I'm a fan of Premier Inn too precisely because they are nearly all the same! And the guarantee re a good night's sleep is honoured in my experience. Last March I booked 2 rooms at the one near Manchester airport of Runger Lane - 1 for myself and 1 for my nieces. The smoke alarm went of for no apparent reason in their room and I was refunded the cost of their room without even having to ask for it! When we checked out and I was given the receipt, I queried it because it only covered the cost of 1 room and that's when the receptionist told me that it was because the girls had been woken by the smoke alarm and had phoned down to reception to check was going on!

I've just booked us 2 rooms again for the night before our trip to Cuba from Manchester in October - a double for me and and a twin with 2 queensize beds for them - for £84 in total which I consider good value. I might have got it a bit cheaper if I'd waited but I prefer to get it booked now because we are going just as a number of the Scottish schools start the tattie holiday and the savings to be made by flying out of an English airport means that a lot of Scottish families could well be looking for overnight accommodation for that date.

You can't beat Premier Inn for value for money. I must say though that I am not sure if I have kept an eye on the price after booking. Will do that in future though.

Definitely worth keeping an eye on the prices, Fiona ... they fluctuate quite a bit. If you book flexible, just cancel and rebook I wouldn't book super saver due to the fact that Condor ferries can be a bit erratic and make late changes

Sma .. snap! They all look the same (ok, some are newer than others) but you pretty much know what you are getting, and i can vouch for the guarantee too, 3 times they've paid up (twice for noisy hen/stags - don't start me on them!) and once for building work starting at 7am when they hadn't previously advertised the works at time of booking!

Ive stayed at premier inn a couple of times , although quite a while ago , they offer a good solid product , you know you are going to get a very good decent clean bed and modern clean functional bathroom which is a safe choice for what is usually a 1 night stay . Prices do seem to vary and can be fluid , so making a flexible booking and rechecking sounds a good idea unless your plans are firm and the saver rate is a price you're happy to pay .

I've done saver when it's been mainland UK for a short weekend break, but Condor Ferries have moved ports with 4-6 weeks notice in the past for us so it can cause a bit of carnage!

Over the years we have used PI regularly thanks to the fact that you pretty much know what you will get in terms of a room and the fact that we have had a few free nights thanks to their refund policy. We drive from Glasgow to The Vendee most summers so for a number of years used PI at Port Solent for an overnight before catching a breakfast-time ferry at Portsmouth (we now get an overnight boat as it gets us to our destination at lunchtime rather than the evening). When we come back from France we try to get a couple of hours up the road and stay in a PI.
Our first free night was when our older child was 18 months old and the bath taps weren't working properly; they didn't have a room to move us to so they refunded us. The second time we were refunded we were on our way home from France and my car was broken into in the car park at Warwick. They refunded us that night and the breakfast we had paid for and then gave us a second free night because we were stranded as a result of the damage to the car (photos and review on Tripadvisor). We are now careful as to where we book and last year ended up with the car in a disabled bay (at the manager's instruction - the other disabled bays were taken up by staff cars; we said that we would move it if needed but they said they would move their own cars) after hubby questioned the "alternative" car park.

We're the same, try to get up somewhere between Oxford and Brum to stop for the night
Thankfully with my dad's blue badge we'll get a good space but yes it's sometimes a good idea to research the areas where you are planning to stay

After our experience in Warwick we have rejected staying at a few PIs due to lack of parking.

Gotta say than when I see the 'you can use the nearby multi storey' then that's a total switch off for me. If I ain't parked outside, then it's a no no

Although it's not a premier inn I would recommend staying at the Holiday Inn ( IHG group ) in Kenilworth if you want to stop off between Brum and Oxford , I have most of my family living near there and we had a 2 night stay in March and it's in an excellent place right at the top of a pleasant high street , there is onsite secure parking outside the hotel and although the actual hotel rooms are quite compact the staff there were great and the breakfast is very good , it is also perfectly located to walk to local restaurants , pubs , shops etc . A lot of modern hotels seem to built now in isolated places or just off motorway jctns with very little around them .

I'll bear that one in mind, Andy .... it's in the right M40/M42 triangle that I tend to look at, it's optimum range from Poole/Portsmouth for us

I'm in Solihull this year, but have been around Bromsgrove a few times, and also Didcot a few times (although that's a tad further south)

It's worth looking at its about 8 miles from the Warwick m40 jctn , but is a nice place if you want some facilities very nearby .

*sniff sniff*

I smell an advert!