a chair or lay on the bed all night.

One danger is that I would have fallen asleep a half hour before I needed to check out of the hotel and missed check out time as well as. my plane.

I like to check in early, at the airport, go through security and then rest and do other things after security even if I have hours to spare or kill.

But I did not sleep well and it was a long flight. I was very exhausted when I got home.

voorhies2024

Sadly (for me), taxis are not in my budget.

I liked taking buses because even thought there is traffic, it was fun and interesting to look around. Some of the regular buses also served as tourist buses. I was in no hurry.

Thank you for the info another Premier Inn.

I might try another one another time. I liked the place.

ramblin' on

Found PI Victoria very homey and cozy. I would recommend this one and I gave it a very realistic and positive review on the site as well as on TA. I do review and I am fair in my reviews

Re the bed. it was very comfortable and I had one very good night sleep while there as well as one bad (almost no sleep). I am an insomniac and my sleep is very unpredictable. The other sleeps were my typical so so but I did nap.

Nothing wrong with predictability, like an old friend who you can always count on.

I am at the airport and will be flying home tomorrow. .... I was going to sleep in a hotel but felt that I would not have enough time in the hotel. My plane left at noon and I was allowed to go through security about 5 am which I did.

Honestly, Phil, I don't get it. If your flight didn't leave till noon, you didn't have to check in at the airport until 9 am. And since you were already at the airport the day before, you would have had plenty of time.

The airport hotels at Heathrow are not that expensive; and certainly not as expensive as London. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express two years ago and only paid £98 for the room, and that included breakfast. It was a very nice hotel and I had a great sleep.

Next time, give yourself a break and permission to spend extra ££ for a hotel room on your last night.

In my opinion, I do not need an accessible room. I do not need toilet bars or pull strings around the toilet.

If you are unable to step over a large step to get in a shower or tub, you would likely benefit from an accessible room. Accessible rooms are more than that just a pull string by the toilet. Many have showers with no steps or bars to provide support when you get in and out of a tub.

I have been placed in rooms with accessible bathrooms several times even though I didn’t specifically request an accessible room. In fact, the last time that I stayed in a Premier Inn Hub, the room I was assigned had accessible features (e.g., a wet room so the shower had no step and a showerhead on a bar to adjust the height). In a perfect world, all hotel rooms would follow universal design standards with features that make them accessible to all. There is nothing wrong with an accessible room.

In my opinion, I do not need an accessible room.

Phil, everything you've posted about the hotel bathroom is why accessible rooms exist. But it seems a shame to choose to pay for a room you can only partially use.

And there was a large step into the shower that I found potentially dangerous. You had to step up high to get into shower and out.

I just did sponge baths the whole time that I was there. It was impossible to shower.

You had to really lift your foot to step up into the shower. I mean really lift your foot or at least I did.

I hung something that I hand washed in the shower and I had to lift my knee and draw it up to get in the shower. Then to get out, I had to very carefully hold on and carefully get out of the shower holding on. It was not as simple as stepping in and out of a shower. It was a deep step.

If a friend said to you that they had struggled up hotel steps, found a bed too high to easily get onto and was unable to use a shower because of a single step what would you say to them?

There is absolutely no shame in using facilities like an accessible room or a stair lift if it makes a trip easier, and more importantly, safer.

Just because an accessible room has a feature it doesn’t mean you need to use it. You don’t need handrails by the toilet or an emergency cord? Good for you, ignore them and just use the features that you do need.

There was a way to ring a buzzer and request something that would
assist me in getting up and down the stairs. I never tried. It did not
appeal to me.

If there was a lift there to help but you chose not to use it because it didn’t ‘appeal’ it’s on you not the hotel.
Pride is all very well but if it stops you doing what you want to do it’s pretty pointless.

There was a way to ring a buzzer and request something that would assist me in getting up and down the stairs. I never tried. It did not appeal to me.

There are ads on American TV about these lifts that help you get up and down stairs in your home. For me, it is just a turn off.

I do not feel like sitting in a bucket unless I am on an amusement ride.

I do not want to be on display.

What a shame that you chose pride and lack of knowledge over security when it came to the use of the entry lift. You complained of your feeling of insecurity at climbing 8 steps, even with the presence of a set of rather robust railings. Yet you refused the simple and safe alternative of the platform lift. Which, by the way, is only similar to the stair chair lift you mention, in that they both are capable of moving a person from one level to another. The platform lift, is exactly that, allowing the transfer of people standing, with a walker, or with a wheelchair. No bucket is involved, nor would a reasonable person consider it an amusement ride. As for being on display- do you really consider the provision of accessible modes of access to be some type of spectacle?. I've availed myself of their use in several diffrent public buildings in London, and applaud their addition to historic buildings in a way that increases their accessibility in a simple and sensible manner.

As for your comments about accessible rooms- if they aren't a perfect example of denial, I dont know what is. You go to great lengths to describe the difficulties you encountered in that bathroom - the same problems common to many hotels in historic buildings- and then state you dont think you need a room which would eliminate all of those problems. Wishful thinking never solved a problem. Taking a good hard look at your actual limitations, and the reasonable accommodations that can be made, could go a long way to making future travels easier and less fraught.

