Premier Inn

Prime Location: Steps to the Underground!

Having recently embarked on a culinary foray at a seemingly innocuous inn just a stone's throw from Archway Station, one would think the suspense could aptly heighten more than one’s taste buds on such occasion. Nestled shamelessly amidst phone-loving youths and magnanimous beggars, I set my sights on sampling breakfast and, with Herculean restraint, forwent the McDonald’s out front. Instead, I dived into one of the hotel’s touted offerings: breakfast, which was presented with such satisfying emphasis on “above average”, it rather reminded me of a pensioner’s inscrutable UK holiday—consistent, congenial, and curiously extensive despite the setting. And what the breakfast may have lacked in gastronomic flair, it kindly compensated for in a near-buffet’s array curated by unfailingly cheerful staff whose charm is as filling as their English tea is strong.

Enter the courteous deconstruction of customer service—the kind where the management deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for placating the inevitable rabble of life's forgotten check-in desk queues. I must tip my metaphorical hat to amicable staff who engage with enthusiasm that borders on fraternal warmth; our serenely skilled bartender Kody might even tantalize your senses better than Time Out London intended. For a picturesque moment, one forgets such peccadillos as mysterious human displacements and creaking fairground-esque lifts. Alas, beside such spectrum of sensationalism stands resolute this feat of the mundane Premier Inn, its strategic positioning gamboling merrily towards an ideal 'hub and spoke' system. It dares say, if you can approximately place yourself in London, you can assuredly alight here for a conveniently quaint slice of serene escapism—with breakfast freshly attacked and fortitude primed. — Penelope Savory