A woman staying at a Premier Inn in East Sussex had a startling awakening when a mouse ran across her face while she slept. Francesca Fattore, a carer from Reading, Berkshire, was staying at the hotel for a work meeting when the incident occurred. The 44-year-old initially thought it was her pet kitten on her face, only to realise she was in a hotel room and not at home. The ‘hamster-sized’ rodent scuttled across her belongings before running up the curtains and down the corridor when Francesca showed it the door.
Francesca captured the encounter on video and shared it on TikTok, where it garnered shock and amusement from viewers. Despite the unsettling experience, Francesca mentioned that she finds the mouse cute and decided to stay in the same room until check-out time, as moving to another room wouldn’t make her feel at ease. The hotel acknowledged the incident, apologised for Francesca’s disrupted sleep, and promptly refunded her for her stay.
After showing the video to the hotel manager, Francesca was advised to file a formal complaint online, leading to the assurance of a refund for her night’s stay. The TikTok post of the unexpected hotel visitor went viral, receiving over 200,000 views and 150 comments, with many users expressing shock and amusement at the incident. While some users called for compensation for the distress caused, others compared the scene to the fictional mouse character, Stuart Little.
Reflecting on her experience, Francesca explained that she initially thought the mouse was a rat but decided to film the encounter once she identified it as a mouse. She maintained a distance from the creature and eventually managed to guide it out of the room before leaving the hotel earlier than planned. Despite the ordeal, Francesca remains undeterred from staying at Premier Inn in the future but admitted to being unable to sleep for the rest of her stay after the incident.
Premier Inn responded to the situation by expressing regret that Francesca did not have a restful night and promptly addressed the issue upon seeing her social media post. The hotel’s guest team reached out to Francesca to apologise and arrange a refund much faster than if she had lodged a formal complaint online. Francesca’s unique encounter with the mouse at Premier Inn has left a lasting impression, capturing the attention of social media users and highlighting the unpredictability of hotel experiences.