David Davis, at the Libertarian Alliance, is outraged at this story about a member of the Armed Forces who was denied accomodation by an hotel on that basis alone. This seems to be today’s micromeme.
While I think that most of the present deployments of the Army are very ill-advised I am in general a strong supporter of soldiers’ rights (and naturally those of workers and peasants too), and have considerable sympathy for the human condition in the military experience.
However, though anyone with the smallest measure of decency would roundly condemn the so-called ‘company policy’ of the Metro Hotel, Woking (which ‘policy’ may well, I feel, have been made up on the spot), and advise that until it is changed the entire company should be subjected to the most rigorous and unyielding boycott, I can’t see how practically, in the present circumstances, the management of this concern can otherwise be forced to accept as customers anyone to whom they have, for howsoever silly a reason, taken exception, nor philosophically why they should be.
I will certainly be doing no business with this company because of their clear inability to discriminate between the courage and self-sacrifice of individual soldiers and the uses, sometimes questionable, to which government requires those soldiers to be put. An hotel company which cannot tell the difference between Tommy Atkins and the Minister of Defence is probably also incapable of telling the difference between caster-sugar and Vim, or between ceiling-tiles and toast. Not recommended.
Thinking about it, what’s young Matt going to say about all this? He only lives down the road…
Excellent analysis.
You put it better than I did, in my enraged hurry. We did happily both notice that the Hotel’s property rights would entitle it to do such a thing, but I think it was crass and galumphingly stalinist of them, in the circumstances.
I think it’s outrageously insulting and indicative of a complete failure to establish any distinction between a policy and the people who may be required to carry it out. The entire hotel chain deserves to go out of business.
I hope that Cpl Stringer posts his experience on ARRSE and that the entire Army boycotts them as well as anybody reading this. May the curse of Fawlty be upon them. They’ve brought it on themselves, as they have every right to.
I think this policy was made up on the spot, too. Because any canny PR manager, on hearing this news had hit the media, would have issued something to reporters chasing it.
Maybe an apology, if they felt they’d gone too far. Maybe a pre-prepared justification of their stance.
But silence…? That speaks of utter panic at HQ.
Good.
It seems the panic is over and the PR people are moving to cover their collective backsides:
“The Metro Hotel said it “sincerely apologises for any upset caused towards Cpl Stringer and his family following the incident at the hotel.
A spokesman said: “The hotel management has always had an open door policy to all its visitors and guests, including members of the military and armed forces, and will continue to do so.”
He added: “On this particular occasion there was a mistake made by a duty receptionist and the hotel management sincerely apologises for that mistake.”…”
It seems they’ve discovered that there IS such a thing as bad publicity after all…
It is Fawlty, dammit!
When the metro catches fire I hope the local fire tender engine fails to start.
To the rest of the world don’t use this dump.
If the hotel’s explanation is genuine then I wonder where the Receptionist got the idea from that they could have such a policy. I would expect the offending employee to have been sacked. Actions speak louder than words!
Wouldn’t it be good to see pickets outside the premises?