A man who was turned away from a hotel when the temperatures plummeted to -6C revealed how it made him turn his life around, amid a public outcry
Two men revealed how being turned away from a Holiday Inn hotel in a major city centre changed one of their lives.
Callum Donaghey was one of two homeless men who were shockingly turned away from the hotel, despite having a pre-paid booking, when temperatures plummeted to -6C outside. Their stay had been funded by people’s donations but a man at the desk said company policy meant people from the streets were not allowed to stay. After the horror incident was caught on camera – at Holiday Inn Express on Oxford Road, Manchester – a public outcry helped to change Callum’s life.
READ MORE: Scandal of homelessness to be halved by 2030, ministers pledgeREAD MORE: Holidaymaker ‘booted out into cold’ by hotel ‘because she couldn’t pay £1.20 tourist tax’
A charity worker, Amanda Thompson, paid for two double rooms, with breakfast, using donations and her own money for the two men – paying just over £200 on Booking.com, according to Manchester Evening News.
In the shocking footage, the receptionist cam be heard saying: “Guys, I’m not going to lie to you, I’m not going to be able to check you in. Full truth and transparency, I know that you’re from the street and the hotel doesn’t allow it.” He added: “It’s the company’s policy. It’s not mine personally, it’s the company’s.
The video sparked a huge public outcry and even promoted the chairwoman of Parliament’s housing committee, Florence Eshalomi, to call their treatment “inhumane” discrimination. She said: “The way in which vulnerable rough sleepers appear to be discriminated against in footage circulating online is utterly appalling. IHG need to urgently explain how this incident occurred, and the concrete action being taken to ensure it can never happen again.”
Callum, 30, explained how this experience made him determined “to shine”. The IHG hotel group funded nights in a different warm hotel for the man before he passed a drugs test and accepted help in a rehabilitation centre, where he is currently living.
He said: “It’s still not enough. It’s not fair what they did to us. They have obviously owned it shouldn’t have happened and wasn’t company policy, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
“It’s so sad because I am used to knock backs. I would have taken it on the chin, but I am glad the way we were discriminated against has been shared in the way it has. I was suffering so much at the time, on the streets and with drug addiction, for someone to then make me feel so small.
“Over a big company like that, I thought, ‘what power do I have?’. I didn’t want to just accept it but felt like I had to. I have got support behind me, and I am so grateful that the story got out there. I left feeling like s***; just a lad from the streets. But feeling that way is partly why I have given this so much drive.”
He added: “They took one look at me and judged me. I felt so low. Looking back, even though I feel good in myself now, it’s heartbreaking. The way we were described as being ‘from the streets’. There could’ve been two outcomes here. I could’ve just walked off, decided I’d had enough, and spent a night lying on cardboard when it was -6C.”
Amanda, who works for Manchester-based outreach group Two Brews, said that despite the response, “nobody should be judged” and that Callum and the other man were judged “just because of who they are”. She said: “They did help him, but we had to ask for it. It’s too little too late. I understand they have now held their hands up to what happened, but people need more understanding of life on the streets and how to help.”
Europe Managing Director for IHG Hotels, Karin Sheppard, said: “We recognise that this isolated incident is clearly not in keeping with our expectations and should not have occurred.” She added: “Holiday Inn Express Manchester CC – Oxford Road has sincerely apologised to the guest affected and is taking internal steps to strengthen its staff training in accordance with our policies.”
The letter added: “Given the gravity of the situation, I can assure you that we have swiftly taken a wide range of actions available to us, including ensuring that existing training was reiterated, and hotel colleagues reminded of the utmost importance of making all our guests feel welcomed and cared for.”