Why are we choosing to pick on bostonphil7 again? I agree Phil would benefit from a lift and an accessible room. But it's not my place to bully her about it. It's no one's place. Where's the kindness in the past few posts?

I agree, travelergirl. Phil often seems to be on the receiving end of comments that cross the line from helpful advice into personal criticism. We can offer suggestions without questioning her pride or judgment. A little kindness goes a long way.

Phil, I always appreciate your honest reports.

Travelergirl & Carrie - thank you for your posts. I agree with your comments.

Phil, I'm sure you'll continue to reflect on your London visit for some time. Thanks for your TR and I wish you many more travel adventures!

I’m sorry if my comments came across as harsh that was not my intention.
I am very much speaking from personal experience having to become increasingly dependent on accessibility aids. They are there to help and whilst it might be a challenge to accept that you have to use them there is a real relief when you don’t have to struggle for example getting up a flight of stairs or into a shower. There is no shame in asking for help if you need it.
‘Kindness’ is all very well but not when it encourages behaviours or attitudes that makes a person’s experience harder or puts them at risk. Pride literally does come before a fall.

Brava Emma.

Thank you everyone for all your comments. There are so many that I do not believe I can answer them all individually but I may try.

Truthfully, I do not see myself as needing an accessible room but I guess that I could try and ask for one the next time I travel.

When I think about accessible, I think about wheelchairs and walkers. I though that accessible rooms were only for those who use walkers and wheelchairs and are blind, etc.

I get around my apartment just fine. However I do live in housing built for seniors and those with disabilities.

I have walked up NINE flights of stairs when both elevators were down (but very slowly)

Maybe I am disabled but I do not see myself as disabled and I do not feel disabled even though I experience pain and my walking is sometimes challenging and limitted.

For that matter, my insomnia is also considered a disability .

I still walk a lot and I will include that in the last day of my TR.

I write my TR from my perspective. For me, if I choose not to stay at a hotel because walking up 8 steep stairs was difficult, that is my opinion. I did not just stay in my hotel room. I went out and back in every day. However I would prefer to stay at a hotel that I find easier get to the front door, (again in my own opinion). I still gave PI Victoria. a very good evaluation directly as well as on Trip Adviser.

I have read reviews about hotels on this forum and other sites where steps into the hotel was mentioned as well as steps in the hotel room.

But I will consider asking about an accessibility room when I next book a hotel.

Going to add a bad experience that I had with Norwegian Cruise Line maybe two or three cruises ago.

NCL offered Accessible Excursions for those who needed to use a cane, walker or wheelchair. They were very expensive. I signed up and paid for three.

Norwegian cancelled all three without informing me. I only found out when I was on the ship and we were sailing. I found out when I went to Shore Excursions because I had not received my coupons for the excursions.

Norwegian then informed me that my excursions had been cancelled.

They did not want to put me on any other excursions because I had identified as disabled and they had nothing more to offer disabled guests. I sometimes use a cane but I do not always need my cane. It depends on the terrain.

I had to argue with Norwegian to get them to allow me to buy other excursions and I had to pick from what they had left which included some that I had not wanted when I was first looking over excursions.

The cities included Rome, Florence and one other port which I can not recall.

This left me very uneasy about claiming disability when traveling.

Sorry but now I remember something else. You might see that I added my two previous. comments. in the early morning hours before I went back to sleep

None of my doctors have ever described me as disabled. I asked one of my PCP's some time back if I was disabled and he said something mixed like "not really". I do not remember when this was but I am going to ask my latest PCP if I am considered disabled when I see her in December / January

I am not disabled according to capmetro, my local bus company. I got the forms but if you can walk to the nearest bus stop, you are not eligible to apply for their access service.

Don’t worry about terminology. You don’t need to be called “disabled” to benefit from accessibility features. If you use an elevator rather than stairs, that is an accessibility feature.

It would be nice if every hotel and transportation mode were fully accessible so that no one ever needed to ask for accommodation. In the future, if you encounter a hotel room that is unsafe or unusable for your needs, you should always ask if there is a room that will meet your needs.

When I injured my knee last year, it was a struggle and a danger to step into a bathtub. If I had encountered a hotel room with a tub or a high ledge to get into a shower, I would have asked if they had a room that accommodated me.

Laura

Thank you.

I do not travel very much so I do not always know what I should do or not do. It seems like I learn from my mistakes.

And I usually do not stay in the same hotel six nights. Usually I take one cruise a year staying in a hotel maybe three nights pre cruise.

And I just live with whatever i have been given as a hotel room. I never think of complaining or asking for anything different.

And I just live with whatever i have been given as a hotel room. I never think of complaining or asking for anything different.

I get it. I don’t like to complain either. It can be hard to advocate for yourself but I encourage you to speak up, especially when your safety is at risk.

One thing I have learned from traveling a lot for business is that if you ask politely, you may get something better. The worst that can happen is that they don’t have something that works better. Lots of people ask for different rooms for trivial reasons.

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, ask. You don’t have to ask for an accessible room. For example, you could say, “The room I am in has a high step into the shower which is very difficult for me. Do you have another room that might be more suitable?

Thank you Laura

Your post was very useful and helpful especially the last paragraph on how to handle a situation such as a difficult step into the shower.