No room at inn for Christmas homeless
IT WAS a heartwarming project in the true spirit of Christmas.
A homeless charity had booked 14 twin rooms at a local hotel so 28 rough sleepers could spend Christmas Eve and Christmas night in a comfortable bed.
But out of the blue organisers were told there was no room at the inn and the booking was cancelled without any explanation.
Carl Simpson, of Raise The Roof Hull Homeless Project, said the Britannia Royal Hull Hotel had known who would use the rooms and the £1,092 cost had been paid.
He added: ‘They were happy to give us a 20 per cent discount. I received a call about the cancellation, I asked for an explanation and they didn’t have one. This is discrimination, they don’t want homeless people and that’s wrong.
‘There are many reasons people are homeless and they’re not all on drugs. The way we have been treated by the hotel is heartbreaking.’
The decision left the group of 28, who had been told about the treat last week after going to the charity’s soup kitchen in Hull, facing Christmas on the streets.
But a wave of sympathy on social media inspired another hotel, the DoubleTree Hilton Hull, to offer rooms and a festive dinner – and, in true Christmas spirit, is even covering the cost.
A spokesman for Britannia Hotels finally gave an explanation for its U-turn. It was blamed on a phone call from a woman who had been working for Raise The Roof last year when it paid to put up local homeless people in the city’s Ibis Hotel in a similar project.
The Britannia spokesman said: ‘She rang to warn us the group had caused serious problems.’ It was claimed these included ‘thefts’ and ‘fires’.
An Ibis spokesman said: ‘We don’t recognise any allegations that these guests caused serious problems such as fire or theft in the hotel.’