Hotel berhampiran St Bartholomew＇s Church Bobbing, Bobbing

Being obliged to come to the Sittingbourne area several times a year on business I’d have to say that in my experience the area has few decent hotels. This Holiday Inn is basically the best of a bad bunch but sadly it doesn’t make the most of its attributes it has. The building it occupies is modern with quite stylish semi-minimalist decor. The rooms are comfortable, spacious, and also nicely decorated for a chain hotel. Parking is easy and check in is usually trouble free. What lets this hotel down though is the food and beverage offering and the accompanying service. The restaurant is somewhat bland and has no atmosphere. The menu is boring and would not be out of place in a Wetherspoons which is fine if you’re in a bargain basement Wetherspoons but not if you’re in a middle market hotel. On my latest visit I ordered a starter (which tuned out to be unavailable) followed by a sirloin steak. I also asked for a glass of wine (the server didn’t know which red wines they had) and a glass of water. The wine came but with no explanation of what it was. The water only materialised after I had to chase it up. The steak when it arrived was disappointing - lots of fat and somewhat tough and in no way worth £18. I couldn’t be bothered to stay for a dessert. This place may be a little off the tourist track and mostly frequented by business travelers like myself but it would I’m sure do a lot better if it sorted out the catering. Some candles on the tables in the evening, a bit more imagination on the menu, and attentive staff serving who appear to care what they are doing would represent a 100% improvement.

All-in-all, I was prepared for the TravelLodge & it certainly achieves a high score for VFM. The fact that its located within a service station, accessible from the East & West routes, could be considered advantageous as you have a WH Smith, Burger King, KFC, M&S Food shop right on your doorstep. However, be prepared to pay top prices for anything bought & to get very tired of chips & burgers etc quite quickly. I stayed here for just over a week & found it easier & much better value to drive elsewhere for all shops. As for the TL, Breakfast on the Go. These are a well prepared & designed box of Cornflakes, Chocolate croissant, Flapjack, Juice etc & by day 4, I was desperate for a change of content, but like any condemned soldier, as there was no alternative, you just had no option other than to eat it, to exist. The biggest other issue, apart from no fridge to store perishables, was the fact that the TL only provide hangers to store clothes, so you have no drawers at all to put anything else in & therfore must store all your other, (unhung), effects in your suitcase. OK, for a day, I guess. Very irritating if your here for a week. I did ask one member of staff about the lack of drawers & defo got the feeling it was a very regular question. My room was at the rear where you have a quite lovely view of trees, birds & nothing else. Very peaceful