hotel manager

assistant hotel manager

kitchen team member

housekeeping manager

duty manager

Premier Inn

Once I arrive I'd clock in and collect my room key card. I'd then go down to the laundry room to collect my task list which usually consists of roughly 8-10 rooms that have to be cleaned along with a task which changes each day. This may be hoovering the stairs or buffing up the bathroom tiles. Next I'd return to reception to check my room list with the status list which tells us if the customer has departed. If none of my rooms have yet departed I'd go and help another team member with one of theirs while waiting for them to leave. After I've checked my list I collect my chemicals from a second laundry room before making my way to the area in which the rooms I have to clean are located. I then collect a trolley which carries all the consumables, bed sheets, duvets, mugs, glasses, towels etc. Once in my first room I open the curtains and window. I then empty the room of any litter, dirty linen, dirty crockery etc and replace them with empty bin bags, fresh linen and clean crockery. If the consumables have been used we have to restock this also and empty the kettle of any water. Next I'd make up the bed to the standards set by the Premier Inn ensuring the linen has no hairs, holes, creases, stains etc. If the room is to be set up as a twin, triple or quad extra beds are then made up also. Moving on i'd then go around the room cleaning all surfaces ensuring there is no dust or marks on the furniture. After the room is completely dusted and cleaned I move on to the bath room where I have to clean the bath, the bath tiles, the sink, the vanity shelf, the toilet, the mirror and the floor. I have to ensure all the taps and mirror are buffed up with no streaks present. Now the room just needs hoovered and the bathroom floor wiped down (after hoovering). Once this is all complete the room is finished and I'd move on to the next. When all the rooms are complete we take our trolleys into the laundry room and wash our dishes, restock the trolleys with more fresh linen and consumables etc ready for them to be used the next day. Then we would take our dirty laundry to the cages in the laundry room, separating towels from the bedding. Finally we would then take out the rubbish before clocking out and heading home.

Whilst working here I've learnt many skills. Some include that customer service is extremely important to a business, therefore it is essential we help them in the most professional manner. I also learnt that team work is essential because in the Premier Inn we have to complete our tasks by a deadline, but if someone is running behind and we have finished then we would go help them in order for them to also complete before the deadline. Other than skills that are related to the company it has also taught me life skills such as how to clean a room properly. This will help when it comes to owning my own home.

Management within the Premier Inn I feel is very well organised. Our lists are prepared before we arrive so we can get on with our tasks right away. The managers make us feel appreciated, complimenting us on the standards of our rooms. If I have any issues I feel like I am able to go to my manager to talk about the issue and they are willing to listen and try help resolve the issue. 

All of my co-workers get on well with each other, we all have a friendship within work and out of work which makes the job more enjoyable. If someone is having a bad day and they are running behind we all help them out by cleaning some of their bathrooms or doing their dishes.

I think the hardest part of the job is that it is physically demanding and every little thing has to be perfect. This is definitely harder at the start but then it gradually becomes easier as it starts to become a habit.

The most enjoyable part of the job is being able to work in a place where all the staff get along with each other, it means we are able to do our job but also have a laugh with each other.

fun interview, the work is very, very easy. it's flexible shift work which, if you only need up to 32 hours, makes for a great work life balamce. any more and it becomes troublesome. depending on your site, collegues and camaraderie is fairly good. as a receptionist, you May be able to work your way up the ladder. if you're male this is extremely unlikely. 
within the housekeeping department, this job is horrendous. you are paid minimum wage to do a job which is very physically taxing, in time limits which are worked out to the minute, which if you're going over even a minute everyday will be picked up on and you will be placed on performance management which if not improved upon will eventually result in termination of your contract. 
the main thing working with premier inn is that the company, and the managers will make you feel like they are on your side, but in reality they care about nothing but themselves. the managers are encouraged to stab eachother, and everyone else, in the back in order to serve their carreers, the human resources department are slimey, working out human behaviour so that they can manipulate you into doing their bidding, and the company on a whole care about nothing bar making ridiculous amounts of money. they are a budget hotel, started that way, but when they got very big the budgetting never stopped, when I joined, this seemed to be a company that cared about it's employees, even wiith all the budgets, it seemed to work with us in order to make a good hotel experience, since being hear 2 years, i have seen them go from strength to strength, eventually making into the FTSE 100, throughout this journey I have only experienced budget cut after budget cut, every single week, and every one of these cuts have made employees lives harder, harder work, less enjoyable work. no time to actually interract with the guests, or collegues, punishments if tasks aren't completed, even if mundane tasks are pushed aside for real tasks that benefit, the guests, and the business. 
in conclusion, maybe my 2 years, have been tarnished by my coming to realise that this company is not the caring company I was made to believe it was when i first joined, but i know it's not just me who see's this company as progressively more evil. I suppose, I've been paid well, a bit above minumum wage, at least 40 hours a week works out well. It has meant I have barely any social life, but this particular issue is of my own chosing. 
If you have nothing, no one, or are just a loner, this job can work out for you, but otherwise, unless you're desperate, I would seriously avoid Whitbread if you could

