to think that the Royal Hotel in Hull are being unreasonable

[brizzledrizzle]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46587353

Homeless people in Hull who were set to stay in hotel rooms over Christmas have had their booking cancelled.

Carl Simpson, founder of the Raise the Roof Homeless Project, told the BBC he paid £1,092 for 14 twin rooms at the Royal Hotel in Hull, part of the Britannia Hotels group.

If someone was to book 14 rooms, wouldn't you ask questions before taking the booking? Thinking it might be a stag party, for example, who could just be badly behaved.

No mention on the bbc that the decision has been reversed?

Hotel cancels Christmas Day booking for homeless www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46587353

It’s a hotel not a homeless shelter/refuge. I can also guarantee that all the other guests in residence would kick off big time and file complaints that their Christmas breaks were ruined.

I stayed in a Britannia hotel in Newcastle and it was the biggest dive I've ever been in. So I'm amazed they've turned the booking down citing concerns over people trashing the rooms. They were filthy, dusty, stained bedsheets and my colleague had live bed bugs in her bed.

I was there for a conference. 99% of other guests were on stag nights and were running up and down the corridors all night shouting and banging on doors, passed out their heads. No attempt by hotel staff to make people stop it.

In fact my stay was so bad I reported them to environmental health as it was so disgusting I felt it was a health hazard and I'm a totally laid back slattern.

No mention on the bbc that the decision has been reversed?

It was on the televised news at 6. I can't find it on their site, nor another televised segment featuring Dogs Trust putting a moratorium on all adoptions until after the new year.

I think some people are being very unfair.

I volunteer for a shelter. Many of our guests have complex mental health issues and/or addictions that mean that specialist support is needed. Hotel staff are not trained for this. Normal paying hotel guests are not equipped to deal with this.

I agree that more compassion is needed to tackle homelessness, but rounding up a bunch of homeless people and sticking them in a hotel for a few days is not a solution. It feels like a well-meaning but poorly thought out idea.

If anyone wants to help but cannot volunteer, donating to Crisis, Shelter or the Big Issue Foundation is a much better use of your funds.

I've been following this story all day, Hull is where I live, so the local newspaper has been constantly making updates.

Ibis have denied that any guests caused any problems last year, and it seems that The Royal Hotel, have stated a tale about a previous employee of the charity has anonymously contacted them stating damage, theft etc. Again as I stated previously, Ibis has denied this, and stated how well the event went. The Royal Hotel have now said they would honour the bookings, however now come with conditions.

The gentlemen who booked the rooms originally has refused this offer from The Royal Hotel, and the Doubletree Hilton Hotel, just up the road, have stated that they would provide the rooms etc. Further donations and offers have been today for the charity to take up on too.

Most charities when providing these events, or putting people forward for opportunities such as a sheltered housing with job opportunities etc, will all undertake drug testing etc. There are obviously many more people homeless in Hull, than these rooms being provided. I am sure the many homeless charities within Hull as well as the UK, will be upping the soup kitchens, finding alternative shelters and so on.

So as much as I believe the charity are doing a good thing, I do believe The Royal Hotel have been in the wrong to just cancel the bookings, and still appear to come off worse, with a slap dash attempt of blaming hearsay, rather than being honest, yet it would appear many people have commented online/tripadvisor etc...they have come off worse.

The charity have received today alone, donations over £6000, multiple offers of help regarding businesses and hotels within Hull, to try and accommodate what they had lost, and have many people talking about homelessness, who before now wouldn't even bother too.

In regards to only certain homeless people qualifying for such events, I am not sure there is a fair way to do this, but this is down to the charity themselves to sort. How I have no idea, but yes paying guests may not want to see homeless people within a hotel, however this may be the only chance all year, to be fed, bathed, sleep in a warm bed, and not be alone and on the streets at Christmas time.

I don’t blame the hotel in the slightest albeit it could possibly have been handled better and the cancellation done sooner.

A lot of homeless people have a lot of issues and the hotel owes a duty of care to their staff and other guests.

I wonder if all the virtue signallers and people slagging off the hotel would have any of them in their homes overnight? Doubt it

I wouldn't want to stay in a hotel with a lot of homeless people who will probably be drinking. Did they know I wonder? I rather doubt it as it was not good publicity to then refuse. Better a small hotel with just the number of rooms required so that other people, including perhaps families, are not affected, would have been a better choice, but it seems like the booking came rather late for that.

I also think (and this is something I have heard a lot of from the family member who works with homeless people) that this sort of showy magic-of-Christmas gesture is not all that helpful to homeless people and is more about allowing the donors to pat themselves on the back.

