Last Friday, we dropped the youngest girls off at school and made our way to Birmingham. It was hard saying goodbye as I couldn’t make too much of a “fuss” over leaving them just before a day of school. I wanted the girls to be happy, but equally I wanted to tell them how much I loved them and would miss them while we were away. Thankfully they were excited about Nanny picking them up so that took their mind off the fact they would be away from us.
We had booked to stay two nights at Birmingham South (Longbridge Station) Premier Inn. It was very easy to find (we used the Car Park Sat Nav Postcode: B31 2TW then followed signs for Long Stay Parking) and it’s just three miles off the M5 (Junction 4). Parking in Longbridge was very simple too. The Veri-Park system has Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) using cameras and software. You can either pay at the Pay Machine or online by just inputting your registration number. We found the long stay (level 3) parking charges reasonable and with the Premier Inn discount (just tell the receptionist your Car Registration number on arrival) only paid just over £3 for each overnight stay (we used the car during the day).
The Multi Storey Carpark has large, modern lifts, handy for suitcases, pushchairs, wheelchairs and lift selfies!
The hotel is a short walk from the car park with lots of shops and amenities nearby. There is a Poundland and a Boots close to the short stay car park, Marks and Spencer is in between the car park and hotel (I managed to catch a look at the Alexa Chung Archive Collection) and Sainsburys is opposite the hotel.
We were greeted by very friendly staff who went out of their way to help us. As we had extended our original one night stay to two nights over two separate bookings I had to check that we could merge these booking into one and keep the same room. They were more than happy to help.
We stayed on the second floor in a comfortable room. Family rooms consist of a King Size Hypnos Bed and two single beds so we could all have a comfy night sleep.
Even with all the beds in the room, the room was spacious and had all of the storage we needed.
Rebecca’s bed (before being filled with toys and books).
The desk.
Our lovely Hypnos bed- so comfortable (Premier Inn are so confident that you’ll love these beds they even have a partnership arrangement making it easy for customers to buy the Premier Inn Hypnos Bed.
Everything you need- tea and coffee facilities (I brought my own long-life soy milk), hair-dryer, TV, extra pillows, towels and storage space.
The bathroom with a bath and shower which is always handy for the kids.
After settling in our rooms we went out for food. There are a number of eateries nearby to choose from. Premier Inn Longbridge South has an on site Beefeater Grill with great offers (and where the hotel breakfast is served).
After food, we popped to Sainsburys for supplies and then settled in the room for the night.
Premier Inn offer a good night’s sleep guarantee and have lots of features to help aid sleep which is handy when staying away from home (sometimes it’s just too and exciting to sleep when staying somewhere new- or is that just our kids?). The rooms are air conditioned to keep them the perfect temperature for sleep and have cocooning blackout curtains which help make a holiday lie in that little easier.
As I’ve previously mentioned, they also have “the comfiest beds in the world”, Hypnos Beds. The beds are quite high (well for people like me with very short legs) but are very comfortable and I did sleep well.
Premier Inn have also gone a little bit further and recently launched an audio-book that has the sole aim of putting its listeners to sleep!
Voiced with the soothing tones of Lenny Henry and created by sleep expert Dave Gibson for Premier Inn, the audio-book incorporates suggestive language and tones proven to induce feelings of relaxation.
The calming beach story follows the tale of Toby’s seaside adventure and is light, whimsical and relaxing to listen to, with evocative words, phrases and visual metaphors intentionally intertwined with the relaxing narrative from Lenny Henry, to achieve the desired outcome and send listeners into a deep and comfortable sleep.
I downloaded the app and let the kids listen to it. They are used to me reading “Relax Kids” to them which use similar techniques and have also both learnt relaxation methods in school and with me. The story did relax them but did not completely put them to sleep, although after a bit of weekend family TV in bed (as a hotel treat) it wasn’t long before they were in the land of slumber and did sleep well.
The app is free to download from Premier Inn, the audio-book is available here www.premierinn.com/sleepdreams. It would also come in handy if you’d forgot to pack a story book for your family stay.
In the morning, we woke to the sight of snow, some of the cars driving past were completely white. I worried that we’d be cold in the Spring clothes I’d packed but thankfully the sun came out again later so we didn’t have to pop to M&S for winter woolies!
Refreshed after as good night’s sleep and breakfast we made our way to the Little Hearts Matter conference. It was held at The Beeches, in Bournville. As this venue often fills up accommodation wise during conferences, the Premier Inn is a very convenient alternative.
I’ll write more about our time at the conference soon but it was very informative as always for us as heart parents and also for Danny and Rebecca.
We arrived back to Longbridge and found that we’d missed seeing “The Pride of Longbridge” parade taking place in town on that day.
We had another good night’s sleep and looked forward to our breakfast the next day.
The kids love hotel breakfasts and luckily for them two children can eat free with one full playing adult (£8.99) this offer comes in handy especially when we have all four kids with us.
I started off with fruit. juice and tea while the kids had pancakes and yogurt.
We placed our order for our cooked breakfasts rather than helped ourselves. Quorn sausages are available for vegetarians but I went for the vegan option.
Dave’s choice of breakfast. We all enjoyed and ate well. It was fresh and delicious. Then it was time to pack up and leave, ready to drive into Birmingham for Danny’s stay at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
We will definitely stay at Premier Inn Birmingham South (Longbridge Station) again. It’s convenient for:
- Cadbury World (5 miles)
- Technology Park (0.1 mile)
- The Beeches Conference Centre (7 miles)
- Birmingham Science Park (9 miles)
- Lickey Hills Golf (2 miles)
- Barclaycard Arena (8 miles)
Prices start from £48. We received one night free for purposes of review. All views and opinions are our own.
