The Playden Oasts Inn

The room had a stale, unpleasant smell when we arrived. Opening the window for half an hour made it bearable, though it was only 5 degrees outside. There were other obvious maintenance problems too: mould in the shower tray, paint coming away from the bathroom window frame, a radiator issue mentioned below, and doors to the so-called balcony that didn't close properly, letting cold air and rain in. We were in the Roundel room on Friday 30 January. We’d been told the shower might not work and were given a routine involving putting the shower head on the floor, fiddling with the taps, then trying the basin taps. If none of that worked, we were apparently meant to go downstairs and find someone. Really, while undressed? It failed in the morning. After about ten minutes trying those steps, we got it going. I left it running and rushed my wife in to use it; she was just as unimpressed. The worst part was the ladybirds. We hadn’t spotted them before bed, but they flew around and landed on us through the night. We barely slept while trying to keep them off, and couldn’t do anything about it until morning. By then they were all over the room, including the walls and the balcony doors, and underfoot wherever we walked. We couldn’t get out fast enough. We tried to find someone to talk to, but only the breakfast woman was around. When my wife said she’d had only fruit and plain yoghurt, the woman walked off with “we haven't got any of that,” despite fresh fruit being listed on the menu. A banana, apple, berries or a tub of plain yoghurt didn’t seem much to ask. We’d had those choices at places we’d stayed before, including River Haven Hotel in Rye the previous night. Please see my review. That place was outstanding, with helpful, welcoming people, and it cost quite a bit less. At the bar that evening, I ordered a draught lager and saw it wasn’t pouring properly. It looked past its best, so I asked for a bottle instead. The woman kept transferring it between glasses, then gave me a flat, cloudy beer. I didn’t want to make a scene on my wife’s birthday and sat down, but I couldn’t drink it. My wife told me to take it back. She should have been able to see it was off, and it was wrong to press it on a customer. For all the problems, the staff seemed to just come in, do a shift and go home. It felt like no one cared about the place or whether guests were happy. I called to speak to someone in charge. She rang back the next day, said she knew nothing about the shower even though staff had warned us about it, and said she’d look into the other issues and report back. It’s now 15 January and I’ve heard nothing. No explanation, apology or even an offer to make things right. The breakfast response and the lack of follow-up left me feeling that nobody was accountable. Whoever runs this place needs to get their act together. This just isn’t acceptable. If you’ve booked, cancel; if you’re considering a night here, good luck, and don’t say you weren’t warned.