BBC journalist takes to Twitter to express anger at hotel chain Premier Inn after his room was left uncleaned… and was told housekeeping visits are made on request
A BBC journalist sent an angry tweet to Premier Inn, vowing he would never use the hotel chain again after returning to his room after a day’s work to find it had not been cleaned.
Paul Lewis, who presents Money Box on BBC Radio 4, tweeted: ‘In hotel @premierinn but after a day of work no clean towels, no cleaned room, no made bed. I complain but am told to ask for my room to be cleaned. Nobody told me!
‘I’ve stayed in hotels all over the world and never had to do that. I will never stay with @premierinn again. Look after.’
His tweet sparked a lively debate in his feed.
Premier Inn says so on its website that guests must request a room cleaning at the front desk before 12 noon and hang a door hanger on their door.
BBC journalist Paul Lewis sent an angry tweet to Premier Inn, vowing he would never use the hotel chain again after returning to his room after a day’s work to find it had not been cleaned.
Several Twitter users (now ‘X’) reported the chain’s policy to Mr Lewis, while others noted that Premier Inn’s approach is far from unique.
Darren J Lev wrote: ‘To be fair, that’s the procedure and it’s normally in the folder next to the menu. If you stay multiple nights, you must ask for your room to be cleaned.’
Robin Cantrill-Fenwick, meanwhile, commented: ‘Paul, it’s very common now – I’ve booked over 35 hotel nights this year, mainly in Britain, and the Ibis Hamburg Alster Centrum was the first this week to clear the room daily without to ask.’
Others, however, 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’ tweet, with some complaining about what they see as a drop in standards
Anne Leonard agreed, writing, ‘I’ve stayed in hotels in several countries and never had to ask for a room to be cleaned.
“It’s just plain bad service.”
This year Premier Inn was named by Which? named the second best hotel chain in Britain, with an overall customer satisfaction score of 75 percent, as we reported.
It scored four stars for cleanliness and five for bed comfort and ‘description matches reality’.
MailOnline Travel approached Premier Inn for comment.