BBC journalist furious at Premier Inn over uncleaned room

Posted on : 11/20/2023
BBC journalist furious at Premier Inn over uncleaned room
Travel 

BBC journalist vents fury on Twitter at hotel chain Premier Inn after his room was left uncleaned… and was told housekeeping visits are made by request

  • Radio 4 presenter Paul Lewis tweeted: ‘I will never stay @premierinn again’
  • His tweet sparked a lively debate in his feed – with some defending Premier Inn
  • READ MORE: Four Seasons Lisbon – hum-drum exterior, hotel fantasyland inside

A BBC journalist sent a furious tweet to Premier Inn, vowing that he would never use the hotel chain again after he returned to his room after a day out working to discover that it had not been cleaned.

Paul Lewis, who presents Money Box on BBC Radio 4, tweeted: ‘In @premierinn hotel but after a day’s work no clean towels, no cleaned room, no made bed. I complain but am told I must ask to have my room cleaned. No one told me!

‘I’ve stayed in hotels all over the world and never had to do that. I will never stay @premierinn again. Beware.’

His tweet sparked a lively debate in his feed.

Premier Inn does state on its website that guests must request room-cleaning at reception and hang a door hanger on their door before 12pm.

BBC journalist Paul Lewis sent a furious tweet to Premier Inn, vowing that he would never use the hotel chain again after he returned to his room after a day out working to discover that it had not been cleaned

Several Twitter (now ‘X’) users flagged the chain’s policy to Mr Lewis, with others noting that Premier Inn’s approach is far from unique.

Darren J Lev wrote: ‘To be fair, that is the procedure and it normally says in the folder alongside the menu. If you are staying multiple nights you need to ask for your room to be cleaned.’

Robin Cantrill-Fenwick, meanwhile, commented: ‘Paul, it’s very common now – I’ve clocked up 35-plus hotel nights this year, mainly in the UK, and the Ibis Hamburg Alster Centrum just this week was the first to service the room daily without asking.’

Others, though, lamented what they see as a decline in standards.

Paul Bayliss tweeted: ‘Customer service is getting worse and worse in every industry.’

Twitter (‘X’) users were quick to respond to Mr Lewis’s tweet, with some lamenting what they see as a decline in standards

Anne Leonard agreed, writing: ‘I’ve stayed in hotels in various countries and never ever had to ask for a room to be cleaned.

‘It is purely bad service.’

Premier Inn this year was declared the second-best hotel chain in the UK by Which?, with an overall customer satisfaction score of 75 per cent, as we reported.

It scored four stars for cleanliness and five for bed comfort and ‘description matches reality’.

A Premier Inn spokesperson said: ‘For stays more than one night the guest simply has to ask at reception that they would like their room tidied, though we’ve found not having the room tidied daily is popular among people choosing for sustainability reasons.

‘If they choose not to have a daily tidy, their room will automatically be tidied after the sixth night. However, the overwhelming majority of people stay with us for one to two nights anyway, so it’s not applicable to most people.

‘Guests can request more towels, tea and coffee and so on at any time and we’ve introduced new “help yourself” stations for guest amenities, where guests can self-serve on things like teabags and milk in some sites.’

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