Anyone get cheaper Premier Inn prices?

[TakeMeDownToLondonTown]

Hello,

I start a new job in just over a week and need to stay over one night a week due to the distance. I'm remote, from home the rest of the week.

I had to leave my current role as I hated it and we are at risk of being closed. Decided to go back into my own field.

As this accommodation will be paid for by me (as it's my choice to do this) is there a cheaper rate - for regulars - that I can get with Premier Inn or any other hotel chain. I'm not keen on Airbnb.

It's in the Cumbria/Lancashire area and I live in the north east. Mileage is less, believe it or not, than 5 days at my current workplace.

Or, if anyone has any other ideas on where I can stay one night a week, without making this expensive for me, then let me know.

You’ve no hope. I stay over 2 nights a week and PI are always too expensive (I have a £100 night budget in London).

Maybe try an independent B&B instead.

Over the years I've had many lodgers who were work colleagues. Some of them stayed the working work, others one or two nights.
It might be worth asking at your new company if anyone is interested in an arrangement.

Cumbria Lancashire border is my stomping ground - where roughly do you need to be?

Travelodge might be cheaper

I'm not aware of anything with Premier Inn.

I was also going to suggest an independent B&B or hotel would be much more likely, especially if it's a Monday or Tuesday.

Oh sorry, misread the question. You’re wanting a regular user discount? A friend of mine gets this in Liverpool, gets every tenth stay free….but I think it’s an independent place.

Call and ask…

How about having a look on hotels.com or similar. They all have loyalty schemes and you can book whichever hotel is cheapest that week while still accruing the benefits.
For example we recently went to Plymouth for the uni open day. PI wanted more than £200 for two rooms one night. Hotels.com we got a curry centre 4 star family room for £72 and two free drinks at the bar.

I suggest emailing a few hotels. They might be able to help you with some discount especially if paid upfront.

I was doing something similar but several nights (up to 5) a week for a year. People thought I was bonkers but it paid off in a weird way as I got to know about the company I work for now while working away.

Premier Inn aren’t the cheapest but you can get decent deals sometimes.

I expect you’ll already be planning on doing this but flexible bookings can be a good shout if the prices seem higher certain weeks when booking in advance. A few times I was able to cancel the week before having found somewhere else cheaper closer to the time.

Booking through booking.com a few times earned me genius discounts too, which were in fairness decent on a few occasions.@wonderingwhatsnext’s suggestion was what I also did, so I am going to +1 it. I signed up to Hilton, IHG (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza etc) and Accor’s (Novotel, Ibis, Mercure) loyalty programmes and would book wherever was cheaper and get the loyalty points. Some weeks I also stayed in air bnbs that advertised on Booking.com and one or two independent hotels. think Hilton’s loyalty programme is the best.
Would also recommend Greene King too. I’ve stayed in two of their hotels with rooms and they’re on a par with some of the Premier Inns I’ve stayed in.

Ring and speak to the reservations managers for some of the bigger brand hotels. Had I not changed jobs I was planning on agreeing a decent discounted regular rate with the one hotel. I was also able to get a decent rate after staying at an independently owned hotel around the corner from where I worked and booked through them rather than booking.com

Premier inns will often be cheaper in advance and vary day to day, so as it sounds like you will have some flexibility on which night you stay, just pick the cheapest. Plan ahead.

Do browse Booking.com though. I have found a spectacular B&B that's closer to a country house hotel than a premier inn that's incredibly cheap. There are some gems.

My dad negotiated a good rate with an independent hotel by paying for a block booking up front. He stayed one night per week for 3 months and they gave him 20% discount and free breakfast. Worth emailing a few local places and asking?

Travel lodge is usually cheaper than premier inn and booking way on advance is also usually cheaper.

I'd have a look at air bnb, someone might give you a good rate if you pay for a few up front.

Local's the way to go rather than a Premier Inn. It's also worth asking your work, they might have places they send people/deals already in place.

I would say though that for years a relative of mine had a Tuesday - Thursday lodger and she loved that, in fact it helped her keep her house after a divorce. Definitely worth keeping your eye out for something like that.

Have a look on spare room. Or advertise on there. There are people who do mon-fri lets so someone might want some cash for 1 night

A colleague did this for 6 months. Opted for independent B&B as it was considerably cheaper.

Premier Inn do offer some discounts for business bookings. I'm not sure if it applies if you are booking privately for business purposes, I am self employed so I book for myself but with a business account. It's worth looking into it though. The programme is called Business Booker.

Travelodge is a lot cheaper than Premier Inn.

But generally I find an AirBnB I'm happy with and just go there regularly, can often find somewhere walking distance to work.

I had to stop using travelodges in London. The cheap (sub £100 a night) ones are SO noisy.

A bit like @Ted27 ’s suggestion - both DS and (unrelated) DSIL work away from home occasionally. With DS it follows a regular weekly pattern, for DSIL less so.

Both of them stay near their workplaces as lodgers, one with a colleague and the other with a family who he knew before he moved away.

It provides income for the hosts without the difficulties of having someone staying in your house all the time.

Perhaps you can enquire about that once you have been in your new job for a short while.

Most of my AirBnB arrangements have been - start off, like flat, location and owner, after about a month one of asks to go off the books of AirBnb.

So effectively doing a lodger arrangement.

Premier Inns are very expensive now, the last few times we have looked to book, they have been much more expensive than Airbnb or independents. I don’t even bother looking at Premier Inns now.