A completely adequate and convenient place to stay prior to a cruise in Southampton!…read more We stayed 5 nights at the Premier Inn prior to a cruise out of Southampton. I give it 4 solid stars. The hotel, location and amenities are great, it's the service where it breaks down slightly. Read on for the PROs and CONS and why we didn't give it that extra star... PROs: Clean, modern, has everything you need in your room like iron, hair dryer, several USB outlets, toiletries in pump containers, nice towels, coffee, tea, 2 (delicious) chocolates daily. Very conveniently located. We walked to the cruise terminal with our luggage. We walked to the train station, the car rental, the ferry terminal, the large mall next door, high street shops, restaurants, IKEA, tourist spots. (We're in our early 50s and relatively in shape). We paid extra to be on the 5th floor and it was very quiet. We paid extra to have the daily hot and cold breakfast which was great and convenient. It included cereals, Greek yogurt, fruit, pastries, toast, full English, soy milk, juice, tea and a fancy coffee machine where you could get a self-serve latte or cappuccino, etc. The spacious breakfast area is just off the lobby. Two lifts available. In the lobby they have digital boards listing all the departing cruises, which is convenient. Extra instant coffee and teabags available in the lobby. Bar with drink specials and happy hour off the lobby. CONs: After calling the hotel probably 10 times from the USA to ask questions about parking before our trip, someone FINALLY picked up. They told me we could pull in the layby (pullout) outside the hotel to drop off luggage and pay to park in the mall next door. They were very rushed and obviously wanted to get off the phone. I almost changed our reservation based on this lack of service. If you want maid service, you have to track down a staff member EACH DAY and say "I'd like maid service today". When you're a busy tourist, you don't want to spend time doing this. Just freaking give me automatic daily maid service! Similarly, if you pay for breakfast, you have to hunt down a staff member who hopefully speaks good enough English and tell them you want to book a breakfast time slot for the next morning. I tried asking them if we could simply book the same time slot for our entire 5-day stay, but that didn't seem to be possible. OK, then we will try and track someone down EVERY DAY and tell them we want to book breakfast at 7am! There are two digital self check-in kiosks in the lobby, but they didn't work for us, so we ended up checking in with a real human being who was stood behind a podium in the lobby, who was obviously there as this probably happens a lot...! She was very helpful. Paid parking is in the mall next door. After our drive from Heathrow to Southampton and one night in the parking garage, we decided to return our rental car early and walk or use trains as it was less hassle navigating the roads and parking. Not much space to drop luggage off, only a small, hard-to-find layby (pullout) outside the hotel. We parked in the parking garage at the mall and walked our luggage over, which was probably a 5 minute walk. Having to pay extra to be on the 5th floor and paying for breakfast. NOTE: If you're coming from Heathrow, you may consider taking a National Express Bus. The station is a 7 min walk from this hotel. On retrospect, we wish we'd done this instead of navigating the roads in a rental car and having major hassles from the rental company. (Another review!) Happy cruising! Helpful?

Did we love it. Yes. Was the bed cosy. Yes. In room kettle for tea & powdered coffee. Shower…read morepowerful and hot. Staff ace friendly and welcoming. They were in flux getting ready for re launch so no hot breakfasts and no bar so at breakfast we got free tea, coffee pastries (chocolates & plain croissants) and fruit (apples & bananas). The croissants and chocolate croissants were really good but no butter or confiture. But the real reason we usually go elsewhere is they have no proper espresso machines. It's probably not the target market for the chain but again there's no place for powdered coffee in hospitality in 21st century UK. Happy to pay for great coffee. The coffee at breakfast is push a button machine but on our morning it had broken so no coffee and staff 'don't know what's wrong'. I went across to M&S in the shopping centre for great coffee. A 15 minute round trip. What annoyed most was literally ziltch WiFi. It dropped instantly no matter how many times we tried. It's not acceptable in this age. We rarely stay in these inns and the last time was Newbury (I think but it was an inn near Bath) and the WiFi was grim there too. It was the premium room that time and still useless so there may be a bigger problem.

We stayed here last minute on the late May Bank Holiday and had a great time. We are a young couple…read moreand although this isn't the place to go if you want pubs and clubs, the hotel was clean and tidy with service everyday and we were made very welcome. We had a beautiful big room with big windows and a balcony overlooking the beach. We stayed 3 nights and it was very good value for money with breakfast included. Only criticism was that breakfast was served between 8:30 and 9:00 which doesn't give you much time for a lay-in. All in all, a great place to stay in an excellent location.

