A holiday-loving family have kept themselves entertained during lockdown by transforming a bedroom into a HOTEL.
The O’Farrell-Duerdens regularly travel the UK when taking part in softball tournaments and going on other weekend family trips.
But like the rest of the country, they have been resigned to spending the majority of the past three months stuck at home.
So they got around not being able to go away by creating their own hotel at home.
The idea came about after daughter Edie, three, asked when they would be able to stay in a hotel again as they drove past their local Premier Inn.
Mum Lindsay, 44, decided that while they couldn’t experience the real thing, they should just recreate the fun memories they had on their weekends.
They spent a week writing a list of all the things they remembered about their Premier Inn stays – from keycards and door signs to in-room menus and lighting.
Finn, five, helped make the items while Lindsay helped with other details such as the purple lights behind the headboard and keycard box for the door.
The other part of their stay which the children were keen to recreate was a pizza takeaway and treats in the room, which the children’s mums Lindsay and Nicola, 40, were happy to oblige with.
Lindsay, from Greater Manchester, said: “Lockdown has been hard on everyone, and we are all missing some of the fun things we would be doing.
“We decided it would be fun for us to recreate a Premier Inn at home and plan a ‘trip’ to our hotel.
“The children loved recreating all the bits of the hotel, and especially loved the treat of having a pizza.
“What they love about Premier Inn is the fact that we are all able to stay together in one room and have a big sleepover, and usually the stay is accompanied by a fun activity too.
“We hope our idea inspires other families to recreate fun memories and it won’t be long before we can hopefully stay in an actual Premier Inn.”
The O’Farrell-Duerden family aren’t the only ones looking to recreate Premier Inn at home.
Over the years the hotel company has received hundreds of letters from fans who have undertaken similar efforts – including one from a retired couple who are currently spending every weekend in the ‘Premier Inn’ spare bedroom they created.
Simon Ewins, Premier Inn managing director UK, said: “We have loved seeing what our guests who are missing their Premier Inn trips have come up with and we were so impressed by the detail of what the O’Farrell-Duerden family had recreated.
“So many people have favourite things about their stays, whether it is the location near a favourite place or loved one, or the comfortable beds and a good night’s sleep, and whilst you can’t always recreate those at home we have loved seeing so many people are having a go.
“We know many people are looking forward to when they can come and stay with us again, and behind the scenes our teams are busy getting the hotels ready for when they can start welcoming our guests back.
“Plus, with the recent launch of our new flexible booking rates we hope lots of people will feel confident to book with us and stay once we are able to open our doors.”
With families across the country recreating their own hotels at home, Premier Inn has launched a competition for someone to win the contents of a hotel room by sharing what they miss most about staying away and also sharing their own fun stories on the Premier Inn Facebook page.
The winner will be awarded some of the best bits of the room including the famous Premier Inn bed, duvet and pillows. The hotel is also selling its bed and pillows online.
For more information, visit www.premierinn.com
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