A hotel which suddenly had to cancel bookings on Friday is still partially closed due to "essential maintenance".

On Friday, guests at Premier Inn on New Road were left frantically searching for a place to stay after they received an email from the UK's largest hotel brand, stating their booking had been cancelled.

The company explained that "essential maintenance" had closed off a large majority of rooms and that the team were "working really hard to make alternative arrangements for guests".

Premier Inn declined to explain to the Echo what "essential maintenance" entails.

Today, the budget hotel company has explained that it plans to re-open the closed rooms at the hotel this week but that the essential maintenance work is not yet complete.

A spokesperson for Premier Inn, Southampton, said: “The hotel will re-open this week but not yet as maintenance is underway.”

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To the shock of many hotel guests the following email was sent around on Friday: “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.”

Following the email from the hotel, guests took to social media to vent their frustrations with one stating that she now had to find a new place to stay in the city on short notice with two young children.

Four cruise ships are expected to arrive in Southampton this week.

The Regal Princess, Insignia, Aurora and MSC Virtuosa are all due to dock before the end of the week, and the hotel disruption is likely to affect cruise passengers staying in Southampton before their departure.