The Preston Marriott Hotel
The Preston Marriott Hotel is part of the Marriott Bonvoy worldwide chain of hotels and used to be a Victorian manor house. 4-Star Preston Hotel | Preston Marriott Hotel
Its amazingly comfortable beds and proximity to major motorways makes this a great choice of hotel.
We stayed in room 366 which is on the top floor. The room had a view of high bushes, which provided privacy and was better than a car park view (as the hotel is surrounded by its road and car parks).
If you join Marriott Bonvoy (it’s free) you will receive benefits like free WiFi, mobile check in and lower rates (if you book direct – which as you will see in a section below I chose not to on this occasion). Join Marriott Bonvoy | Become a Marriott Loyalty Program Member
Where is the Preston Marriott Hotel
You will find the Preston Marriott Hotel within minutes of the M6 and M55 motorways within Lancashire in the United Kingdom.
The address of the Preston Marriott Hotel is Garstang Road, Broughton, Preston, PR3 5JB.
The hotel is surrounded by locations like Blackpool, Manchester and Liverpool and not forgetting Preston itself.
I have recorded a video of the drive from the M6 Northbound Motorway to the Preston Marriott Hotel Driving to the Preston Marriott Hotel
Our experience of the Preston Marriott Hotel
We booked a double/double room which included breakfast, WiFi and free Cancellation. Our total room cost was £278.
See the next section for how we paid for the room and saved money.
We were at the Hotel from Wednesday 16th June 2021 till Friday 18th June 2021so 2 nights.
We spent the Wednesday in Chester and then drove to the hotel from there. It was a simple, mainly motorway drive of just over an hour. I have YouTube videos of our Drive to Chester and of our day in Chester showing What is there to do and see in Chester and also a factsheet covering what there is do to in Chester that can be found at Ears and Ideas – Here to help with your Travel Plans
I had initially researched and booked this hotel prior to the pandemic but had to cancel. So, for this booking I did not bother researching it again. A short time before we were due to travel, I did have a look on Trip Advisor and this made me really nervous as there were some really negative reviews. I have to say we had no major issues and I think some people have unrealistic expectations, especially during a pandemic! Or is it that we are just chilled?
On arrival at the hotel, we found parking to be plentiful and free for overnight hotel guests (we just had to log our car registration number on an iPad at reception).
There was sanitiser as you entered the building and all over the public areas of the hotel including in front of the lifts (elevators).
The reception staff were polite and profession and quickly got us checked in. They informed us on where to find our room and times and location of breakfast.
We found our room to be clean. However, there was nothing in the room or the door to say the room had been cleaned to an enhanced standard (although it was explained on the website). But we had wipes with us to clean all the high touch areas, just to be safe and so I felt comfortable.
I will discuss what was in the room and the hotel facilities in later sections.
Through experience of previous hotels, I always check there is the right number of towels, glasses and coffee cups for the number of guests booked and on this occasion, all was in place.
We had a great night sleep on the fabulous Marriott beds and headed down to breakfast in the morning (certainly on the weekdays we were there you didn’t have to book a restaurant slot)
We were able to chose which available table we wanted and the Hostess explained that the breakfast was a Chef served buffet, either cooked or continental. The Hostess also took our toast and drinks order. Even though it worked like this you could have as much or as little as you liked.
The restaurant staff were all polite, professional and helpful.
We then headed to Fleetwood for the day to visit family. This was a simple 40-minute drive, half of which was on the M55.
On our return to the Hotel, it was clear our room had been serviced, which is fine, but I had to wipe over the high touch points again. Some people may feel this is OTT, but in the current climate we all do what makes us feel comfortable, this was our first pandemic hotel stay and previous self-catering accommodation we’d stayed in had left information in the accommodation about the enhanced cleaning methods used. I believe some hotel chains put stickers on the room doors.
One thing though……the person that had serviced our room had failed to replenish our glasses! Not a problem though, a phone call via the relevant button on the phone and this was rectified within minutes. A bonus was the previous glasses were actually clear plastic cups and the replacements were proper glasses 😊
We had an uneventful second night and second breakfast at the hotel, then drove to Cheshire Oaks designer outlet near Chester on the Friday morning before our drive home. The drive to Cheshire Oaks was just an hour and mainly on the M6 motorway.
How to save money when booking the Preston Marriott Hotel
We booked our room for 2 nights using Tesco Clubcard vouchers. Follow this link to my article on how Tesco Clubcard Vouchers work.
Basically, we used Hotel.com via the Tesco Clubcard link. Checked the cost of our 2-night trip for our room of choice and exchanged the appropriate number of points for vouchers.
The base cost of a 2 night double/double room with breakfast, WiFi and free cancellation was a total of £278 for Wednesday 16th June and Thursday 17th June 2021.
We used points that when times by 3 were worth £240 towards our booking, which left us to pay £38 cash.
I did however make a mistake, as the Tesco Clubcard Vouchers are not transferable or cancellable, as due to the high COVID-19 levels at the time in the North West of England I did explore moving our booking to a different hotel, but only the £38 was covered. So, I should heed my own advice and read the small print properly ☹If nothing else I shouldn’t have paid extra for free cancellation as it was almost worthless.
Another way to save money is via QUIDCO, the link takes you to the factsheet about it, if you are new to Quidco. As I write this, they are offering 1.6% on Marriott International bookings and up to 10% off Hotel.com bookings. Their savings change regularly so please check their website.
