Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’m blind but hotel kicked us out as I ‘didn’t look disabled...’
Staff ‘fury over guide dog in room’
A BLIND woman claims she was kicked out of a Premier Inn late at night because she “didn’t look disabled” and staff refused to believe her golden retriever was a guide dog.
Angharad Paget-jones said she was half-dressed when hotel workers burst in over reports of an animal in the room.
Although the 29-year-old said she showed them her guide dog ID, staff said she didn’t look blind and suggested the document could be a fake, it is claimed.
She then asked for a manager and closed the door. .
Angharad claims workers at the hotel in Enfield, North London, then entered her room using a master key and demanded she leave. She says she was kicked out, with her soldier boyfriend and guide dog Tudor.
Angharad, of Port Talbot, South Wales, said: “It was late on bonfire night and I am scared of fireworks.
“It was terrifying to then be outside in a place I didn’t know. It really shook me up. It made me aware of just how vulnerable I am.”
Angharad said she suffered a panic attack after the incident and now plans to take legal action.
She said she checked in with no problems but claimed staff tried to stop her boyfriend re-entering with Tudor when he took him for a walk at around 9.30pm.
Blanche Shackleton, from Guide Dogs for the Blind, said: “We are deeply concerned to hear Angharad’s account.”
After Angharad recounted her reported ordeal online, Claire Morley, who is visually impaired and deaf, claimed she and her guide dog Thea were refused entry to a Premier Inn restaurant in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, in August.
She claimed she was told she would have to eat in her room as Thea looked like a pet. Claire allegedly later refused a £100 voucher.
Premier Inn was contacted with
Claire’s claims but did not respond.
The Premier Inn website says that assistance dogs are allowed in its hotels.
Referring to Angharad, a spokesman said that staff receive disability awareness training and that they were “shocked and appalled” by the reports.
“We’ve reached out to fully understand the circumstances and apologise for the upset caused.
“An urgent investigation is under way.”
Terrifying.. it made me realise how vulnerable I really am ANGHARAD PAGETJONES ON HOTEL ROW