Hotel guests at a Southampton Premier Inn have been left without a place to stay after ‘essential maintenance’ closed the majority of rooms.

On Friday, staff from Premier Inn, on New Road in Southampton, sent an email to hotel guests saying that tonight’s reservations had been cancelled.

The email reads: “Important information regarding to your reservation with us at Premier Inn Southampton City Centre.

“Due to circumstances out of our control we have had to close off majority of the rooms in our hotel, meaning we are unable to accommodate your reservation tomorrow.

“We do apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and we are happy to help with suggesting other hotels around the Southampton area and will provide full refunds.

“Please contact us for any questions and queries you may have.”

The news comes as two cruise ships are in the port today and four cruise ships are sailing into Southampton tomorrow.

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A spokesperson for Premier Inn said: “Unfortunately, the site has had to close some rooms due to essential maintenance.

“The team is working really hard to make alternative arrangements for guests. The work will be completed by the end of next week.”

Premier Inn declined to explain to the Echo what ‘essential maintenance’ means.

The last-minute cancellation led to anger among guests, leaving them scrabbling to find alternative accommodation.

One of those people planning to visit the hotel took to Facebook to warn other guests about the booking cancellation.

The user said: “Just woken to this email this morning.

“We are flying to Southampton tonight from Belfast and now we have no accommodation as Premier Inn have cancelled.

“We are travelling with two children – we are fuming.”

A follower added: "Oh my goodness, what a nightmare."