Premier Inn Tonbridge North

We were visiting family in pembury, about a 20-minute drive away. The location was okay, but the room felt a bit tight for four people. What really put us off was the service. After checking in late, we just wanted to get straight to bed, but there was only one pillow each and no spares in the usual bag. I went to reception to ask for extras, which normally isn’t a problem. The receptionist was rude and told us to look for them ourselves. About 15 minutes later she knocked on our door with one pillow, saying we already had pillows on the bed. When we explained that extra ones are usually available on request, she said that if everyone had extras, nobody would have any. We never got a smile or even a hello when coming back into the hotel. Wouldn’t stay again.

The WiFi help number is no use when Ultimate WiFi won’t connect and nobody answers to help. There’s a number for a help desk, but without anyone picking up, it’s just a desk. Or maybe just a little round table. I was here for seven days on business, and these refurbished rooms were a strange experience. The shelving frame has hardly any room for anything, and the desks have been replaced by a so-called 'felxi-desk' that’s just the little round table the rooms always had. I work away a lot and usually choose Premier Inn, but I’ll avoid hotels that have been refurbished if this is what they’re like. I need space to work with a laptop, separate screen, mouse and keyboard, but there’s only a little table and no nearby plug sockets. Maybe it’s called flexi because you have to drag it around the room to use it.

It was a pleasant surprise to find breakfast just downstairs, so we didn’t have to leave the Inn. We had a very good stay, were welcomed nicely, and the room was very clean. We always sleep well here. 👍

The location worked really well for us, but I expected more from a hotel costing over £130 a night. The room looked okay at first, though a closer look showed a grubby bathroom and a filthy window track. The window wouldn’t fully close because a locking handle was broken or missing. There was secondary glazing, luckily. It was warm out, which was just as well: the heating thermostat was missing its battery compartment door and one of its batteries. At reception, nobody greeted us or looked up from the computer when we arrived.