I’m not normally a breakfast person…but I definitely make an exception for a hotel breakfast. Generally, it’s because we’ve got a full day planned and a big breakfast powers us right through till the evening – and that was certainly the case when we stayed at the Premier Inn Guildford North last month.
From £10.99 per adult (I believe it varies by location, but kids eat free regardless), you can enjoy an all-you-can-eat Premier Inn breakfast served buffet-style in a relaxed, family-friendly environment. Here’s what we thought.
The Premier Inn Breakfast Setup
If you’ve included breakfast in your hotel offering, you’re all set: just head to the bar and give them your room number.
If you’ve only decided that morning that breakfast is on the cards (like we did), you just need to head to the bar and pay, and wait to be shown to a table.
Then, it’s time to head up and help yourself. There are separate stations for different things. You’ll find a stand of bread, crumpets and pancakes by the toaster, along with jams, marmalade, butter, Nutella and more. Cereals have their own spot, as do the pastries, fruit, yoghurts and juices. There’s the much-needed coffee machine, and a hot plate laden with your full English items, ready for you to load up your plate – as many times as you like.
The Food
Premier Inn’s breakfast offers a full English selection: eggs (fried/scrambled/poached/boiled), hash browns, back bacon, sausages, baked beans, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and black pudding. Vegetarian or vegan? Don’t worry: there are meat-free sausages and bacon on offer, too. No complaints about most of it: the sausages were juicy and meaty, many of the fried eggs still had a slightly runny yolk, and there were both crispy and non-crispy bacon rashers in the pan to suit all tastes.
The scrambled eggs were a let-down: far too solidified and lacking the creaminess you’d hope for. If you’re picky about texture, I’d recommend trying one of the different egg options instead.
The Premier Inn breakfast had some strong points in its continental spread. The inclusion of Yeo Valley yoghurts added a nice touch of quality, while there was a good selection of fruit – both whole and prepared. The cereal selection is varied, and the large bowls they’re presented in are covered, giving some reassurance about hygiene.
I also liked how many toastable choices there are in the Premier Inn breakfast: both white and brown bread (and gluten-free bread), crumpets and pancakes – and a plethora of toppings.
There were a few negatives: like the pastries, which were a little dry and not the highlight of the spread. It was also a shame that there was just one coffee machine serving a room full of Premier Inn breakfast customers, which led to significant queues at times.
Overall, though, the quality of the unlimited Premier Inn breakfast is decent for the price point. For families, the ‘kids eat free’ deal makes it even better value.
Food was replenished quickly when it got low, and staff were friendly and helpful. While the Premier Inn breakfast offering isn’t a luxury breakfast, it doesn’t pretend to be: it’s a dependable, good-value start to the day.