On my way to Blackpool and needed a reasonably priced stop over. This hotel fits the bill although a late arrival meant I was relegated to the overfill NCP car park across the road. Bit of a trek as you also had to display a ticket provided by the hotel. That aside, the room was clean and tidy as you would expect of holiday inn. Breakfast was better than the usual HI std.

I'll start this with the plus points: It's centrally located, and it's cheap.
However, the reception is on the 1st floor - which is frankly weird. You can't use the lift from the ground floor, you have to go up the stairs to the 1st floor reception in order to use the lift. We were baffled as to why any hotel would have the reception on the first floor and no-one to greet guests as they arrive into an empty lobby!
Parking is atrocious. Tiny car park, no room and people constantly circling like sharks for spaces. When the car park is full, you have to park in the bus station car park (which, in all the years I lived in Preston, was always an appalling place and still is) and pay £4 per day for the privilege. I used a hire car, and was not keen on leaving a vehicle I wasn't responsible for in a dark and dingy car park overnight, so my daughter stood in a parking space for me when one came available and fended people off while I moved the car!
Due to our schedule, we had to take breakfast in our room. To say it was a rip-off is an understatement. We ordered toast for 2 and yoghurt with fruit. £2.50 for toast, £3.50 for fruit and yoghurt - we were expecting some kind of fruit salad, but it consisted of a pre-bought (sugar laden) probiotic yoghurt, a banana and an apple! For £3.50. The toast was cold and soggy, we weren't provided with enough cutlery or plates, and our tray remained outside our room for the entire day and was still there in the evening when we returned to the room. The following day, with a similar schedule, we only ordered the toast. This time, we were charged £8 (£3 of which was a 'tray' charge) and no plates were provided.
In this day an age, it's also shocking that there is no wi-fi available - either free or paid for. There is high-speed internet via a cable connection, but if you don't have a PC with you (we didn't, I prefer to use a tablet or my phone) that doesn't really help. When I'm on holiday in Turkey, every cafe, restaurant, hotel and bar has free wi-fi available, and yet you can't get that in a hotel in the UK.
I wouldn't say the hotel was bad - it was acceptable for the price - but I wouldn't stay there again because of the parking issues, the appallingly expensive room service and the lack of wi-fi. I shall continue my quest for a single decent hotel in Preston!

stayed here for one night on the way to isle of man with coach trip. unlike the previous gentleman who complained about the food for coach passengers we found that our meal was very good although we had a half hour wait for our starters and quite enough. the staff were very friendly and helpful. yes the drinks are expensive so go out for a drink. the room was clean and comfortable so we were quite satisfied with our overnight stay..

Having come from an excellent HI, I was brought back down a bit. HI Preston, obviousely has had some upgrade, but reception is tired with worn out carpets. Initially reception lady was not the beaming greeting, but she did improve as booking in continued. My later return for Internet sort out was greeted with a smiley bubbles sorting out sort of girl!
Room was comfortable, clean, with the normal corporate look, adequate for the 1 night stay, bathroom clean but in need of a makeover as paintwork and flooring looking tired.
Resturant, mm not that good, I asked if the veg selection was frozen, No, it clearly was a selection of frozen veg! Thai chicken salad came, not sure where the salad was, but give then their due they took it away and returned it with what I was expecting to see the 1st time, and no charge, which is not what I was particularly looking for, but I am sure my company will be pleased at the reduced food bill!!
Can't comment on breakfast as writing this the evening before. Would I stay again, possibly, it would be good to see all the HI chain coming up to the decor and modern standard of last nights hotel, HI at scotch corner!

I stayed here some time ago and im just doing all the reviews on the hotels Ive stayed at anyways i stayed here in January & July 2013, the hotel used to be a posthouse and its had a decent refurbishment since then, its got lifts to the reception which is based on the 1st floor so as you enter the building you see just some lifts dont worry just either use the lifts or use the stairs next to it? the staff are really decent! ive stayed in 4/5 star hotels for many years and seem staff in them places really rude and burnt out well at the Holiday inn Preston the staff was all lovely! well presented and just a really nice Vibe was in the air, the food was really good and the bar is positioned near the lifts so very convenient to get back to your rooms, reception staff was very nice smiles and positive no signs of pressure or tiredness, the housekeeping really did a fantastic job of keeping the rooms clean & i am big on attention to detail! so thanks HK, i stayed there for 3 days in January and july this year (2013) and enjoyed every moment of it, the only thing i wish it had was a gym/pool but due to the nature of the hotel this isnt possible, there is however an old nightclub underneath the hotel on the ground level that hasnt been used for many years its a shame the company wouldnt invest and make that a Gym/pool as its easy big enough and would encourage a lot of repeat business..thanks to everyone at the hotel :-)

The first thing you notice about the Holiday Inn, Preston is that there is nowhere near enough parking for a hotel of this size. There is a pay and display next door to the hotel, but there is a car park in front of the hotel, but this only has 30 or so spaces and the hotel is a big 'un!!

