From forgotten knickers to ukuleles under the bed - staff at one hotel have seen it all left behind over the years.

And nobody wants to leave the Holiday Inn Maidstone-Sevenoaks - just ask long-running staff Gina, Melanie and Lisa.

Gina Campbell has already tried to leave once but she came back because she “missed the people”.

“Plus, there’s only so much your horse and dog can answer back when you’re at home,” she said.

And while the core members of staff don’t seem to change, neither do the habits of its guests.

Gina, who is the housekeeping supervisor, said personal items are always getting left behind by customers.

During her time in the hotel industry, she has seen her fair share of forgotten knickers, pants, and even a ukulele.

She said: “I’ve found a tablet under the pillow, a coat hanging in the wardrobe and a ukulele under a bed.

“One poor family got halfway down the motorway when they realised it was missing.”

Throughout her 12 years at the hotel, Gina has enjoyed seeing returning faces, and watching their kids grow older.

The 58-year-old said: “We chat to our guests like they’re part of our family, so they feel good enough to come back here again – and if you’ve made someone feel that way then that’s your day complete.”

And while the family-feel of the hotel remains the same, the Holiday Inn Maidstone- Sevenoaks is changing.

For the first time in 20 years, the venue in Wrotham Heath is undergoing a £2 million makeover.

It has already seen the total transformation of the ground floor, which started during the pandemic, but now work has begun updating all 106 bedrooms.

Lewis Mackay-Bell, a director of sales for the hotel, said: “We’re basically starting from fresh in each bedroom - new beds, new furniture, new smarts TVs. We’re really bringing it into the 21st century trying to make it nice and modern.

“It’s a really exciting time for the hotel and we have a really loyal base of customers who use us on a regular basis and are excited to see the journey, so only good things can come from it.”

While the renovation brings a lot to look forward to, like most hotels the pandemic posed challenges for the Holiday Inn Maidstone-Sevenoaks.

During this time the hotel dropped down to 10 staff and had an exclusive government contract taking in Covid-positive truck drivers.

Lisa Huggett, who has been with the company for 30 years, describes the time as “daunting” due to the uncertainty over the future of her job.

The conference and reservations manager said when she came back to work, it was strange to see the place so dark and empty.

She said: “Anywhere you weren’t you were trying to save energy. All the lights would be turned off.

“We were trying to save as much money as we could but now it’s lovely to see money being spent on the place.”

Although the memories of working at a hotel throughout the pandemic remain strong, Lisa has fond memories working Christmas Day, watching the same guests come every year but gradually grow older.

She said: “I’d come into work at 3pm and after the Queen’s speech half of them would fall asleep just like you would at home after your nibbles – it’s a nice feeling.

“Once they’re all up again there’s a buzz asking them what they have done with their day, as if you were visiting them on their Christmas Day.”

The 53-year-old, who started out as a receptionist, says her loyalty to the job is fuelled by the fact “no two days are the same”.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen on the day that you’re in because the clients are different each day – I love that about the hotel industry,” she added.

Long-running staff member Melanie Snowden has a similar outlook on the job and says “there’s never a dull moment”.

The 46-year, who works as a financial controller, started working at the hotel aged 16 in the bar and lounge area.

She said: “The guests are great but it’s the staff, the morale here, the people you work with. It is fun to come to work and it’s a great place to work.

“There’s always been a good team here and that’s what keeps the hotel the same.”

Now Melanie, who is 28 years into her career at the hotel, says she is “part of the furniture” and hopes to stay until retirement.

Despite the challenge of renovating a hotel while mitigating disruption to guests, all staff are looking forward to the updates being finished.

The hotel, which opened in 1984, is set to be completely renovated in the first quarter of 2025, in a move Lewis says will make the hotel “shine”.

Each of the 12 conference rooms have already had new carpets and paint, with plans for bespoke artwork of different castles in Kent for each room.

And while the hotel is undergoing a full-face lift, the friendly faces of the business will remain the same.