Spot the Premier Inn

Wouldn't you think that "making sure people can find your hotel" would be pretty high up the checklist of any competent operator?

Seemingly not for Premier Inn's Stansted Airport hotel:

* Road signs specify other hotels (inc Holiday Inn which turns out to be next door) but do not mention Premier Inn

* The written description ("We are situated opposite Mid-Stay Car Park, adjacent to BP Petrol Station and McDonalds") is far from specific - when you get to that petrol station, the hotel is not visible, nor any signs.

* The entrance is invisible until you are level with the (sharp) left-hand turn - the hotel sign is until then hidden behind a bush. Here is what you see 20m before the entrance:

Can you see any signs to the Premier Inn hotel? Me neither. Looking for the hotel in the dark, we turned around and took directions from Google Maps - which wrongly thinks that the hotel has its entrance on the A120 bypass that runs beside the hotel. [Google provides clear instructions on how to get them to correct such errors - a shame that Premier Inn haven't bothered.]

After a detour of about 11 miles, we were back again, and in desperation drove further forwards this time to see this:

The (illuminated) sign on the left is only suggestion that this is the Premier Inn, and this is only visible AFTER you have driven past it - and you'd only do that if you had already spotted the entrance to the hotel, or were driving into the entrance of the "Maple Manor" car park.

* Google Streetview stops coverage about 100m short of the entrance - not the hotel's fault, but it should be the occasion for extra care in writing clear instructions AND for providing good local signage - like this, perhaps:

What did the hotel management have to say? Essentially that to get the signage fixed would take an awful lot of work, because they would have to work with the local authority and the airport to get the appropriate permissions.

Signage may indeed be complicated to sort out, but so is sewerage. I don't think that Premier Inn would leave their toilets draining into a swamp outside the front of their hotel - they would sort out all those pesky permissions to provide a professional solution. 

So why is it OK to shrug shoulders and give up on the task of helping people find the hotel?

For those trying to find the hotel, here are current (Sep 2017) instructions. Follow signs to "Services and Express By Holiday Inn". As you pass McDonalds, head straight on, with the BP garage (with M&S) on your left. Don' worry that there is no sign of Premier Inn - carry on as far as you can go until you are about to enter the car park for "Maple Manor Parking". At the very last minute, you will spot an entrance on the left (until then hidden by a hedge) with two barriers. Go through the left-hand barrier into the car park, around the corner to the right - and there is your hotel!