Hotel Review - Premier Inn Chiswick

We have been to London a few times recently and have stayed in Premier Inns each time.  We choose Premier Inn because we know what we are getting and know what to expect. Plus if you book early enough and you aren't too fussy about where you want to stay then you can get some good deals.

After purchasing our Merlin Passes in February, we decided that we would book 2 trips to London. 1 in May to do Chessington, Thorpe Park and Hampton Court Palace and 1 in August to do Central London attractions. For our first trip we stayed at Premier Sudbury as it was an ideal location for visiting the parks; whereas, for this trip to Central London we decided to stay in Chiswick.

There were a few reason initially why we choose here:
1) The price - 3 people for 4 nights (without breakfast) for £156
2) Location to drive to - straight off the M4
3) Location for amenities - Chiswick has it's own high street with restaurants
4) Location to visit Kew Gardens on our last day
5) Onsite car parking (chargeable at £10 a night)
6) Tube link straight into London Via District Line.

Getting there 
As my Husband has only passed his since last year, and not had much experience driving around big cities, the Premier Inn Chiswick was in the ideal location and the drive to it was straight forward - leave the M4 at the end onto the A4 and you are there.  It was also easy to get to Thorpe Park which was around 25 minutes away.

There is also onsite parking which is always useful in London.  The only down side is that if you leave the car park there is no guarantee that you will get a space especially if like us you are not coming back till late.  Luckily we did manage to get one. And we then left our car parked until the day we left.

Rooms

As mentioned previously, we are not new to Premier Inn and have stayed in a few around London.  That being said, we found that this hotel was just that little better. It felt clean and new.  The room on arrival was spotless and there was plenty of room for the three of use.  The only downside to the room was the lack of storage for three people - but we managed.  

Location

The hotel is located about 10 minutes walk away from Chiswick High Street where you will find, bars, restaurants and shops.  We found this useful as on one night we did not fancy the journey into London and instead stayed local.  The only downside to the location is that the nearest tube station - Turnham Green- is between 15 -20 minutes walk away. Now when going out in the morning this was not a problem, but after already walking over 18,000 steps around London, the 20 minutes walk back to the hotel seemed to take forever.  

Hotel Bar and Food 

Originally we had decided not to book breakfast as sometimes we miss it; however, after our last visit  and spending £16 each morning on a Costa we decided that the £19 all you can eat breakfast for 3 of us was a better deal. Plus it kept us all full until late afternoon which suited us as then we could have tea a little later than normal too. The breakfast itself was great. Lots of choice and always fresh. 

On a couple of nights we had a few night caps in the bar. The drinks were reasonably priced for London and the staff were always very pleasant. 

On the last evening, we were so tired that we decided to eat in the hotel.  

The food was averaged priced for hotel food and we all enjoyed it and thought that it was worth the money especially as it meant we didn't have to walk very far.  

For the price we paid for 4 nights in London in August we think that we got a really good deal.  Would we return again? Yes definitely, although if a similar priced hotel came up but was closer to a tube I think we would try there.    

Pesto Review

As a family we often enjoy meals out, but it can often be difficult to decide where to go and we then end up going to the same places over and over. Recently we have had an influx of chained restaurants arrive in our local area offering us even more choice.  However last night,  we actually managed to have night out without Titch and this was a perfect opportunity to try somewhere different... Pesto. We have drove passed quite a few time and I have also like the look of it so thought why not give it a try.


Pesto is an Italian restaurants that serves small plates of Italian dishes - a little bit like Tapas.  There are a few Pesto's around the country but we tried one close to us in Marton, Macclesfield.


On arrival we were greeted by the hostess.  The restaurant was not too busy so we had the choice of tables.  After being seated the waitress was efficient in taking drinks orders and then gave us time to look through the menu.  The menu consists of some recognisable dishes and some that we had never heard of before.  We chose 4 small main dishes: Italian Sausage, Chicken Thighs, Rustic Pizza and a chicken Pasta and 3 sides: Caesar side, Roasted Potatoes and Garlic Bread.

As the restaurant was not busy the food took about 15 minutes to reach us. The husband and I shared al the dishes between us and we were both impressed with flavour.  Everything was cooked perfectly and, although it took us about 30 minutes to eat, it did not go cold.  The only dish that we were disappointed in was the potatoes as they were not what we had expected.  These felt and tasted like they were from a bag of frozen potato cubes that you get at the local super market.

After we had finished, the plates were quickly cleared away and we were asked if we would like desserts. We ordered two coffees, an ice cream and a lesson mouse tart.

Both were absolutely delicious. The ice cream was creamy and the lemon tart was tangy and smooth.

Overall including, a bottle of water, a Becks Blue and a soft drink the bill came to £49 which we thought was pretty reasonable and about average for a meal for two.

Would we go again... Yes and we would definitely take Titch too as he also loves Italian food.