No room at the inn

It is possible that someone from West Prince caused some sort of a disturbance or problem at the Charlottetown Inn and Conference Centre at some point in its history. And, certainly, it would not be unreasonable for the establishment to want to avoid a repeat occurrence by denying that individual a room ever again.

But just that individual. Not his family, nor his friends.

On New Year’s Eve, however, some West Prince residents were denied rooms at the inn, simply because of where they are from.

The inn has had problems with people from that geographic area before, an associate explained.

And, did we mention someone in West Prince might have caused problems at the inn before? Well, quite possibly someone from Summerside, or someone from Charlottetown, or Moncton, or Halifax caused a problem there at one time, too. It happens. You deal with the problem people and move on.

Would guests from Moncton or Halifax get turned away because someone from their city caused a ruckus? Doubtful.

But residents of West Prince all got jumbled in with the trouble-makers.

Painted with the same brush.

Tossed into a pile together.

Thrown out with the trash.

That was unfortunate and wrong.

Since then, the manager of the inn has been saying all the right things: He apologized. He said the message given to potential guests was wrong, a mistake, and he insisted the inn does not have a geographical-based ban.

Maybe it was all a big misunderstanding and a mistake, but some potential guests were turned away, simply because they live in West Prince.

Residents of a region felt insulted and disrespected. Damage done.

Perhaps the biggest loser in this whole fiasco, though, is the inn itself. Those guests who were turned away ended up finding rooms at other establishments. That’s a revenue loss for the inn. And, on top of that, some residents of West Prince have indicated through social media that they will not be booking rooms at the Charlottetown Inn and Conference Centre.

That, too, is unfortunate.

Whatever the reason for the slight, the Charlottetown Inn and Conference Centre now has a reputation in West Prince – and likely beyond.

It’s a reputation it will want to shed, just like West Prince residents really don’t like being lumped in as trouble-makers.

A better picture

In sharp contrast to the story of New Year’s Eve revelers being turned away from an inn because they are from West Prince, the same issue of the Journal Pioneer carried a story of a community ‘full of angels.’ A Tignish woman reported being overwhelmed by the support her family received from area residents after they lost their home to fire.

“What an awesome, awesome place to live. I don’t even have words for the people here,” Melissa Handrahan said.

As it turns out, though, she did have words to describe them: “The community is full of angels.” Now, that’s the kind of reputation a community or a region will gladly embrace.