Premier Inn switch?

There are lots of easy breakfast options near the PI Paddington Station, including a Leon, a Gail’s, Starbuck’s, Caffè Nero, Harrison’s Coffee, Mille Patisserie, Mimo’s Cafe (which does a full English) and even a Sainsbury’s local, which will at least have a coffee machine and pastries. You should not need more than 3 minutes to walk to any of those - it may even be quicker than waiting for a lift and then queueing with other guests at the hotel! :-)

Not sure if that helps. Just pointing out that there are a LOT of quick/tasty options nearby.

Hi Volva, thanks for those suggestions. The one thing I am a bit concerned about with the restaurant closure is that they could be doing some sort of construction/ expansion (which may be noisy?) to the kitchen to make it more efficient and/or increase capacity. I read some reviews from a few guests who were not totally happy with the lack of service at breakfast in particular. Nothing was said specifically in the email, but it’s kind of unusual bc this hotel just opened in August.

Ugh… well, reviews on TripAdvisor show the PI Paddington Basin location having very recent restaurant closure issues as well. Didn’t know this was a thing with them. Maybe it’s staffing needs?

I’m a bit unsettled by a review on TripAdvisor from last week for the Paddington Station location mentioning a siting of a rat in the bar and kitchen area- and the subsequent closure of the bar-but overall the other reviews of this new PI hotel seem good. Daughter thinks it’s no biggie to get breakfast out each am, so maybe just stick with it. (Plus Stuart already scoped it out for us :) so there’s that!)

I don’t think the Paddington Basin location will be as convenient. The new hotel is right next to the Elizabeth Line. I have stayed at Paddington Basin. It’s a new hotel as well and all in good order. The location is a development of new flats and offices so a bit soulless but close to the canal which is pleasant. I did not like walking back there at night from Edgware Road Tube. The walk from Paddington felt fine.

The one thing I am a bit concerned about with the restaurant closure is that they could be doing some sort of construction/ expansion (which may be noisy?) to the kitchen to make it more efficient and/or increase capacity.

Isn’t this a new PI that just opened? I suspect it is more likely that they discovered the kitchen isn’t quite ready for operations.

I almost never pay for hotel breakfasts because I find them usually very mediocre with bad coffee. I know some people prefer the convenience of eating in the hotel but you can find better options nearby.

Ok, decided just to not worry about the breakfast issue and stay at the paddington station location. It’ll be fun checking out a few local places- (thanks Volva for your suggestions- especially Mimo’s Cafe) in the mornings.

The countdown has begun and we’re so excited!

There’s a very nice coffee shop literally next door to the Paddington Station PI, and across the road just outside the station is a new Gail’s. Also upstairs within the area of Paddington station called The Lawn is quite a nice cafe that does things like overnight oats and various hot breakfast rolls. Also in Paddington Station itself is a Leon and two Prets.

The WiFi wasn’t working for two whole days when I stayed at the neighbouring Hub recently, but I assume they’ve fixed that.

Personally I’d go with Shelia’s Cafe for breakfast. On Craven Terrace so probably a 10-15 minute walk.

I think that's the right choice to stay where booked, given so many breakfast options close by. A good opportunity to try some of the local places out.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Sainsbury's on the station had hot take out breakfast rolls and pasties. Most big station branches do. Get one of those, a juice and a yoghurt on the £3.70 meal deal (maybe £3.80 now) and that's a good quick breakfast as well.
I often do that at Glasgow Central, Newcastle or London Victoria, to name but three.
They may well have porridge pots as well, which you just add hot water to.

Sounds like we have a RS forum suggested breakfast place within a short walk for almost all of our days. Thanks to everyone for the reassurance and advice! An added plus- It will give me more content for my trip report! Lol

My favourite Youtube London walking guy is John Rogers. He recently released a video about Paddington. I learned quite a bit from it. I didn't know about Church Street Market. It might be worth seeing if you're in the neighbourhood on the weekend and you're interested in browsing antiques.

https://youtu.be/LJ9JDrCxhBQ?si=qtMjhemu39H4tmg7

https://www.thisispaddington.com/article/church-street-market

We stayed at the new PI Paddington from Aug 24-31st...the premier plus room was wonderful. Coffee & tea , water with a mini refg.
The breakfast was wonderful, every morning & also ate dinner there once.
I am shocked about the restaurant being closed.
We loved the convenience of everything around that area, especially taking the Heathrow Express from & then to LHR.
The hotel room was so very comfy & the staff was friendly & helpful.
As has been stated there are so many places to eat in the area.

Glad to hear you had a good experience with the Premier Inn huggibear. I don’t know why the restaurant is closed during our stay; the email did not specify. But, after the initial “oh, now what?” response bc the notification was a surprise (handling those -esp when it regards a trip’s accommodation is something I definitely need to work on!) it’s turned out to be a fun diversion. We’ve scoped out several breakfast spots that folks on here have recommended and I actually think we will enjoy going to more. I do hope that there isn’t a glitch upon checking in regarding having a refund for the additional meal plans I paid for on the reservation. Hopefully the wonderful staff there that you encountered will be able to sort it out easily.

Very interesting to read about the restaurant closure at that PI, because we had the same thing last week at the St Pancras PI. Our email said they were doing renovations to the restaurant and kitchen. As compensation for the inconvenience, they provided free continental breakfasts for all guests in the lobby. Not being a big breakfast person, I was content with that. And since we were out of the hotel during the day, any construction noise was immaterial. Had we wanted a larger breakfast, there were at least half a dozen options within a block. I hope you enjoy your stay.

Mustlovedogs, please respond when you return with a trip report as to this situation & your thoughts on the PI at Paddington.
When I was initially planning our trip, I tried to get a response from the PI at Victoria to confirm that they had the premier plus rooms available, & confirm that they had elevators & A/C since the Holiday Inn Express would not confirm that the A/C worked, or that that they would "turn it on". The PI Victoria never responded, so after reading about this new PI at Paddington, I was hopeful that this was a better situation with it directly across a street from the Paddington train station.
Safe Travels.

Mustlovedogs
How was your stay at the premier Inn at Paddington Station?
Did you find out why the restaurant was closed?
Hope that your trip went well.

Hi Huggiebear, we had a great time! I wrote up a TR a few weeks back and in it gave a really good recommendation for this PI. I can’t compare it to other locations as it was our first stay with that company, but we are sold. The beds are amazing. Mine was a queen sized and my adult daughter had the made up single. We both raved about the pillows and duvet covers as well as the cleanliness. We were in a standard twin on the third floor. Premier rooms are on the 5th. Check in went smoothly; I was refunded by breakfast pre- purchases. The only negative, and we knew it was rolling the dice going in so…was we weren’t able to pay for an early check in time. They are busy! It’s such a convenient location, I expect that to be the case going forward as well.

Regarding the restaurant, I was told there was a major water line break that was causing the closure. Never any water damage but it was closed the whole time there and when I asked if they had a reopening date, the attendant did not know of one. Regardless of that fact, I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

Hope this helps!

the trip report is at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/london-again-day-1-part-1 and is now called London again, but this time not as the leader of the band

Thanks Nigel! I should have added the link, especially after I was so proud of myself for learning after multiple attempts how to post it correctly! :-)