Hotel berhampiran Memorial Recreation Ground, Birchington

This was a short trip to Thanet, Kent. Our party was me, husband and friend. On checking in, staff informed us we had one double and a room for disabled guests (accessible I think the hotel's word was). This accessible room was not needed as we don't have disabilities - it was ordered by the booking company (not Holiday Inn direct) for some reason. Anyway, it had a wet room with all facilities and the staff were happy we were occupying and we said we agreed. Unfortunately the wet room smelt awful - a bit like sewage. The room was also cold (air conditioning not too good and very loud) so staff were happy to supply us with a portable radiator which warmed the room up very well. The smell in the bathroom was intermittent but the third morning it was bad so we complained and the maintenance man (unable to remember name) was more than helpful - he found a leakage behind the cistern so staff moved us to a ”normal” room on the next floor. The little radiator followed us upstairs too! Regarding meals: breakfast was completely self-service which is ok but hot food comprised of scrambled egg, bacon, sausages and baked beans only. On requesting a fried egg, the reply came that ”we don't do them”. How about being able to offer ”fried eggs available on request”? We decided to have dinner there one evening. No need to book a table, just walk in. We'd decided on our meal choices the night before. However, two starters plus one main course we had decided on were not available (groan)! Waitress/receptionist suggested a pub restaurant across the road and so we duly left the hotel and crossed the road and ate there. Whilst sitting in the lounge/reception area I was astounded to see pizzas being brought in by a group of people and being actually eaten there in the lounge. I didn't think that was permitted - maybe in rooms but not in the lounge with the dining area in the same room! One guest even asked the receptionist where to put his empty pizza box; she told him to leave it on the bar and she'd take care of it. Overall I can't fault the staff at all, they were most helpful with our problems. We have stayed in Holiday Inns before and this one wasn't the best I'm afraid.