I worked for Premier Inn for over a year. At one point or another I was in all the roles available in the hotel (except upper management) including housekeeping, bar and restaurant, reception and occasionally even kitchen. I did not feel qualified for any of these positions. My site did not train me adequately in any of these positions. For many jobs I was simply left alone to figure out myself. I was often left on my own without assistance for hours on end as the site I worked at was often busy. My contract stated 4 days a week yet I was often corralled into working 6 or even 7 days, 8 to 12 hour shifts or even 16+ at times.
Hotels have no closing hours. Even as a team member, you are almost always on call and the management would call me daily asking me to cover extra shifts. For some this may be a bonus, but for me and other working alongside me, it made a work/life balance practically impossible. I also found management to be incredibly unsympathetic towards employees who were sick or had childcare issues that meant they were unable to work certain days. 
If you are unlucky enough to work in a site that does not train you, or offers you bare bones training at best, brace yourself. You will be expected to deal with anything that comes through the door. In my year at Premier Inn I have personally dealt with drugs and alcohol related incidents, assaults, threats, domestics and even deaths. This is not advertised to you upon applying and I feel the company does very little to train or support you in reacting to these kinds of situations. 
The pay is not abysmal. It's low compared to other hotels but in my experience Premier Inn offers many opportunities for progression and pay rises if the situation calls for it. You are also offered a staff card that entitles you to reasonable offers on Whitbread's services. I found that I had pretty solid job security as because the sites are often so understaffed, firing is incredibly rare. Regular guests and kind patrons made this job marginally enjoyable, and I had the chance to meet people from all over the world. I also greatly enjoyed working with my colleagues. While I wish I had more praise for my management team (who tended to do a lot of relaxed supervising and idle paperwork during busy periods), the front of house, kitchen and housekeeping teams were all incredibly close and would assist with anything that you needed help with when possible. 
You will see a lot in this job. For some, maybe too much. The management of your specific site will decide a lot about the quality of your experience with the brand and I am sad to say that it is hit or miss.

I would like to stress that my review is based on my experiences and I have rapidly discovered each site runs differently.

Firstly the work/ life balance, its non existent in any of the sites I have worked at, a common expectation is that if someone phones in sick then you will be staying on site until a replacement can be found (I have found myself in this situation numerous times leading to 10-16 hour shifts), this would not be so bad if the management were willing to intervene and organise suitable rest periods however they are indifferent to the issue.

This brings me onto the next issue, because head office are quick go remind you that it is a 'budget' chain they invest more money in staff training than providing facilities in each hotel, this would work in practice if another section of head office (finance usually) weren't pressuring each manager to run their site on a barebones infrastructure in which 1 person is expected to perform the role of 3/4 members of staff ( one site I previously worked for had the evening waiters cook the food along with serving it) because of this staff are overworked and tired so are more likely to phone in sick.

Because of the hours cutting you find yourself constantly fighting just to receive your contract hours ( which contains a loophole thus making them 0 hour contracts) and you find yourself untrained in another department in a desperate hope to retain some hours as the managers throw scorn upon someone who will work a 2nd part time job and even go as far as to put you on shifts making you choose between which job to go to.

However working for premier inn ( and Whitbread its parent company) does have its benefit's, an additional days holiday for employees every year they have been working for the company (up to 5 extra days) a progression system that is favored by nepotism but can be rewarding if you manage to claim a space on one of the many courses. Discounts on all Whitbread Establishments and Costa coffee outlets 

The job security is also a big plus, I still work for premier inn as I write this review and have been employed with them on a full time contract since 2011 however the view that they can pay you a lot less than other industries because " we can easily replace you" is a dangerous stance to take with staff and has caused a few sites I have worked for to completely crumble as legion's of trained staff leave at once leaving a gulf of skill that takes months to repair.