The Royal Hotel have now said they would honour the bookings, however now come with conditions. The gentlemen who booked the rooms originally has refused this offer from The Royal Hotel, and the Doubletree Hilton Hotel, just up the road, have stated that they would provide the rooms etc

Has anything been said about what the Royal's "conditions" were?

I'm a bit surprised the person who booked the rooms has refused them now - unless he felt unable to guarantee whatever the hotel expected, I guess - and even more surprised the Doubletree Hilton would offer. Unlike most Britannia places the Hilton's very well rated and I wouldn't have thought they'd want to risk that

I totally agree, Reanimated and would say much the same about some of those slamming the hotels themselves

It's all to easy to sit behind a screen crying "isn't it AWFUL" and takes almost no effort and no money ... unlike all the work which goes into helping the homeless year round, instead of just at Christmas

Totally don’t blame the hotel if it will result in hassle for the staff, complaints and/or cancellations from other guests, or damage to the rooms resulting in costly repairs and the cancellation of further bookings while repairs take place. It’s very naive to think that homeless people will just enjoy a nice quiet vacation without causing any issues.

Also would you like to be the next person to sleep in those beds?!

Milkycuppa, there but for the grace of whatever go of all of us. You have no idea who slept in that bed before you, homeless or not.

It's Christmas for fuck's sake.

It's awful that this even needs to be a story. In this day and age it's deplorable that anyone wouldn't have a roof over their head.

But, a hotel is not a safe, acceptable place for a group of homeless people to stay.
There's no trained support staff, no one to supervise.
If they bring in drugs/alcohol there's no one to stop them - what if someone overdoses? Who deals with the aftermath?
The poor minimum wage worker who has absolutely no training and definitely didn't sign up for those conditions when applying to work in a hotel.

A 2 night stay and a Christmas dinner isn't going to fix the issues at hand.
The charity would be much better off taking the money and sorting out shelters for these poor people, where they can stay relatively long term and hopefully get some help back on their feet.
Let's face it, they're not really going to give a shit about Christmas - they care about somewhere warm to sleep and food in their stomach. Kicking them out after 2 days and putting them back on the street because 'festive period and goodwill is now over' is evil. Those 2 days don't change anything.

Anyone saying that it's 'inhumane' or 'evil' - why aren't you opening your doors? If there is genuinely no risk, surely you should all be offering hospitality this Christmas?
Or is it okay to be disgusted because it doesn't effect you in anyway? Just the cleaners, other guests of the hotel and every member of staff working those nights.
As a PP said; it's very easy to encourage someone else to open their doors and kick up a fuss when they have reservations.

I think they were unreasonable to agree to do it and then back out. That was quite mingey. I saw on the news two people being turned away and it made me quite sad.

Oops, sorry to have said, "Quite" twice in small paragraph.

Not, it turned out the phonecall was from some malicious twat hoping to cause trouble. Ibis have denied any damage happened last year. You just chose not to post that bit TheseArms. The glee people treat a bit of false news like that with is a joke.

Christ, some people.

Pringlecat

I think some people are being very unfair.

I volunteer for a shelter. Many of our guests have complex mental health issues and/or addictions that mean that specialist support is needed. Hotel staff are not trained for this. Normal paying hotel guests are not equipped to deal with this

Dunno what you mean by 'normal'?
As for hotels and complex mental health issues, they'd have to turn half the population away if they adopted that policy.
I'd put good money on a bunch of under 25s creating more havoc on any given day in any hotel than a group of homeless people getting treated to an overnight for Christmas.

And it seems theyve just dug themselves an even deeper hole by fabricating stories of fire raising, damage to rooms and theft at the hotel they stayed in last Christmas. The other hotel has firmly denied these allegations, saying they don't recognise any of that.
Whoever runs the hotel is a prat for many reasons. Not least of all, their assumption that other guests would think that having a large group of homeless at the next table would create negative publicity.
Chances are everyone would have a lovely meal and it would have had a positive impact on his business. As is, he'd be aswell pulling the shutters down tomorrow. Twit!

I completely agree with Reanimated and WhoTook. It's one bloody day, the pagan festival of Yule co-opted by Christianity. Total waste of money on the part of the charity. Address the real causes of homelessness instead.

@Patroclus at the time I posted there was no mention of the ibis denial in that bbc article I quoted from so please do not accuse me of omitting parts. I take no glee in homelessness, it is disgraceful so many are on the streets.

Also, things like Crisis at Christmas, while there's still a bit of 'strictly time-limited goodwill' associated with them, do offer more than just a bed and a meal, and have trained staff on hand to give advice (including medics) - their Christmas shelters are set up to cater to a range of needs.
I'm getting the impression the charity in this case is a mix of well-intentioned idiocy and 'look what a generous saint I am'.