Faversham hotel

The good points- the rooms were v clean and all worked, hotel was quiet and the staff did TRY. The BIG problem is that the few staff were just overwhelmed..if this is the new outcome of closing restaurants in the day then Premier inn is doomed. The few staff were trying to cover reception, bar, waiter service and help in the kitchen and were just unable to do any thing well. Check in was a shambles. We made the mistake of prebooking 1 evening meal as had young toddler with us and had travelled a long way- who did well to wait over an hour for a few carrot sticks and cucumber. The staff (probably wisely) were turning residents away- even though there were only 3 tables occupied, food when it came was pretty awful and not as described. Then had to get bill changed as overcharged. Breakfast was better - though only because guests just got on with it; Hannah the cook in the kitchen worked hard and should be commended. Having to ask each morning to get the high chair cleansed due to a plague of ants in residence was also worrying- they just said that it was a persistent problem, which isn't great for a restaurant. Then the coffee machine kept packing up.. I needed a lot of coffee after all this!

This was the 2nd time we had stayed at the Faversham Premier Inn. The room was fine, comfortable, quiet and clean. However this was the 1st time we had “attempted” to eat at the in-house restaurant and wish we hadn’t bothered! We booked a meal deal for dinner for one night plus one breakfast the following morning. We booked dinner for 2 for 7pm. We arrived promptly at 7 to be told they were so busy we would have to wait “about half an hour as they were swamped with orders”. We looked around and there were 4 tables occupied; 2 with one person only on. Bemused we sat down to wait. After about 25 mins the waitress appeared and took us to our table. There were 3 other tables occupied, again two with one person only. At no time did she say that certain items on the menu were unavailable, not when we sat in the waiting chairs nor when we sat at the table. She simply gave us the menus and walked away. We noticed dirty uncleared tables around us whilst we listened to what was clearly an ongoing argument between staff ( very unprofessional) and later a long conversation about a dog while the tables were still uncleared. Finally she appeared to take our orders; fish and chips please. Answer: unavailable. Oh salmon and rice then. Answer: unavailable. Well I never. Prawn linguine as my final hope. Answer: unavailable. Getting rather cross now but she insisted there had been a run on all fish items. By whom exactly? The restaurant does not open until 6! So we ordered what we didn’t really want and then noticed the cutlery pot only had knives in it, no forks. Pretty basic restaurant table maintenance you would have thought? My husband got his over-cooked steak but was offered no mustard, or sauces for his chips. My unwanted but last chance saloon curry was a microwave job no doubt. After 50 minutes of being totally ignored (after standing up and going looking for cutlery and mustard) and not once being asked how our meals were, we started to lose the plot. When she finally appeared after we shouted over the glass partition ( covered in dust by the way) if we could see the pudding menu and gave our dinner plates cleared, I let her know our frustration at the bad service. Apparently it was all down to management and an overworked chef! Say no more, just don’t go in there; you’ll be sorry……needless to say we cancelled breakfast 🙄

I arrived at approx 7.45pm and there was already a family waiting to check in as they were unable to get the electronic check in to work. They had to press the buzzer twice before a member of staff finally appeared. After the member of staff checked in the family they then checked me in and I asked for a table at the restaurant in approx 10 mins - just enough time to take my bags upstairs and freshen up but was told "there was an issue with the chef". The member of staff went into the restaurant, I assume to ask the chef if they were still taking orders but they returned to say that they would not take my order with no further explanation. To say I was fuming was an understatement. I went up to my room before returning to the bar to ask another member of staff where I could get something to eat as the chef was too lazy to cook me a meal. The member of staff was polite and apologetic and suggested several places but as I had been up since 6pm had driven over 200 miles and had a long day both emotionally and physically I wasn't in the mood for eating at another restaurant so asked where there were any take-aways. It was suggested to walk into town - which wasn't going to happen as I was tired and by the time I had walked back the food would have been cold so I drove into town. While they did explain that the chef had fainted and the manager had taken over as chef, I assume there was nothing wrong with the manager and they could have continued to serve customers but chose not to - either a case of lazyitis or wanting to watch the football. As a result I chose not to have breakfast at the hotel either. I have stayed at the Faversham Premier Inn multiple times and the members of staff I have regularly encountered previously have all given good service except for one. All the staff I encountered during my stay I had not seen before. On previous stays I have often found the restaurant has closed earlier than you would expect (by 8.30pm) but I have always been served. As I was aware this could happen I thought I would have arrived early enough to be served. Closing the restaurant before 8pm is not the service I would expect and the manager should be leading by example and covering in the restaurant if the chef had been taken ill. I also note that there is usually a menu in the room but on this occasion it was missing so wonder if this was a deliberate act to minimise the number of people wanting to eat in the restaurant because of the world cup final.

A pleasant overnight stay. The room was clean and comfortable. The staff are just amazing. We've stayed at much more expensive hotels and the welcome has not been as good. They are friendly and nothing is too much trouble. They do seem to be under staffed though which makes them all the more amazing for staying helpful and friendly. We had to wait a long time for our evening meal which we had booked and even though the restaurant was not very full the staff seemed to have to be everywhere doing lots of different things. The food was good and very good value for what we paid. A good overnight stay on the way to the channel but Premier inn management I hope you value the people you have working there

I wanted to leave a review specifically to recognise Glenn, who completely turned around what had become a very unpleasant experience. I had been served wine in a glass that was visibly dirty, with lipstick marks and white residue around it, which I unfortunately only noticed after I had already drunk around half of the wine. I tried to raise the matter discreetly with the first member of staff, but she initially attempted to pour the remaining wine from the dirty glass into a clean one. I then had to explain that, given the hygiene issue, I needed completely fresh wine. When she returned, she made a noticeable point of replacing only the exact amount that had been left in my original glass. I was not trying to receive free or additional wine, but after discovering that I had unknowingly been drinking from a dirty glass, this felt like a rather ungenerous response and left me feeling almost as though I was being treated with suspicion or trying to gain something from the situation. It did nothing to restore my confidence as a customer and made an already disgusting experience feel even more uncomfortable. Glenn then stepped in and handled the matter exactly as a good manager should. He listened, apologised sincerely, acknowledged that the situation had not been dealt with properly and gave me a full fresh glass of wine. That gesture was not simply about the quantity of wine; it demonstrated that he understood the importance of restoring the customer experience after something had gone wrong. His calm, professional and considerate manner completely changed how I felt, and I ultimately left with a positive impression because of the way he resolved it. Good management is often demonstrated not by whether a mistake occurs, but by how the customer is treated afterwards, and Glenn genuinely saved the experience for me. I hope his excellent customer service is formally recognised, because he is a real credit to Premier Inn