Travel firms offer to help homeless charity in hotel cancellation row
Travel companies have stepped in to offer their help to a homeless charity that was let down by a hotel over Christmas.
The Raise the Roof Homeless Project had booked 14 twin rooms for 28 people for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the Royal Hotel in Hull.
But organiser Carl Simpson said he was ‘gutted and very angry’ when the hotel cancelled the £1,092 booking without explanation.
He aired his anger in a post on Facebook and the post went viral, being shared more than 1,500 times.
The post attracted nearly 500 comments, including one from Adam Gill at Vivid Travel offering to cover the cost of the booking and arrange an alternative hotel.
Peter Finlay from Glasgow-based Horizon Direct Holidays also offered to help.
Members of the public were quick to praise the companies for their generosity.
In the end, the charity accepted an offer from the Doubletree by Hilton Hull to welcome the group for free.
It has also been offered financial help from several local businesses and a free Christmas lunch at the Village Hotel in the city.
"Who says miracles don’t happen," said Simpson in a later Facebook post.
The Royal Hotel hadn’t initially given the charity a reason for cancelling the booking and had been aware from the start that it was for a group of homeless people.
When the story was picked up by the BBC and several newspapers, the hotel blamed its decision on a unanimous call from from a ‘lady called Sarah’ who claimed to have previously worked for the charity and who said that when the charity had booked a group at the Ibis hotel last year, the hotel had been ‘trashed, set on fire and staff and property stolen’.
Ibis was quick to make a statement refuting these claims.
Following a backlash, with some people calling for a boycott, The Royal Hotel offered to reinstate the booking, with conditions, but the charity declined.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt