From Times Online
September 4, 2008
Soldier forced to sleep in car after hotel refuses him a room
The Metro Hotel in Woking, which was under fire today
Hannah Fletcher
A hotel that refused a wounded soldier a room, forcing him to spend
the night in his car, was backed into a =93grovelling=94 apology today
after receiving a barrage of abusive phone calls.
Metro Hotel, in Woking, Surrey, had to call in the police as their
lines were flooded with angry, abusive and threatening calls from
members of the public.
The attack on the switchboards came after it emerged that Cor****al
Tomos Stringer, 24, had been told by hotel staff that it was company
policy not to accept members of the Armed Forces as guests.
A soldier since the age of 16 and veteran of multiple tours in
Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, Cpl Stringer had travelled to
Surrey to help with funeral preparations for a friend killed in
action.
Cpl Stringer, who was not in uniform, presented his army warrant card
when asked by the hotel for proof of identity. After the receptionist
refused him a room, he was left with no choice but to bed down in his
tiny, two-door car, his wrist, broken during a convoy ambush, encased
in plaster.
Hywel Williams, Cpl Stringer's MP, the Defence Minister, Derek Twigg,
and Bob Ainsworth, the Armed Forces Minister, have all written letters
to the hotel, and army men and enthusiasts have swamped the forums of
the unofficial British Army website calling for a boyctott.
Some have suggested booking the hotel en masse, only to cancel at last
minute. Others are encouraging their colleagues to post comments about
the hotel on customer review websites.
One such site has already received half a dozen comments. =93As a
serving member of the British Armed Forces, I=92m disgusted to see that
one of my colleagues was refused a room in Metro Hotel in Surrey . . .
because their policy is to refuse all army personnel,=94 wrote one.
=93Anyone considering using any services of this company should
definitely not bother. I=92m sure a more patriotic company can be found
with far superior services.=94
Another wrote of the hotel: =93Cons - No beds for our country=92s heroes.=
=94
After a resolute silence, the hotel, owned by a company called
American Amusements, issued a statement.
=93The Metro Hotel, Woking, sincerely regrets any upset caused towards
Cor****al Stringer and his family. The hotel management has always had
an open-door policy to all its visitors and guests, including members
of the military and Armed Forces.=94
The statement said that the receptionist on duty at the time had made
a mistake.
A personal letter received by Mr Williams, MP for Caernarfon, went
further, saying that the hotel had recently experienced =93some rather
serious incidents=94 involving soldiers from the nearby barracks.
Michael Chaussy, the manager of Metro Hotel, insisted there was no
blanket policy, but that it was =93a decision for the manager to *****s
whether the hotel booking is to be accepted=94.
=93This process does not appear to have happened in this case,=94 he
conceded.
Cpl Stringer, of 13 Air Assault Sup****t Regiment, The Royal Logistic
Corps, has now returned to Afghanistan, but his mother, Gaynor
Stringer, from Criccieth, north Wales, told The Times that she was
still furious about the incident.
=93I=92m very, very angry. It=92s discrimination. They would never get
away
with it if it was against someone of ethnic origin,=94 she said.
=93In America, they treat soldiers as heroes. We went to Disney World
with Tomos and the whole family was moved to the front of the lines.
Everybody was standing up and clapping and cheering. Here, soldiers
can=92t even get a bed for the night.=94
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4674411.ece
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