Gark Pinkett, 42, says he was denied a refund despite his room at the Premier Inn hotel in Bridgend, Wales, smelling strongly of cigarettes and later finding a face mask smothering the smoke alarm
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Hotel guest’s room’s smoke alarm is covered by face mask
A fuming dad who demanded a refund from Premier Inn claiming his room stank of cigarette smoke was refused, despite the previous guest’s face mask still smothering the alarm.
Gary Pinkett, 42, says the stench in £72 a night room was “overpowering”, but when he raised the issue the front desk denied anyone had smoked.
His partner, Rachel Pinkstone, later spotted a face mask covering the smoke alarm which they believed was put there so the previous guests could light up.
When he returned to the desk he was told no other rooms were available at the hotel in Bridgend, Wales, so he complained to the social media team who offered him only a £15 refund.
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Gary, from Yeovil, Somerset, said: “The mask over the smoke alarm wasn’t just a cleanliness issue, it was also a health and safety issue.
“I raised this with them, but they didn’t seem to care. As soon as we opened the door, the smell hit us instantly.
“It was overpowering. Somebody had definitely been smoking cigarettes there.
“I used to be a smoker so I’m not the sort of person to be against smoking. But even for me, that was too much.
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“I was shocked about the whole thing, to be honest. For the life of me, I can’t believe that any cleaner would go in and not notice the smell. It hit you as soon as they walked in.
“The receptionist just said, ‘that’s weird. Nobody smoked in that room.’ I said, ‘there clearly has been’. She said there were no spare rooms, so we went off feeling a bit disgruntled.
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“I’m not the sort of person who will get overly argumentative, so we just thought we’d make do with it.”
The computer developer was told issues with cleanliness are not covered under the chain’s Good Night Guarantee – despite him having to sleep with the windows open as the smell was so strong.
Gary added: “I reached out to Premier Inn on Twitter and got a response within a week. They basically said they would arrange for £15 to be sent my way as a way of apology. I told them I was looking for a full refund, as I’d paid £73 for the room.
“£15 for a horrible night’s sleep in a stinky room is not fair play.”
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Kennedy News and Media)
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A Premier Inn spokesman said: “Our housekeeping team are responsible for keeping millions of rooms clean each year and operate to stringent standards.
“Smoking is not permitted in our hotels however it appears on this occasion a prior guest has unfortunately chosen to ignore this.
“While the team would have done everything possible to freshen the room, it was not immediately seen that the guest had also illegally covered a smoke alarm.
“Having investigated the complaint further, we recognise that an alternative room should have been offered.
“As a goodwill gesture and by means of further apology we will be refunding the remaining cost of the room.”
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