When in the hotel it's clean and tidy and the staff are very pleasant and helpful. When I had checked in my colleague and I went to the bar and ended up paying over 8 pounds for just 2 drinks. This does match previous experiences I have had in other Holiday Inns.

The rooms are good, but unfortunately I had an adjoining room and through no fault of their own,their own, whoever was in the room next door woke me in the morning. The facilities in the room are sound enough including a decent shower.

As the drinks are so expensive, we had a walk into town and found that there are plenty of pubs and restaurants including the obligatory Wetherspoons, so I would advise you to eat and drink out of the hotel.

Breakfast was very good with plenty of choice (full English, cereal, fruit etc.) and the staff in the restaurant were extremely polite and professional.

All in all, I'd definitely stay here again and it's only the parking and the pricey drinks that let it down.

Family friendly food and great service. Even managed to impress the 2 vegetarians in our group.
Location great with 5 mins walk to shops and market.
Some rooms need a little more attention to detail ie bedside table but really not a problem as all staff showing great team spirit and attention to detail.

The holiday inn Preston is much like any other holiday inn with one exception the dinner service for coach tour guests. Unlike the normal holiday inn dinner service portions served to coach travellers are pitifully small, the choice of main course were a quarter of a chicken breast in sauce, half a fillet of fish in sauce or a quarter of a stuffed aubagine for the non meat eater. The vegetables were undercooked (raw). Starters and deserts were also small.
I must stress that this was a coach tour and normal meals may have been better.
The breakfast was far superior being of normal holiday inn quality with a wide choice of continental and cooked choices.
Rooms again are up to the normal holiday inn standard of comfort.

Our stay at the hotel was okay. Check-in was quick and easy the room offered us all we needed. The location was good with easy access to Preston within easy walking. Parking was easy using the bus station car park opposite

cleanquiet tidy rooms with all usual freebies. very helpful staff. breakfast brilliant - wide choice available. town short walking distance away. taxi under a fiver from train station. lifts quick to work and access. bar a bit pricey but you do realise this staying in hotels.

We stayed here for two nights in June, we had prebooked so booking in was quick and easy. The room is a decent size with a toilet and shower room en-suite. There was a kettle for making tea or coffee but only enough milk for one cup, I went to ask at the bar for more milk and had to wait nearly 10 minutes to get served even though there were hardly any customers in the bar.
It was very expensive for a weekend visit but can be cheap to visit mid-week.
It has easy acess to the ring road of Preston and is close to the Motorway, didn't try the food but it looked expensive on the Menu so choose to eat out.

We stayed overnight en route to Scotland for the second time. Our room was excellent, with all necessary items and we enjoyed our meals. The restaurant staff were lovely, friendly and efficient, notwithstanding the fact that the air conditioning was not working properly and they must have been melting on a very hot evening.

Our only problem was that the air-conditioning in the room didn't work correctly (kept shutting off after 30minutes or so.)

An overnight stay gave us a room overlooking the car park which was quieter than others we have had facing westwards.
The room was clean and functional, in room refreshment supplies were minimal,2 sachets of tea, coffee and sugar, more available on request.
Dining room under pressure at breakfast as approx. 60 people arrived at the same time, lengthy waits resulting at the hot food server.

I am usually very happy to use Holiday Inns when I want relatively cheap accommodation that is clean, smart and provides all the basics +. However, this Holiday Inn did not meet my expectations. It can only be described as a little tired. In addition, although my friend and I asked separately for wake up calls, neither of us received them. The reception was most apologetic but such an oversight could be disastrous. On other matters - charging my kindle, pleasantness and efficiency in dealing with check-in and check-out the staff were very good at the front desk. Not so in the restaurant. The waitress did not know the ingredients in one of the dishes - from the regular menu. There was little style in the service. The food was plentiful and better than expected and the breakfast was very good. I think that attention to refurbishment and some additional staff training could iron out the problems, but I am now a little cautious about seeing Holiday Inn as a brand from which I can expect a thoroughly positive experience.

Stayed here for one night on a business trip. Check in was fine with friendly and helpful reception staff. Room was fine an a relief it had good air con ad it was a very warm day and night. Room did suffer from traffic noise... I had a room overlooking the ring road.....and noise was a constant background despite double glazed windows. Bed was lovely and comfy and bathroom was clean with a good hot shower over the bath. One comment though....only one toilet roll and no spare, not a big deal if you are a solo traveller but could be an issue if you are a couple!
Location isn't the greatest....one side you have the main road and other side you have the bus station and about 5 mins walk back to the main restaurants n shops. Walk from rail Stan along ring road isn't too nice either...very dusty and I wouldn't feel safe doing it after dark either.
Breakfast was buffet style...a good selection of hot and cold foods which were replenished ad needed. Again another small criticism, it would have been nice having my own cafettiere of fresh coffee instead of having to get the waitress's attention for a coffee refill.
Minor points though for what was a nice stay, albeit just for one night.

