A Premier Inn guest was subjected to a disturbing wake up call after a ‘hamster-sized’ rodent climbed ‘on to her face as she slept’.
Francesca Fattore, a 44-year-old carer, had been staying at the Eastbourne Polegate branch in East Sussex on October 10 for a work meeting where she fell victim to the nasty surprise.
At first, Ms Fattore thought it was her pet kitten standing on her face, but then remembered she was in a hotel room and not at home and so proceeded to ‘freak out’.
Horrifying footage shows the mouse scuttle along her belongings before running across the radiator and up the curtains.
In another clip, the small animal can be seen scampering down the hotel’s corridor after Francesca showed it the door.
Following the incident, the guest posted a video on TikTok of her encounter and, while many users were left shocked, others said it was like a scene out of ‘Stuart Little’.
She says it hasn’t put her off staying at another Premier Inn but that it had left her unable to sleep.
Premier Inn apologised that Francesca ‘didn’t get the great night’s sleep she deserved’ and say they will be refunding her.
Ms Fattore, from Reading in Berkshire said: ‘I was asleep. At home I have two kittens and sometimes when they jump down from the headboard on my bed they jump on my head.
‘I thought one of the kittens had done this and then I came to and realised I was in my hotel room.
‘I then realised the feet that had ran across my head was not my cat. I could hear the rustling at first so I switched on the lights.
‘At first I was freaked out because I didn’t know if it was a rat or not.
‘I told myself it was a mouse and for some reason I thought I needed to get it on video. I calmed myself down and kept my distance.
‘The more I started recording it, the more I saw the funny side to it. I thought the mouse was actually quite cute. It was the size of a small hamster.
‘I wanted to get the mouse out and managed to get it out the doorway.
‘When it went, I thought there was no point in moving rooms. I didn’t know where it went but that wasn’t my problem.
‘I just wanted it out of my room. Even if I moved rooms I wasn’t going to sleep.
‘I was going to stay until the check out at 12pm but at 7:30am I got up, showered and got dressed and left.’
Following the incident, Francesca said she showed the hotel manager her video footage and was directed to put in a formal complaint online and has now been told she will receive a refund for her £73 night stay.
After sharing a post about her unexpected visitor on TikTok, the video was viewed more than 200,000 times and received more than 150 comments.
One person said: ‘Omg a refund! I’d need compensation for the trauma.’
Another added: ‘Filming the new Stuart Little.’
A third said: ‘That is wild. I would have died.’
A fourth added: ‘No, just no. You would have heard my screams 10 miles away..’
A Premier Inn spokesman said: ‘We’re really sorry Francesca didn’t get the great night’s sleep she deserved.
‘As soon as our guest team saw her video on social media, they proactively reached out to apologise and refund the room to expediate a resolution – faster than they would have been able to reply to the complaint raised online.’