Hotel berhampiran St Matthew＇s Church, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells

Don't be fooled by the exterior and the renovated lobby, both of which are very nice. This is a dumpy old hotel that should have its Holiday Inn franchise removed until full renovations are complete. As an IHG Diamond and Intercontinental Ambassador status guest I was given an upgrade to an executive room. My first room had stains on the walls, stains on the desk chair, crumbs from biscuits on the nightstand, other crumbs on the desk chair, mold spores in the kettle, stains on the side of the bed, bedding that didn't even cover the mattress, and mold or mildew in the bathtub-shower. Those were just the cleanliness-related issues. The room was also in poor condition. Likewise, the hallway leading to the hotel had threadbare and stained carpet that looked like it was from the 1980s or 1990s. Same for the bathroom, which looked unchanged in years. I requested a second room, which was also an executive room. This room had hair on surfaces, stains on the bedding, stains on the bathroom countertop/vanity, mold or mildew in the bathtub-shower, and water from a previous guest in the kettle. The Front Desk clerk was working by herself until the duty manager arrived. There were no housekeeping staff working. To the hotel's credit, I emailed the operations manager and duty manager with pictures. The duty manager took full responsibility, fully apologized and re-cleaned my second room while I was at dinner. While worn-out and, overall, just well below the standard of any chain hotel in 2023, the room was at least mostly clean on the third try. I will also compliment the Front Desk clerk, a woman. She was professional, welcoming and just very hospitable. She was exactly the kind of person you want working the Front Desk. I would hire her in a heartbeat if I owned or managed a hotel. Unfortunately, she can only work with the product she is given. Likewise, I had dinner in the hotel restaurant while waiting for my room to be cleaned. The menu is pretty extensive and, if I'm being honest, a little overwhelming. The lamb was very good. Surprisingly good actually. Service was attentive, although the restaurant is really just the breakfast restaurant. If you order drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic), the until 6:30 pm for dinner, which is a little late for a chain hotel off the motorway. The bar off the lobby, which has the feel of a small pub, serves the same food and is open earlier. staff have to go to the bar to retrieve them. This seems odd. You think they would at least have a non-alcoholic drink station in the restaurant. The restaurant itself doesn't open Most customers were eating in the bar as it had a better atmosphere than a soulless restaurant dining room that was 99% empty. I was going to use the gym, but the gym isn't 24/7. You also somewhat bizarrely have to walk through the bar to access the gym. That's awkward. Another unusual feature of the hotel is the layout. Despite having multiple floors, the rooms are still numbered as if they're

We hinken een beetje op twee gedachten bij het beoordelen van het hotel. Vanaf de aankomst: de parkeerplaats was groot, maar vol. We moesten wel even zoeken naar een plekje. Check-in ging vlot, er is een oude, kleine lift voor 1 persoon met bagage. De kamer voldeed. Er is geen koelkastje, geen airco, en het zitje dat op de foto's staat, ontbrak. Er zijn wel twee stoelen. Er is een tv met weinig zenders, een badkamer met klein bad en een aparte prima douche. De kamer is schoon, maar kamerschoonmaak, schone handdoeken etcetera is niet standaard. Hierom moet je vragen. Het ontbijt is in buffetvorm. Er is bediening voor koffie, toast en bijzondere bestellingen. Aanvullen gebeurt niet direct wanneer nodig, dus soms zijn gerechtjes gewoon op. In de avond was het hotel uitgestorven. Niemand te bekennen om een drankje in te schenken of wat ook. Op de dag dat we vertrokken, ontdekten we dat er nog een bar was, die blijkbaar wel open was geweest. Je moet het maar weten ...

We received an Afternoon Tea Voucher as a Christmas present and decided to book for my husband's birthday in June. Upon arrival at the hotel reception desk, we only had to wait a few moments before Donna showed us into one of the lounges where a table was set up for us by a window overlooking the lake and grounds. As it was a beautiful sunny afternoon I asked if we could have tea on the terrace. Donna apologised and said that unfortunately this was not possible so we were initially a little disappointed, however, we were still able to enjoy the view. Our selected coffee with hot milk arrived swiftly and the selection of sandwiches, scones and patisseries quickly followed. All were freshly made and quite delicious. Donna ensured both the coffee and hot milk were replenished as required and looked after us superbly throughout the afternoon. After tea and feeling rather full we took the opportunity to have a walk around the hotel grounds seeing the fish in the lake and the deer grazing amongst the trees on the adjoining golf course. All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon made even better by the June sunshine!

We had a lovely stay and it is worth highlighting the staff who all were very friendly and service orientated. We would have written expressing our admiration for the staff if you hadn’t sent a survey