Excellent location, clean with good decor. Staff were extremely pleasant and welcoming and really…read moreseemed to make the effort. Wonderful dining room. Great breakfasts. However, the rooms are small and maybe upon booking, we should have been forewarned about this as there we were a family of three and we were squeezed into the pokiest of rooms. Also there is no lounge area at present but we were told that the owner will soon be developing one which will be a great improvement.

This small hotel is split over 2 buildings side by side, with gardens hidden round the back and…read moreparking at the front, one housing the reception, bar and restaurant and the other with bedrooms. The hotel is a little old-fashioned, but pleasant enough in its chintzy kind of way. The staff are always friendly and breakfast is great. The rooms are fairly sized and good value for money. I always try to get into this hotel when i visit Bournemouth but is always booked up, so must be popular!

For a one night stay it was good. Clean and the front desk gentleman was helpful and welcoming…read more It is a good basic economy stay. No frills. Would stay here again.

Hotel is adequate with friendly staff and clean rooms. Close to pier. No refrigerator in the room…read morewas a disappointment.

For a wonderful long weekend away, you can't get any better than the Balmers Lawn Hotel…read more The Mrs and I booked a two night stay here after seeing an amazing (and I mean A-Maz-ing) deal via a deals sight. This deal included two nights stay with late check out, a three course meal in the Beresford's AA rosette restaurant in the hotel and massage at the Saltus Spa. While they're all under the same roof, they all need praise in their own right. The Balmer Lawn Hotel. Perfectly situated in the Few Forest, it's a great location for both relaxation and planning trips into various areas of the New Forest for walks and adventure. There is a particular short walk (about 1.5 hours) that takes off from the car park and is perfect to strech the legs if you're not feeling particularly adventurous. The hotel itself is clean. Very clean. We were very kindly also given a free upgrade into a four poster room, which was great for the novelty value. Robes, tea, tea pot and biccies provided it's a perfect room to unwind in after a wander around. While Balmer Lawn hotel, is very big it dosn't feel it, with all the facilities easy to get to. As we went in October (not a particularly sunny time of the year) we took good advantage of the heated pool, jacussi and sauna each day. The pool never seemed to get too busy which meant complete relaxation. Breakfast. This was probably my least favourite part of our stay. The breakfast was by no means bad, however as a vegetarian, the selection was a bit boring. There's only so many fried eggs and baked beans a person can take. If you're a meat eater, the sausages looked great - and there is an option to order off a menu for scrambled eggs etc. Overall the hotel with its friendly staff and intimate facilities is a perfect place for a relaxing stay or for peaceful solace after a day of hiking around the gorgeous surroundings. The Restaurant I'm not normally one for posh nosh. I like my food like I like my theatre, fresh and unpretencious -however I had trouble choosing from the menu and had an absolutley lovely meal. Eating in London can mean that quality does not equate to price and you can end up paying a lot for what is not very nice. However I can see why this restaurant has it's flowers :P My main course of cod was just gorgeous. And aside from the utterly delish and tempting food was the service. Who I believed was the restaurant manager (a slim tall man with glasses) was incredibly friendly. Saltus Spa I really liked the great drift-wood sculptures and furniture all around the reception and relaxation room. The two lovely ladies that gave me and the Mrs our Full Body Aromatherapy massage were so sweet, but also very professional. The asked if we would like to have our massage together or not and our preferance of oil and pressure. Very informative and relaxing. This was actually the best massage I've ever had and came out feeling like I was floating. After our massage, water and luxury chocolate were avaliable in the relaxation room. I would completely reccommend the Balmer Lawn Hotel, who often have their own offers on their website. Check it out.

