Appalled at actions of hotel staff

[Stopyourhavering64]

Just back from spending a night in a 5* city centre hotel to visit dd at Uni.
Had a lovely meal out of hotel and came back for a drink in hotel bar ( approx 10pm) we were sitting on sofas near entrance to bar ( which is also adjacent to hotel restaurant) when dh said...there's a mouse under the sofa I was sitting on!...first of all shocked that a mouse was in hotel as floors are all tiled/ marble and no obvious signs of where it could have come from
Anyway we were merely intrigued and were watching where it went....bar staff came over to see what we were looking at...by this time dh and dd had gone to the loo, leaving me with dd's bf having a drink
Barman reappeared with 3 other members of staff, who then proceeded to hunt the mouse....( all this was happening behind our back)....there was suddenly a commotion and one of the staff stamped on the mouse - loud enough for me to hear it squeak ....by time I turned round again he'd stamped on it again ...completely sqauashed it
Dd and dh returned from loo, they missed what had occurred ( all this happened within 5 mins)
I was disgusted by hotel staff's actions but didn't feel like confronting them at the time as I was so taken aback and don't like confrontation . Bar man then came over and said would we like a complimentary drink ...I said no thanks and said goodbyes to dd and bf and went off to room ....horrible end to a lovely day
When we were checking out dh mentioned it to staff and they said they'd mention it to management...dh uses this hotel chain for business on a regular basis ( the main reason we'd used it, as he accrues loyalty points) and is asked for feedback...he'll be taking it up with their management but wwyd in these circumstances
Obviously mice in hotel is not desirable but the actions of the staff was barbaric ...I now feel cowardly for not having said anything at the time

I'd have punched him in the face without a second thought. That's totally unnecessarily cruel.

driven it out to the countryside

I'm sorry but that's just not practical, I don't think staff are allowed to leave their shift to drive out to the countryside. And after finishing a late shift I'm sure they just want to get home.

They had to get the mouse, I'm sure things would have been worse if it had been discovered scuttling around the breakfast buffet.

Before I use my tranquiliser dart, I always put up screens so I had been called in before this shocking event, the mouse observer would have been spared the sight of the mouse's demise.

Mice in commercial premises are a very common problem OP....doesn't matter how many stars the hotel has. However the action of the staff were terrible. They ought to have just moved you elsewhere and then dealt with the mouse or got pest control in.

Vermin do go into buildings especially where is food. The staff dealt with the problem quickly. However I think a member of staff could have asked you all to leave as there was a situation in the bar. I’m sure the staff would have reported this to the manager and contact would have been made with vermin control the next day. Unfortunately it does happen. Could have been worse, could have been a rat.

The hotel clearly needs to have a few cats on duty. They could also greet guests, like they do in those cat cafes.

The hotel probably has ALOT of mice. Most unlikely to be a loner. Big risk of tummy bugs for guests from the wee wee trails that mice leave about. I'd make a management complain in writing.

Yabu. It was a quick and efficient method of killing it. What would you have had him done? Poisoning and trapping are much worse than a quick stamp of a boot.

Sometimes mice enter buildings due to weather conditions or even by "mistake". Live kind of rural and a dormouse often pops in but the scurries out realising it's in the wrong abode. The Hotel may not have an infestation, mouse could possibly have been caught and taken outside for release. What did happen would be a normal reaction in the circumstances.

If I was their manager I'd be asking where their brains were. You can't have mice running around a hotel (though that is what happens) but the sensible thing would be to put down traps discreetly when the bar was shut, rather than do a fandango on it in front of everyone.

This would not have bothered me in the slightest. Stepping on it quickly would have been my first reaction too for fear of it running off somewhere to hide.

That’s horrid. I wouldn’t use that hotel again. Poor mouse.

YANBU - I'd have thought they would have rodent control if they had a mouse problem, and I'd have been upset too at witnessing such a thing. At least it sounds like the mouse died quickly though and maybe it was slow enough that they could catch it because it was being poisoned by their control policy, in which case possibly a mercy in disguise. Horrible for you though, you have my sympathy.

Perhaps it was a child!!

Anyone seen The Witches 🤣

I imagine stamping on it was just a quick reaction to seeing it. I expect if they had given it some thought they could have put a small box on or something like that to capture it. We all male mistakes in a panic. Not nice for you or the poor mouse though. Hopefully they will learn from this.

😂 what did you want him to do? You drew attention to it.

I'd have punched him in the face without a second thought. That's totally unnecessarily cruel
Seriously? there are some really mental people out there!

@FrancisCrawford

The fact the OP watched it and then the bar staff had time to notice them and come over suggests there was indeed time to fetch a glass and some paper or magazine or similar.

They like to run along walls or edges so its not hard to chase it into a pint glass, I have done this around my house and even outside in the garden (breeding mice = escaping mice. Living with cats = wild mice)

Dispatch humanely - means dispatch humanely, cervical dislocation (knife - decapitate. Pencil across the back of the neck then pull up sharply on the base of the tail, theres two methods for you).

I don't pull these suggestions out my arse, they come from real life experience. I'll take a bet that I have killed, humanely, more mice than you've had hot and cold dinners!

My ideal humane Mouse Removal Service would involve bringing in a specially trained mouse: "The Mauser". It carries a micro camera on its back. Its fur is coated with a cheese flavoured attractant. It is released and locates the other mouse/mice on the premises. Like the - Pied Piper of Hamelin - it leads the monitored odour-captivated creatures out of the premises into a tube that is sealed behind it, as it exits, trapping the followers. The tube is then emptied of its contents i.e. released in a suitably mouse-friendly environment. The Mauser is rewarded with a wholesome treat and moves on to the next mouse-clearing assignment. Its not rocket science. Pay attention - Rentokil.

Just bowl and cardboard it and calmly put him out on the grass for fucks sake?

People are bastards!

I'd have punched him in the face without a second thought. That's totally unnecessarily cruel

Of course you wouldn't have punched him in the face! Do you often go about assaulting people for no reason?

I hope this cruel member of the hotel staff is familiar with the saying "what goes around comes around."

Because, in my experience, it's true.

My former workplace had a pest control company that used a humane device to kill rats and mice. His name was Odin and he was an adorable Jack Russell terrier puppy

I saw a terrier mix dispatch a mouse with terrifying speed. Just one clamp to the spine and it was finished! Much more efficient than a cat!

But it’s telling that once you see an animal as “vermin” you can do whatever you want to kill it. Probably why there aren’t wolves in Britain anymore.

Agree with you OP. It’s a 5* hotel, how gauche to have staff running around trying to stamp a mouse. They have bigger problems than a random mouse wandering about (there’s definitely more)