Typical 70/80s concrete curve. My room was small and a little tired. The road noise (if on the Ringway side) could be distracting. Ask for a room on the bus station side ( but don't expect a view). The aircon was unobtrusive. I rarely leave it running overnight, even if its hot(as it was), as most make too much noise. The restaurant has solid fare. Almost pub food really, but tasty and the staff very friendly. location is handy for Preston centre, a short walk, and in ten minutes you can be wandering the banks of the Ribble too. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to stay here, but acceptable value for an older hotel.

Stayed here mid week on business & generally thought the place was an average Holiday Inn. Location is pretty good & in walkable distance of the town centre, but unfortunately the location comes with traffic noise & parking at a premium. Unfortunately, I had to use the NCP, but it was lashing down with rain when I arrived.
Rooms were clean & functional & the staff were pretty efficient & friendly. Ok for a one night business stay, but wouldn't want to stay longer.

We had our daughter's wedding reception recently at Bashall Barn in Clitheroe - a beautiful plae but not residential. The chief bridesmaid, who works for the Holiday Inn group, organisaed rooms for everyone travelling from out of time - we bused them alll from Clitheroe. Although we only live a short distance away, we decided to stay with the rest including our daughter, new son-in-law and his parents. We arrived about 2.15 a.m. but the receptionist was not in the least fazed by a crowd at that time and on the desk was a "congratulations" to Helen and John - a lovely touch! We had left our bag the night before and it was in our room which was lovely and comfortable - just what we needed. Breakfast next morning was first rate - we wished we could have stayed longer! Our son and his family are from Edinburgh so arrived the day before for a two-night stay. We met them for a meal and the only thing I would say is that I thought the menu was expensive - on the other hand the waiter was attentive and sorted out a meal suitable for our 14-month old grand-daughter.

Just come back from another business trip. I have stayed here a few times before. The receptionist stay are always friendly and helpful with a big smile. The bar staff are good as well. The hotel is at the top of Preston and very close to the city centre. The only niggle is the very little parking spaces at the hotel however there is a large car park across the road that you have to pay for. Ive stayed in many holiday inn hotels across the UK and I would say the staff at this hotel are the best.

The hotel has a very small car park but there is a large pay & display (£6.00 overnight) car park opposite the hotel before the bus station via a roadway to the high level parking areas; if you have lots of luggage or are not able to walk distances you might find this car park a bit too much. The hotel rooms are fine and as expected from this chain. The bar area was nice and comfortable and the food was quite good.

We had a lovely room that ticked all the boxes. Location is ok if on a business trip but not a family holiday. Parking is limited so good luck. Staff friendly & our overall experience was good apart from breakfast on both days. Saturday breakfast was cold & tasted re-heated, Sunday breakfast was better & warmer.

I stay in the Holiday Inn Preston on a regular basis. It is well located, clean and comfortable. The breakfast is of a very high standard and the staff are great. All of the rooms that I have frequented are well laid out with access to numerous TV channels

This hotel should be rated number 1 in Preston. As 'professional' stayers in hotels this hotel never fails to come up to the highest of standards. Reservations/reception could not be more helpful; house staff cheerful - give Lorraine a medal; housekeeping brilliant - thanks Mary!; kitchen staff up there at the top; restaurent personnel makes eating a joy. (Breakfast everything you could ask for. Uncertain of the menu changes since our last stay but pick and choose and make up a meal to enjoy everytime.) Stay needed the air conditioning which worked creditably. All in all if we could choose a hotel in which to become residents this is high on the short list. Most certainly we shall be back. Thanks for a great stay - again!!!

Stayed twice with work on 2 separate weeks. Staff are really really nice especially the breakfast staff (Thanks). Breakfast is nice, rooms are clean, comfy and just what you need.

They’re quiet and well made up. Comfy pillows and mattress both times. A view of Preston (Yes a view!). On the down side – rubbish toiletries as I can’t stand the ones that are chained to the walls!!

Cracking wee gym as well with a runner and a few machines on the top floor. Thanks to the staff for putting me next to it for ease – much appreciated.

I stayed here when i was travelling by coach as i needed somewhere close that i can get a quick sleep before continuing on my long journey and this hotel couldn't get closer to the bus station if it tried. Had to wait for an hour before we could check-in as the check in time was 3pm which i thought was a bit late bit never the less the rooms where clean and tidy and the shower and bathroom in great working order. Staff seemed friendly enough and i would recommend them if your travelling by coach and need a stopover.