Businessman who’s never touched a cigarette fined £100 for ‘smoking’ in Dover Premier Inn room

A non-smoker is furious after he claimed he was fined at a Dover hotel for “smoking in his room”. Mark Malldender, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, was staying at the Premier Inn when he claims he was hit with a £100 penalty after complaining to the hotel chain his room stank of smoke.

The managers at the hotel accused him of making the stench despite the fact he is a non-smoker. The 40-year-old said he noticed the smell when he arrived in the room at 4pm, after travelling to Kent for a business trip.

Mark saw that the window was open so he put the unpleasant smell down to someone smoking outside. After having dinner he returned to his £49 room and found that the stench still remained. He headed down to reception to report it.

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Mark was given a customer complaint card but couldn’t sleep because the smell was so strong. The training course managing director was shocked when he later received a letter blaming him for the smell, which stated that ‘evidence’ had been discovered in his room.



The Premier Inn Dover A20
The Premier Inn Dover A20

Speaking to the MEN, Mark said: “I’m not a smoker, I never have, I wouldn’t know how to. I’ve never smoked a single cigarette in my 40 years, it’s never appealed to me. I’ve never even bought a cigarette in my life so then to be accused of it was a hard hit.

“If they had found anything, it was from the person before and it was fairly well hidden because I didn’t see anything in the waste paper bins or anything like that. When I went into the room I could smell something and at first I thought ‘well maybe it’s coming in through the window’.

“It smelled strongest in the bathroom. I left it for a while. I went to get something to eat and when I went back to the room that was when I could still smell it.”

He added: “It was at that point I went to reception but the guy on reception wasn’t particularly interested. He gave me one of the customer complaint cards. I went back to the room and filled that out, the only response I got from that was a generic standard reply.

“I’d also like the fine to be refunded. It’s certainly made me warier. If there’s a very small issue or a similar situation I’ll be making sure it’s raised straight away to avoid allegations in future.” Premier Inn says it is liaising directly with the guest.

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Article Source: Kent Live