Help, are any mumsnetters passing the St Pancras premier inn next few days

[Clearinguptheclutter]

got an inconsolable 11 year old DS. Left his (once) white jellycat bunny, given to him when he was born. It has been temporarily lost before and he has a (almost as old) replacement but obviously it’s not the same. Anyway we are 99% sure it was left in a certain room in the premier inn st Pancras yesterday

Now back at home in Manchester. I am calling the hotel and getting no answer (they are grossly understaffed), I have got a response from Twitter but only that they will pass it on to the hotel which I can’t be sure will get through.

I’m wondering if any very kind mumsnetter may be able to pop in and try and physically ask someone - and/or if we can confirm it is there, pick it up (as I gather that they might not agree to send or just be too busy). Obviously I would pay postage plus a generous tip!

in the meantime wondering if anyone has any happy stories from lost property at the premier inn. Honestly they are so critically understaffed (perhaps deliberately so?) that only turning up in person is likely to get any result.

Oh fantastic news. The world is full of lovely people as [Goldgoose] has just shown us.

Lord someone is cutting up onions round here !

@GoldGoose you are brilliant!

@Clearinguptheclutter, once you have got rabbit back I think you should take a picture of him with your ds and print this thread and keep it somewhere very safe it will be a fantastic memory for both of you.

Excellent work @GoldGoose! I like threads like this

I don't want a toy now, I would have no use for it.

It might have been helpful to have had my teddy bear when I was 5 and had been so poorly and was hospitalised for weeks. Also, it was a present from my godfather on the continent and my parents could not replace it.

My parents were under the impression that another child had taken it home with them, as the nurses had let them play with my toys (St Mary's Paddington Green CHildren's Hospital possibly had a different take on infection control to yours, I don't know).

To be honest, the hospital admission is a bit of a blur, as I was so little and had been so ill (my parents had been told I was dying on admission and my lungs were badly damaged). It was one of those family stories.

It does seem a bit mean to take away a favorite toy like that, if that is what happened.

However, at least I survived, teddy bear or no.

I remember having a talk in the Girl Guides, preparing us to take our 'Home Nursing' badge. The lady went through some of the things we could encourage a child to make, to keep them happily occupied while ill in bed - & she ended it by saying, "And then when they recover you burn them all!". We just sat there stunned. 😱😱😱

So glad you got your bunnies back.

Oh this is an amazing happy ending thread. And first commenter too. What an absolute hero GoldGoose is!!

This happened to my big brother and he has never got over it. He was in over Christmas and despite burning all his toys he was allowed to bring home a crappy stocking that they gave him which makes no sense to me!

@ChristmasFairy2024 it wasn't the Birmingham Children's Hospital was it? That's where I was.

I don't think the burning of toys post-hospital was universal by the late 1960s. I had my tonsils out aged five around then, and my parents gave me a new teddy for the occasion which then accompanied me out of hospital and for the rest of my childhood. Maybe it depended on what you had and which ward you were in. It was a very traumatic experience, though. Visiting hours were still very restricted even for children, and I can still remember crying for my mum and having to wait until visiting hours to see her. Luckily that was a thing of the past by the time my DDs were that age - I can't imagine leaving them in a hospital for an operation, and only being able to visit for two hours a day or whatever it was.

oh, I just remembered, the Velveteen Rabbit!! I read that when I was an adult and had my own kids, and it made me weepy! The rabbit gets burned after its child gets scarlet fever, as I remember.

But if the burning of toys happened when you left hospital, then that can't have been the explanation, as the teddy vanished in the middle of my stay (1969-70)

That is incredible

My dad was in hospital for 2 weeks in the late fifties when he was about 10 and still talks about how awful it was only being able to see parents for very limited time each day. I will have to ask him about burning of the teddies.

I had my tonsils taken out in the late 50's I was 3. My toys were not taken from me I still have Muffy somewhere.

Any sweets that had been brought in were taken off us for another child's birthday party. It happened to all the children on that ward. Nice to give someone in hospital a party but not fair on the rest of us. I still haven't forgotten

Will you let us know when the bunny arrives home, @Clearinguptheclutter ? Is there going to be a welcoming party?

I was in Birmingham Children's Hospital that took my sweets but not my toys. My brother also went there and they didn't take his toys either

Bunny update- I have tracking info and bunny should be safely home by Thursday.

Great news!

Will you be throwing a welcome home party for the prodigal's return?

My Dd left purple Ted at Premier Inn in Sunderland, she went back immediately and he was there 😀 when she told receptionist the room number she said 'oh you won our room raffle' wine and chocolates! Purple Ted was fine and made it safe to Oz and back without further incident. He's slso been left in Holiday Inn Leeds Brighouse and retrieved a few days later. He's about 20 years old but my Dd says she doesn't know what she would do if he was permanently lost, so I feel your pain 🤞🤞

Wonderful!

Oh that's fabulous news! I'm also invested in the story, and so glad rabbit and child will be reunited

What a lovely outcome ❤️

My DS (about 5)once left some rubbery, stretchy lizards in the premier inn Birmingham. He didn't realise until the next morning. The following day we had a Jiffy bag from the hotel containing the lizards and a little note with a story about their adventures. Such lovely staff.

My 17y old's jellycat Dog went missing twice. Once it rurned up the next day after being retrieved by the staff at Sainsburys as he had inexplicably thrown it in a freezer! Another time it went missing for weeks (of bedtime crying) and turned up in the bottom bedside drawer in the spare room that he never went into. He still does inexplicable things now ...

What a star you are 🤗 Happy New Year!

I’ve had exactly this experience with lost toys at Premier Inn, not once but TWICE! (You think we would have learned). Both times the very lovely people posted the teddy bear back to us! Fret not!