Premier Inn guests who faced ‘spider army’ fail to claim good night refund

Premier Inn’s adverts say that a good night’s sleep is “guaranteed”, but a couple have claim that any hope of that went out of the window when a “small army” of spiders began marching across the ceiling of their hotel room.

Jonathan Rees, who filmed what he claimed was an “epic gathering” of arachnids, is one of a number of readers who have contacted the Guardian after they attempted to claim on Premier Inn’s “Good Night Guarantee” but failed to get their money back.

Britain’s biggest hotel chain is famous for the promise, which was launched more than 20 years ago and has in the past been promoted with ads featuring the actor and comedian Sir Lenny Henry.

It says: “We’re so confident you’ll have a great night’s sleep that if you don’t, we’ll give you your money back*.”

However, that asterisk is important: it would seem that many people who claim on the guarantee are falling foul of the exclusions contained in the terms and conditions (T&Cs).

It appears one of the main reasons why people have their claims rejected is that they decided to lie there hoping that the alleged problem, be it a noisy extractor fan or drunk people in the corridors, would go away rather than going down to reception to demand it be sorted out.

Premier Inn said all three cases flagged by the Guardian “fall outside the terms of our Good Night Guarantee”. However, it declined to share any data on the pledge – for example, how many people claim on it, or what proportion get their money back.

Rees and his wife, Yunis, who live in Swansea, spent £208 on a two-night stay at a Premier Inn outside Cardiff. He said that “only after settling down on a comfy and perfectly clean pillow” did he notice a cluster of spiders making their way across the ceiling.

“Only the video does it justice,” he said. “My wife has a phobia of spiders, but there was no way to hide this from her. We were given a new, properly cleaned room, but my wife couldn’t sleep for the two-night duration.”

In an email to Premier Inn, Rees said it was a “traumatising event to see a small army of spiders crawling across the ceiling”.

A Premier Inn spokesperson said the couple were immediately transferred to a new room after notifying reception of “the issue”, adding: “Guest relations declined a refund on the basis that the problem was reported and resolved immediately, and the guest opted to continue their stay.”

Another customer, Paul Howell (not his real name), had a three-night stay at Premier Inn’s London Euston hotel “at an eye-watering £228 a night”. He said that on arrival the room was very hot, and that the temperature reached 28C, resulting in him sleeping for “around three or four hours a night”.

He attempted to claim on the guarantee but received a reply, saying that particular hotel “does not offer air conditioning as a facility. Therefore, this falls under our exclusions.”

The company told the Guardian: “Our T&Cs do specify that claims are rejected when the complaint arises due to the lack of a facility that we do not offer – for example, when A/C is not provided.” It added that as a goodwill gesture, unconnected to the guarantee, one-third of Howell’s accommodation costs were refunded.

A third customer claimed her night was ruined by a noisy extractor fan. Alison, who declined to give her surname, said she booked a stay at a Premier Inn in Nottingham at a cost of £257 for two nights.

She settled down to sleep but soon realised an extractor was still running somewhere. “It was low-level but loud enough to be irritating. I lay awake feeling upset ... I tried to grab sleep by covering my ears, still hoping it would go.”

She said that next morning she told reception about the annoying noise and her lack of sleep.

Alison was later told that the Premier Inn would not be able to offer a refund. A spokesperson told the Guardian: “This was reported the next morning, while the apparent disruption occurred throughout the night. T&Cs do specify that any internal noise must be reported within a reasonable period of time that allows the team the opportunity to rectify the issue.”

This exclusion relating to internal noise appears to have caused a number of claims to be rejected. Internet forums on websites such as MoneySavingExpert feature a number of alleged cases similar to Alison’s. In a post on Mumsnet in 2022, one person wrote: “They only guarantee a good night’s sleep if you’re willing to report issues to them in the middle of the night.” Another from that year said: “If you are disturbed by internal hotel noise, you have to report it to reception at the exact time during the night if it is ‘safe’ to do so.”

However, in both cases, reader polls on Mumsnet suggested most voters thought these two customers were being “unreasonable”. Premier Inn said it could not comment on these cases without more information.

Premier Inn also said the guarantee did not apply if your sleep was affected by circumstances beyond the company’s “reasonable control”, such as extreme weather, fire alarms going off and “third-party building works”.