Is a Premier Inn Plus Room Worth the Extra?

It begins, as these things often do, with a small death.

Not the dramatic kind. Not the kind involving violins or headlines. Just the slow bureaucratic suffocation of what used to be called “customer service.”

I arrive at the Premier Inn Birmingham City Centre (Exchange Square) — luggage in hand, optimism in pocket — and am greeted not by a human but by a gesture. A nod. A point. A kiosk.

“Check in there.”

No warmth. No theatre. No “Welcome to Birmingham.” Just me and a glowing screen asking me to confirm I am, in fact, myself. The machine hums. I comply. Somewhere a shareholder smiles.