Holiday Inn Maidstone - Sevenoaks — Hotel in Tonbridge and Malling

Slightly disappointed. The room itself was quite nice in comparison to what I expected and the bed was comfortable. It was nice and spacious. However, there were a couple of things that really made the experience quite frustrating.

I couldn’t access my room around six times. When I spoke to reception, they advised that the magnets in the key card might have been affected because it was in the same pocket as an electronic device. Each time I had to go back to reception for them to reset the key card and the first couple of times they told me to keep my phone or headphones in a different pocket, (which is absurd), which I did. By the 3rd time it happened I didn’t even have any electronic device on me and it continued to happen up to the 5th occasion, after that I settled down for the night. Most of the night I heard a repetitive beeping noise, I wasn’t sure where it was coming from but it meant I had a terrible sleep. After breakfast I went back to my room to find I couldn’t get in again! At which point I went back to the reception to complain. Eventually, they sent a member of staff to check the lock, and it turned out that the battery on the door lock was running out, which explained the beeping noise. I don’t know why it took 6 times for someone to come and finally take a look but it meant I was late for a work meeting.

The other disappointing experience I had was at dinner. I was sat down and told someone would be back to take my order in a couple of minutes. 20 Minutes went by before someone eventually came over and asked ‘has someone taken your order?’ To which I said, no. I ordered my food and the waitress went to walk away without even taking a drinks order, I had to ask for a drink. Another 40 minutes went by before my food arrived, at no point during those 40 Minutes did anyone ask if I wanted another drink or if I was okay. It also turned out that the restaurant menu I was looking in the room beforehand was an old menu and different to the menu they handed me in the restaurant (no big deal but thought it worth mentioning).

I did leave the Holiday Inn feeling quite annoyed and disappointed, would hope if I stayed again I wouldn’t have a repeat of...

Very good location, close to motorways but you'd never know as it's so quiet. Easy to find as well. We were staying there so we could visit the Historic Dockyard at Chatham and it was only about 1/2 hour away.

Beds were really comfortable, had an excellent night's sleep. I loved the fact that you could open the window for fresh air. The layout of the hotel is very unusual - very strung out along long corridors, but this was a good thing as there was a wedding reception on Saturday night. Very loud music in the main area of the hotel, but we couldn't hear a thing from our room.

We found the restaurant, bar and reception staff very friendly and eager to please.

Be aware that there's no lift - we didn't realise this when we booked - it should really be more obvious on the website. We spotted it a couple of days later when we were reading reviews. But it was no problem, I e-mailed and explained my elderly parents needed a ground floor room and they responded very quickly to say they'd take care of it.

Restaurant - good choices on the menu, food was superb. We did find the service a bit slow on 2 nights - Saturday the wedding reception was on so we expected it, but Sunday night also very slow and hardly anyone in the restaurant! Couldn't understand it. I took issue with the 'discretionary' 10% service charge which was added to the restaurant bill automatically - I thought they deserved it, but there's nothing discretionary if it's been added automatically! You really want to re-think that one.

Breakfast - one price #expensive# whether you want the full English or continental. We declined and went 3 minutes down the road for a continental breakfast at a much cheaper price. We stayed in a the Holiday Inn at Bexley last year and they offered various breakfast options in the bar - we would have eaten at the hotel if this option had been offered to us.

We never got around to using the leisure facilities #too tired with all the sightseeing# but it certainly looked very nice.

Overall, a very good stay. If we needed to stay in the area again, we'd go back to the...

I recently attended a 75th birthday party at the hotel and was thoroughly impressed by the entire experience. We arrived on Saturday afternoon to find the car park mostly empty, which made parking very convenient. Check-in was smooth, and we were promptly given the key to our room.

Our room was a spacious double, bright, clean, and comfortable. Although the bathroom was quite small, it was very well maintained. The only minor inconvenience was with the Wi-Fi: the instructions provided did not work, and we had to visit reception to have it activated manually. The receptionist mentioned that this was a common issue, which was slightly frustrating, but it did not significantly affect our overall experience.

The first part of the party was held in the conservatory, which was clean and well-arranged, with comfortable chairs and benches. We later moved into the conference room for the main event, which was well organized. After the celebrations ended around midnight, we returned to our room, where we enjoyed a comfortable night’s sleep and woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning.

Upon check-in, I was able to open a tab for my room, which made purchasing drinks and other amenities easy and convenient. Breakfast the next morning was delicious, and as I returned to my room afterward, I found myself wishing I had booked a slightly longer stay.

The hotel is a perfect choice for a long weekend getaway, with its bright and airy decor creating a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Although I didn't use them, the on-site gym and pool would certainly add to the feeling of a mini-holiday.

Overall, I would rate this hotel a strong 9 out of 10. The food and service were excellent, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn it was a Holiday Inn. I would definitely consider returning for a short weekend break with...