I would also check TopCashBack, follow this link for more information Want to get your next trip cheaper? – Ears and Ideas. As I write this, they are offering 3% cashback for Marriott International bookings and 10% for Hotel.com bookings.
What was in the room
Positives in room
THE BEDS – in my experience and of course based on my preference, the Marriott beds are one of the best you can find and we were not let down at the Preston Marriott. They are so comfortable. 😊
The Desk – my pet peeve! There was actually a desk, a seat, a mirror, a decent light and plugs all in the same location!!! 😊 It’s not much to ask but so many hotels and self-contained accommodations fail on this one. This is something that anyone who bothers with hair and make up need together in one place but is so often missing. Sorry I am ranting a little! Although it was not quite perfect, see below for the hair dryer.
Shower rail/curtain – I love this sort of shower rail, where it curves out, so the curtain doesn’t try and eat you while you’re having a shower!
WiFi – we had WiFi as part of our booking and I was able to do everything I wanted to do on my computer without issue.
48” Widescreen TV – it was a lovely large TV with the full range of Freeview channels
All the usuals – towels, face cloths, tissues, kettle, tea, coffee, trouser press, iron and board, safe, phone, bottle opener.
Negatives in the room
Hair dryer – the hairdryer was the sort that you have to keep a button pressed throughout its use. If this wasn’t bad enough it was connected to the inside of a drawer!!! This drawer was not next to the desk to make things worse, although it was close to another mirror. I presume they have suffered thefts in the past, but this really wasn’t a useful place for it to be. But it’s not a deal breaker, I will just bring my own next time.
Air conditioner – the room had an air conditioner/fan unit, but oh my goodness was it loud! It was like sitting next to a jet engine!!! When we were out and about the next day, we bought a fan! We needed an extra one at home anyway so not a problem. It didn’t help that the air conditioner/fan didn’t have any instructions, maybe I had it on the jet engine setting 😊
Plug sockets – there were 2 available plug sockets by the desk, which when charging phones, computers and cameras is not enough, but we are used to carrying a multiplug extension when we travel and we also had a multi USB charger with us, so wasn’t a problem. I will pop an Amazon link to a useful multi USB charger at the end of this article in case you are interested.
Cups, glasses and spoons – The cups were paper, the glasses were lightweight plastic and the spoons were in fact wooden stirrers. When we are served with proper crockery in the restaurant, I don’t understand why there are disposable in the room! So, we bought a teaspoon when buying the fan and had reusable lidded coffee cups in the car that we brought up.
The Office Chair – the chair at the desk while extremely comfortable was well past its sell by date, the covering on the seat was pretty worn. I don’t think it was just in this room as this had been mentioned on Trip advisor. But it was comfortable, so didn’t overly bother me.
Information – I know it is due to COVID, but you don’t get the usual guest information in the room that you would usually, I did miss having access to this in the room as the website gave limited information .
Other room elements
Toiletries – there was shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and body lotion in the bathroom, that was replenished the next day. It had a mild lemon scent, but not a brand I had heard of. It was Acca Kappa which based on Amazon prices is a luxury brand, but I would much prefer Molton Brown! Here is a link to it on the UK Amazon site if you are interested https://amzn.to/3i9JpYw
Noise level – absolutely no issue at all, but I don’t think the hotel was at capacity, so not a true guide.
What facilities are there in the hotel
Parking – the parking was free of charge for overnight hotel guests and there certainly seemed to be ample. This might be different if there are a lot of day guests attending a conference or wedding for example.
Dining – we only experienced breakfast, which took place in the Cast Iron Grill. During our visit for lunch and dinner you had to use The Brew Bar Lounge as the Cast Iron Grill wasn’t open (due to COVID related low numbers of guests)
Other facilities that we didn’t utilise –
- A fitness club, that included
- Cardiovascular equipment
- Free weights
- Studio classes
- Jacuzzis
- Sauna
- Steam room
- Pool
- Landscaped gardens
- Meeting and event spaces
Places in driving distance to the Preston Marriott Hotel
For example –
Chester – just over an hour drive
Cheshire Oaks – an hour’s drive – Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet
Blackpool Pleasure Beach – under 30 minutes’ drive – Blackpool Pleasure Beach
The Trafford Centre, Manchester – a 40-minute drive – Welcome to The Trafford Centre, Manchester
Would I stay again?
Yes absolutely, with the fabulous beds, friendly but professional staff, no issues or charges with parking and its proximity to the motorways it’s a no brainer!
You don’t get the wow factor that some Marriott hotels provide, but the Preston Marriott is still a good choice.
Useful items for your trip
USB multi charger – this is quite useful as also an international travel adapter – https://amzn.to/3xIIzZy
Camera – 📸We took the pictures on my Sony ZV-1 camera https://amzn.to/3u1VKCY
Camera Grip – We use a grip/short tripod with my camera – the Sony GP-VPT2BT https://amzn.to/2TeWJm5
Car windscreen camera clamp – if you also take a look at my YouTube channel videos, we create the driving footage by attaching our ZV-1 camera to our windscreen (you can also connect other cameras or phones using this device) https://amzn.to/3tolqJS For non-UK markets, this is a similar product https://amzn.to/3eBwkFD
Please note the Amazon links above affiliate links, which means that we see a very small commission on any of the products you purchase. This will not affect the price you pay and is just a way of supporting our adventures. Thank you for your support. ❤
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