After a relatively slick check in, I went up to my room and was pleased. It looked clean and tidy, apart from the teaspoons which looked like the previous occupant had used them to eat yoghurt and they had been overlooked by the cleaning staff. Noting that dinner started at 5pm, I went down exactly on the minute, and then things started to go badly wrong. I noticed a long queue at reception but thought little of it and found a table, reviewed the menu then walked back up to the bar to order. I found myself at the back of a 6 people queue, the man at the front leaning despondently on the bar. The only two members of staff on duty were both manning reception leaving the bar and food order point totally neglected. This was a pattern that repeated itself with long queues either at reception, the bar, or both! I eventually got to order my food after a 20 minute wait in the queue and sat down at my table. My food arrived relatively quickly, chicken wing starter (though they arrived with the main!) and a Southern Fried Chicken burger and chips. I shouldn't have been surprised when I bit into a chip which had the texture of a piece of wood and was clearly a re-heated and stale offering that had been stored in the kitchen for a considerable amount of time. My meal was only the second to be prepared that evening so there was no way this was prepared fresh. The chicken burger was the same, old, reheated and tiny! More like 2 chicken nuggets in a tiny bun. I then rejoined the queue at the bar for another 20 minutes to complain and tell the lady behind the bar that I wished to return it and the charges refunded. My pulse began to raise when she told me that I would have to raise this with her supervisor who was still dealing with the long queue at reception. Unbelievable, but not to be deterred, I spent another 15-20 minutes queuing at reception only to be met by what I can only describe as indifferent irritation. Clearly guests aren't supposed to complain and refunds can't be made to corporate accounts apparently. I was beyond fuming. Not at the poor staffing levels, the awful food, the dirty spoons, but the absolute arrogant indifference and lack of care showed by the staff here. They just don't care and I suspect, if I'm being sympathetic, that they have been ground down to this uncaring indifference due to the fact they just don't have enough people (or a chef) to deliver anything like a good level of service. This place is an absolute stain on the name of Travelodge and needs a significant managerial review to sort it out. I won't stay agin and will be raising with our corporate travel and hotel booking service.
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