I have had alot of jobs in different environments and this is by far the best. It is physically demanding but it can only be a good thing if you follow manual handling safety correctly as it will keep you fit and active. The hours aren't too long and the rota is done fairly. I never hear anybody badmouthing any other members of staff, no bickering, none of the things that I have endured in other jobs. Management speak to you like a valued member of staff, even criticism is delivered appropriately and doesn't make you feel worthless. I joined during a very busy period and a period of high sickness levels so it was very busy but helpful as I got alot of practise in a short space of time and now an average amount of rooms per day seems like a breeze. I felt like I fitted in right away and every member of staff were helpful and continue to be helpful. I felt a little guilty when people would finish their rooms and I still had rooms left so they would come to help as I wasn't used to being helped, but everyone works as a team and management always refer to you all as "team". Everything is explained down to audits and you are pre warned not to take anything personally but as constructive criticism instead, to make you be better at your job. I enjoy working by myself the majority of the time, the job is very routine based so once you have picked it up, you can get on with the job even if you have things on your mind. You sometimes interact with guests, it could be a simple "good morning", a chat in the hallway about their stay or providing extra room items. Management are really flexible with you and other team members, more often than not will swap shifts should you need to. It is a really down to earth environment and so far I am thoroughly enjoying my job. That may seem a bit crazy to some but I have worked for companies who have bullied me to do extra hours, clocking up 70 hours per week, working for 41 days in a row, worked with very childish and toxic people, management talking down at you, workplaces full of drama and it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I feel like I have found my happy (work) place. 
The privilege card and employee discounts are a bonus. We also received a cute little gift bag of sweets & chocolate and a shopping gift card for housekeeping appreciation week. Also if team members leave for other careers, the team likes to make a fuss of you, have a collection and buy you a gift. They do at my site anyway. Other staff members from different departments always greet you too which is nice. 

Ok, so if you like to work alone this is the job for you. You get your list for the day of how many rooms you will be cleaning. I usually had 10 on weekends and weekdays I would have 7or 8 or less as I had to finish in time for the school run which I'm sure annoyed them but I was good at my job so whatever.  Some people had like 14 room for the day...yeah no thanks!! If you are honest with them from the start about what days/times you can and can't do then you should be fine. If you have no parental responsibilites and you love working every hour God sends then go ahead and apply. Pretty sure they will just use you to their advantage. I personally value my time so definitely was not be giving this job a whole day unless it was weekends and this is where I would do more hours. Anyway back to the job so based on the kind of rooms you have this is how you would sort your trolley. They also have a trolley standard. You can't just dump towels and bedding where you want. Sometimes one room would have your usual king size and maybe you will have 2 singles....nightmare. especially because you have a time you need to finish your list by and sometimes it isn't doable at the start of the job but once you clean your own way, cut a few corners then your all good. Honestly if you do NOT cut corners you will be there cleaning all day i promise. Mostly the rooms aren't usually that bad in terms of cleanliness, just food rubbish, maybe the odd rubber in the bins and toilet, or feaces and bogey around the bath( rare for me but it happens) hey someone has to clean it. I have no issues cleaning as I had my marigolds. If you can spread a lovely bed to brand standard then you're all good. Worse days are when they want the skirtingboards cleaned. Honestly this was annoying!! If you end up having a lovely head house keeper who is a team player and doesn't snitch to the manager on every little thing you missed in your room like you forgot to add toilet roll (it happens) or maybe you forgot to dust the tv then you'll be fine lol I lasted 8 months and now I work as a supervisor in a Retail job. Good luck! Don't let these people use you. The job is so energy draining and they expect way too much.

Premier Inn I first thought it would be great to work for. When actually seeing the real truth from the house keeper workers, quite few of them are not happy and complaining a lot on how the work is set up for each day to clean the bedrooms. You clean a room for 25 minutes each, if it’s double, king, triple they can take even longer without help!. I received lies from the managers that they did not say anything about not getting paid when you clock in and after you finish your shift!! Absolutely lies! So this is how it works: The head house keeper plans out your day targets in the rooms and gives you a start time/ finish times from 9am till 4pm. Usually there will be 6 house keepers and they should work independently to do 6-12 rooms through the whole day. So if you see your target times on your room sheet you will get paid on those hours but not when you have your breaks as breaks are not very long at all or your might not get a break as you have a lot to do in stupid short time. Also after you pack everything away and leave the building you still don’t get paid! If it’s busy you work all day and believe me, not every house keeper can finish on target time and work over time and those over time hours are slavery hours. Including what’s ridiculous is you don’t get paid to set up your trolleys in the morning and take your cleaning gear to where you get told to clean in the hotel??! it all adds time and you don’t start at the dot at 9am as we have to wait for the house keeper to arrive by 9am to give our time room sheets! The organisation and set up were really terrible. Not all house keepers spoke not very good English and it was hard to communicate to cooperate in the house keeping departments. They hire people who don’t speak good English, the hours are slavery harsh and stressful and you won’t get good respect from the managers. It’s true what they say since I’ve not had a good experience at premier inn! The organisation needs to be better as it’s a problem in most house keeping jobs, such as lines deliveries and set up for stock controls and limit times for the bedrooms and better cooperation! Don’t work for House keeping at premier inn!

Premier Inn as a company is good and from what I've seen and heard of the city centre hotels it can be very good. 

However if you don't work in a city centre or new hotel then it is very hard. 

The 4 hotels I worked at were all falling apart with 1 having 6 rooms full of damp and mushrooms and the other rooms having peeling wallpaper, chipped furniture, cracked plaster and rusty bathtubs. 