Once advertised in one one of those ghastly Groupon circulars I had signed up to, which I readily…read morecommitted to junk mail. Just imagine booking a holiday via Groupon to find you're vacationing with with a bunch of voucher wielding cheapos who barge past you at breakfast to squirrel the croissants in their beach bags at the buffet. Somehow I stumbled on the Balmer Lawn's details again, after the offer had expired, but they were only too happy to accommodate our large party with an equally competitive offer! B I N G O! Just a 2 hour drive from the Big Smoke and you're in the beautiful New Forest, said Google Maps. Screw you Google Maps! Don't drive! There is a train station 10 minutes walk away and a handful of excellent pubs to refresh you on arrival should you find the train via Southampton an ordeal. After being stuck in traffic for three hours, driving on the open road of the New Forest leading up to the Balmer Lawn is something to behold, everything you want in a country resort. It's a beacon of quintessential British grandeur with darling little New Forest ponies and cows grazing on the grounds, gentile clacks of cricket bats being played on the lawns with the bright whites of players dotted in the sun and a welcoming patio bar area with the soothing trickle of a fountain to offer it's soundtrack whilst gazing on this perfect vista. With road rage from the drive tightly bound in my shoulders I could realise my dreams of swanning about the establishment like Little Britain's Bubbles de Vere, getting a massage and generally enjoying a lot of lolling around. It's grand reception walls are lined with it's history, there's a documented photographed survival through fires and floods and 90s floral motifs which this establishment sadly has not recovered from. It is perhaps these touches that make it cling to it's 4 stars, just about. So after my ghastly journey I wanted to sling my luggage on a luggage rack and raid the mini-bar. I could do neither. No luggage rack, NO MINI-BAR, I almost called down to reception to ask if there was a problem, but none of my neighbours had one either. Leaving my bag askew in search for an evening cocktail, we were pleasantly greeted by great bar staff, happy to cater to our picky whims. Not so knowledgeable on well known cocktails, so some training wouldn't go amiss, however we were still delighted and entertained by the bar staffs efforts. They had cucumber for Hendicks Gin so +points, but not knowing what a Negroni was, 0 points. The grounds and pools, yes pool-S, were fantastic. Where I'd worried about competing for the jacuzzi and sauna among Groupon wielding sunglouger hogging types, we pretty much had the place to ourselves in early June! So we enjoyed pool keepie uppy til our hearts were content and dive bombing and ducking each other and all other usual pool faux pas in the outdoor heated and indoor pools like 10 year olds allowing us to leave all our city stresses behind. Food service here, however wasn't terribly fine. In a maddening farcical two hour wait for a half dozen sandwiches, we had to reorder thrice! Some communication on what could have been the problem in the kitchen would have made us a little more understanding and we could have just gone to the pub next door as there was clearly an issue, possibly down to running out of bread? Sadly we wasted a lot of an afternoon for a swift repas. Come supper time there was a fairly decent menu, offering typical British local food, I had the Pigeon (a tad over done) and balsamic lentils, but most excitingly of all I ordered their Panache of vegetables. The meal was served with every ounce of warmth and panache that they could pull the stops out for, but when I received my PANACHE of vegetables. I was surprised at their Flamboyant Confidence in serving me what was basically microwaved carrot and cauliflower. No Frills. At. All. Hilarious. Picture attached. Otherwise feeling truly pampered a la Bubbles De Vere, Balmer Lawn's staff did everything to make our large group feel welcome and cared for, even so far as to pack us away with sausages AND croissants from the breakfast buffet for our afternoon walk. The only squirrelling away was done by the, well, local squirrels.

I stayed here for one night whilst in the area for work, the hotel is quite a walk from the town…read morecentre but along nice views of the seaside. This area has many hotels so is easy enough to find. The hotel calls itself a boutique hotel however only the public areas seem boutique, the rooms are basic and mismatched and quite basic and lack finishing touches. My room also was minus a shower. However staff are friendly and it's very quiet I slept very well.

I attended a wedding here…read more First when making the booking as per the wedding rate, they confirmed over the telephone, and confirmed different details by e-mail. I had to chase them to get the right details. When booking in, I said I would pay for both rooms. They required a credit card, which was fine, and then asked for another for the other room. I got them to finally understand I was paying for both rooms. I have no problem with hotels employing Eastern European staff, but those on the reception desk must have a good command of the English language. The room was OK, not brilliant, but OK. It is a 3 star after all. The en-suite was quite big, and designed for the disabled. Requested the use of an iron and ironing board, after three requests it finally arrived. The ironing board was stained, and it was only when I was using it to iron my sons new shirt that I realised that the stain was coming through onto the shirt. I was livid. I managed to disguise it as best as I could. Children can only eat in the restaurant before a certain time, and I think it was 5:30 pm, not absolutely sure of the time, but it was difficult for us. So we ate out. The arrangements for the wedding were very good, and the food was fine. Breakfast was something else. Waiting too long, and there was only three tables being used, so not rushed off their feet. One of the waitresses was sullen, and almost dropped the plate in front of you. They were less than attentive. It is not a hotel I'd choose to stay at if visiting Bournemouth again.

This is rather nice. Very very nice…read more I went to a 'do' here, and this is also used by a local school for Balls (as in dancing and wining). We had champagne on the frontsteps and patio. There is a sweeping driveway, which makes for great photo opportunities as the students arrive for their ball. The gardens are exquisite and the entrance to the hotel truly romantic. Except it's not the entrance. You have to drive to the back of the hotel on Grove Road. The 'front' of the hotel overlooks the sea. This hotel is very tasteful with out being overly grand. I'd love to stay there sometime.