Portsmouth (Havant)

The hotel staff were friendly and helpful, the hotel itself is a little tired and could do with updating. The Rusty cutter restaurant need to be totally renovated; the décor is really shabby with split seats and drab decoration. There doesn’t seem to be enough staff in the restaurant but they do a reasonable job of looking after the few customers that were in there. The food wasn’t the best, the fish was overcooked and the chicken salad didn’t contain a great deal of chicken. We only eat in there one night, after seeing the state of the extraction system above the grill which was covered in grease and dirt.

Bed was good, TV a bit dated but OK. Hotel was quiet with only a little road noise. The biggest problem was the restaurant, woefully understaffed with 1 chef , 1 waitress.. Poor things were run ragged and it impacted the service not surprisingly. If you are going to offer a service, staff it properly. Premier inns are generally V good value for money , just a shame they fell a bit short on the food and service this time. Beds are always good and that's the most important thing but need to have adequate staff to run the service properly

We stayed in the hotel for one night. We had a family room , so located on the ground floor. We arrived about 10pm had to wait a few moments for reception to be maned. Check in simple. Lots of car parking spaces but quiet a way from reception if your carrying sleepy children and luggage. Breakfast in the pub next door, food was OK.

On arrival at reception, I had to wait a short time while two members of staff could take the trouble to break off their conversation and attend to a guest. The first thing pointed out to me above all else was the fact that there was only one member of waiting staff on duty in the dining room and that I must make an appointment for a specific time. I decided to eat out. On the second night I used the restaurant. What a disappointment. The menu item I chose listed a steak and ale pie, including chips with their skins on. The pie that I was looking forward to turned out to be a minuscule offering with tough overcooked pastry and clearly a frozen item of dubious quality. The chips were also of the frozen variety and definitely not as advertised. Exceptionally poor quality and false advertising at best. The glass doors to the restaurant didn’t look to have had a good clean in a while. Covered in hand/finger marks so I’d imagine the handles hadn’t had a wipe over either. The room was clean and everything worked and I did have two good nights sleep. One other point. I think in today’s tech age it would be useful to have charging points.

The beds were very comfortable and the shower was good. Always nice to have a high shower head and a lower one too, which suits us fine. The staff were extremely stretched but managed very well. Once I’d booked through the central booking system I was able to phone the Havant hotel direct to ask for rooms with lower baths and beds and also for one with a walk in shower, which was great as some of us have less mobility than others. I would like to pass on my thanks to the receptionist who was on duty on Saturday evening as she helped me with a phone app to order taxis. Also, a big thank you to the waitress who was the only one on duty on Monday evening but she was very efficient, organised and personable despite being under lots of pressure. Also, a nod to the chef, who also did long hours and managed well on his own. The only down side was the cooked breakfast could have been hotter, but that was not down to the chef, but to the heated (?) trays the food was kept in. Also, it was a shame the restaurant wasn’t open at lunch times, but that’s probably because there was some refurbishment going on, which wasn’t intrusive in any way. We had a very enjoyable stay and if we stay in Portsmouth again we would go there again.

To be avoided. It's not in either Portsmouth or Havant and has no redeeming features. Pay the extra and use one of the more modern Premier Inns in the towns. It's old and grubby and in dire need of some maintenance. The restaurant is detached from the hotel on hilly ground, so breakfast in your pyjamas can be a bit of an issue. Or if you are less than fully mobile. Or if its icy or raining. On the evening I visited, there was no Guinness, no bitter/ale and no standard lager. Only the Madri was on offer (not a bad beer but not was I was looking for). Oh, and the bar closed at 9:30 on a Friday evening.