However higher up management refused to accept that the reason we get back feedback and cleanliness scores was down the hotel having flooded stinking of damp and just the general run down state of the hotel. They instead decided that the Housekeeping staff are at fault and our Hotel manager went along with it threatening to sack staff if the rooms weren't spotless.
 He would then spend around an hour in a room with the HK picking up on the tinniest spot underneath the bathroom bin and claim the room was dirty because of it. 

Our site is up for sale and during a meeting with the regional managers explaining this they tried to say that lots of premier Inns are within half an hour drive whilst mentioning Blackpool and Rhyl as being close despite Blackpool being an hour drive and Rhyl being 1 and a half hours. 
When someone in the meeting asked if the hotel could at least have the problems like cracked plaster and damp issues fixed a regional manager said "We're not going to spend money on Flat screen tv's if that's what you mean" Obviously believing that the hotel doesn't legitimately have mushrooms growing in the carpets. 

Management also refused to accept that we are short staffed and say it's not a problem that HK are expected to clean 12+ rooms every day along with receptionist having to clean 4 rooms. 

Or that most receptionist have to work well over 40 hours because the HM won't pick up any covering shifts. 

The opportunity for progression is in theory there but after being promised 3 Jobs only to have them given to someone else and handing in my notice have I been able to finally get onto the apprentiship that they love to advertise.

There's no such thing as just receptionist or just waiter in premier inn, everyone needs to do everything at once, reception, bar, restaurant, make beds because housekeeping doesn't make enough spares and people book family rooms or twins in the evening and there's none, that should not be allowed to happen but then again you are doing everything and premier inn exploits that, I made dozens of beds as a team member, maintenance issues because the hotel sells all rooms leaving no spares for emergency cases, therefore if something major happens you can't move the guest to another room you have to fix the issue yourself or get humiliated, had to fix sinks, TVs, showers, while getting 0 training on any of these, you just get thrown in, I have had many managers in 3 years, and all of them are fairly nice people to talk with but have a very big trait in common, they're all lowkey snakes, they will overwork you, put you on extra shift, fiddle with your words saying that you wanted this or they take words out of context that they will use against you to work you more, this has happened to me and have seen it happen many times to my colleagues, I feel understaffed at all times, I am in charge of the drinks stock and I never have time to do that properly, nowadays I only get 1 other person on shift with me, which means we are always running off our feet, I never have time to do the orders, check the stock and arrange the stock properly in the fridges and shelves, however it is expected that I somehow do it even though I do 6 other jobs at the same time, and on top of everything that you have to do already, they added cocktails and promos in the bar, which you will not have time to do nor the necessary training, bare in mind you also have to make the desserts in the kitchen as the chefs do not do them, the only up this company ever had is the people that work there, altough that is still a gamble, I have met all kinds of people, if youre in your early 20s or a student maybe it wouldn't be too bad for a short period, overall premier inn is absolutely one of the worst jobs you can apply for, stay away from this unless you have no soul

You never knew what you were going to get with each shift in terms or guests. You’ll always have your generic type on guest throughout the week being workmen but aside from this, is was always different and that’s what kept things interesting. 2 reception on shift evenings and nights and management with one reception on in the morning so you always had a second person on shift. Management were only available via text or call in the evenings which we would tend to avoid contacting unless absolutely necessary which meant that we had the opportunity to take initiative and lead our colleague as the shift leader. Although there was always one appointed person on shift, the roles and responsibilities would still be shared. The job allows you to learn and improve on a lot of key skills such as communication, shift management, complaints handling, use of initiative and taking control of situations. You learn on the job and quickly as it’s a fast paced environment. Throughly enjoyed working here. Work life balance was basically non existent with the hours taking up evenings which is to be expected in hospitality. Morning shifts will obviously give you a bit more flexibility but they will expect you to do a mixture of both mornings and evenings to share the shifts equally. Rotas were never given 2 weeks in advance and sometimes as late as receiving it on a Tuesday with the premier inn week starting from Friday to Thursday so not your normal Monday to Sunday week. Your week will begin on a Friday which will be the first day on the rota (I hope that makes sense) so what I’m getting as is you’ll receive your rota only a few days before the next rota starts which is unfortunate. Premier inn is quite the playground in terms of gossip and anything will spread like wildfire but if you keep yourself away from all of that then you won’t have a problem. Only when you spend a lot of time within that day environment, it is hard to not get sucked it so be mindful. Other than all of that, I learnt a lot from my work at premier inn and would recommend it with all of the above in mind. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Hotel manager 239 salaries reported	£34,205 per year
Assistant hotel manager 7 salaries reported	£39,157 per year
Kitchen team member 1 salary reported	£12.56 per hour
Housekeeping manager 17 salaries reported	£36,151 per year
Duty manager 1 salary reported	£24.50 per hour

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