Business as usual for city hotels – but guests from outside areas cancel

HOTEL, RESTAURANT and pub owners in York say they are grateful to have avoided the highest level of restrictions – but warned that policing the rules could cause problems.

Rebecca Hill, the owner of Galtres

Lodge Hotel, said she was relieved the city was in the second tier, which meant she was able to operate near to normal.

But Ms Hill said the city was on the edge of a huge swathe of Tier 3 territory across West and South Yorkshire, which meant many people had cancelled their bookings because they could no longer travel.

She said: “Tier 3 would have been a disaster but Tier 2 means we can welcome guests into the hotel and open the restaurant.”

Ms Hill added: “We can reopen and we can welcome guests but, obviously, guests from Tier 3 areas cannot travel to us.

“So that does have a negative affect on bookings and that’s a real shame.

“But most of our guests are very lovely, luckily.

“We’re a small independent, very personable business, so they just postponed and they’ll come where they can.”

Mrs Hill said there were still complications dealing with the rules around non- mixing of households.

She said groups who were suspected of not being from the same household were subtly steered towards the heated outdoor areas.

Malcolm Tolladay, landlord of the Winning Post pub, just south of the city centre, said: “Pulling the first pint will be apprehensive because we don’t know how many people we’re going to get through the door.”