[EDIT]
Please see here for an update.
Morning everyone. I’ll hopefully be back to posting regularly soon – I’m almost recovered from a bug/flu/bad cold that I picked up on the flight back to Kazakhstan last week (Turkish Airlines are sadly not alone in the pitiful amount of fresh air (as opposed to the germ-laden recycled stuff) used on their flights).
Anyway, onto the reason I’ve made this post. First, please read this story from the BBC website. A brief summary is that a member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces was refused a room at a hotel in Woking. Apparently it is the management’s and/or hotel’s policy not to accept military personnel!
As long term readers of this blog will know, I am not a supporter of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan per se; however, when it comes down to the lives of those individual people who voluntarily sign up to protect their country, I believe we should show some respect. Support the personnel, even if you don’t agree with the politics. I can only guess that the policy of the hotel has come from previous problems they have experienced with squaddies relaxing a little too much. If so, I can understand how large groups of physically fit men who are trained to fight would not be ideal guests. This does not appear to have been the situation in this case though. One lone man, who was on leave from Afghanistan due to an injury, and was in the area to visit another injured soldier friend needed a place to lay his head and rest for the night. Having been refused a room, Corporal Tomos Stringer had to spend the night in his car.
View Larger Map
(I believe the hotel is located in the centre of this map.)
I would ask all readers (especially those in the UK) to consider calling the hotel to register a complaint about this incident. If you live outside Britain, but still feel strongly enough, I can recommend using Skype (and purchasing some credit) to call the hotel – assuming your normal phone has high international call rates. This is what I did, and left a message for the duty manager. The lady answering the phone behaved in a professional manner, and I would ask any callers to remain civil and simply ask that their disgust with the management be registered and passed on to them.
The hotel’s phone number is (01483) 727100 , or if you are dialling internationally, +44 1483 727100 . Should you live in the Woking area, and have a few minutes spare to actually complain in person, their address is The Metro Hotel, Gwent House, Crown Sq, Woking, GU21 6HR. There are two different addresses listed by Google, with the same phone number, so I’m not sure whether one is simply a correspondence address.
If your job happens to include arranging overnight stays for staff in a hotel, then I would ask you to consider not using this hotel in the future.
If you do not feel anything wrong has occurred, I obviously respect your right to hold a different opinion, but thank you for taking the time to read this message.
September 4th, 2008 3:15 pm
I posted about this myself but I am going to follow your lead and make that phone call.
September 4th, 2008 3:46 pm
Like I said, the lady who answered the phone was well mannered (considering how many other people probably had the same idea as me), and whether our combined voices will have any effect (affect?) on the management is unknown, but this story really pi$$ed me off.
Note to other readers, head on over to Miladysa’s blog (just click her name on the comment above) for a post with more background info on the case.
September 4th, 2008 4:26 pm
Someone needs to call the wwwwaaAAAmbulance. What a petty prick to think that someone is beyond others rights just because they are in the military…. and your solution is to bully the staff that probably had nothing to do with it. Think.
September 4th, 2008 4:41 pm
OK, where to start?
“Bully the staff”?
Did you actually read my post? If so, did you think at all before posting?
I left a msg. I’ve asked others to remain civil. Which part of that is bullying exactly?
“Beyond other’s rights”
Is other’s referring to a particular person, the hotel or the company that own it?
Have you read the article I linked to, watched the video and listened to the excerpt from Radio 4’s Today program?
PS If you don’t want to leave a real website address in the appropriate field, then don’t. You don’t need to make one up. Your e-mail address wasn’t exactly an original concept either.
PPS See how easy it was to post a comment without resorting to name calling? Labelling me as a petty prick isn’t exactly setting a good example of the sort of action you appear to want others to follow. Some might even say it was a (rather weak) attempt at bullying on your part.
September 4th, 2008 5:06 pm
Chris
A blogger named Rantman posted an email link for the hotel:
http://www.metrohotel.co.uk/en/1/contactmetro.html
I’ve also dropped the hotel a civil email. Like yourself, I would not encourage anyone to be anything but civil in this matter.
M
September 4th, 2008 5:31 pm
I did 8 years in the US Marine Corps and left with a disability. Just after leaving I went into a restaurant and was told that “we don’t serve people like you”. So in a loud LOUD voice I asked if they didn’t serve handicapped people, military people or tall whites. Then I called the cops. Oddly, I did get served after the cops got there.
September 4th, 2008 6:51 pm
So because someone is willing to kill someone else, they get prefferential treatment eh? I think not. He should’ve stayed over there, moved into the houses and looked after the families of the people he killed. What he gets.
September 4th, 2008 9:14 pm
@Miladysa Thanks for the link, I’ve left a comment there as well in case my phone msg gets lost accidentally.
@Richard Sorry to hear you came across such narrow minded behaviour, glad it doesn’t seem to have made you too cynical. Those people who seem to confuse the sometimes questionable ethics and motives of politicians with those people who serve their country in the forces are sometimes just refusing to see reality, as it doesn’t suit their arguments, IMO.
@JR Preferential treatment??? WTF? I’m saying he should have EQUAL treatment, certainly. Looked after the families of the people he killed? I take it you have access to his service record, confirmed kill counts etc. etc. Otherwise I’m sure you’d not have just generalised like that. If you have a problem with the policy makers, then we are in agreement – re-read my post if you have a minute, and you’ll find I don’t agree with the war in Afghanistan either. However, to simply tar anyone in the army/navy/RAF with the same brush is not fair. If you think these people are all evil war mongerers, would you hold the same opinion of them if they were actually defending the country from an invasion, or out in other countries carrying out humanitarian work? If you are consistent, and think that people in the services are always acting in a bad way, no matter what they do, then I guess this argument is at an end – we are not likely to persuade each other of our own opinions. If however you don’t have a problem with army/navy/RAF people until they are carrying out the policies of politicians in Afghanistan/Iraq, then surely you’d agree the politicians are the true root of the problem?
September 4th, 2008 9:42 pm
b
September 4th, 2008 11:31 pm
Would you like me to remove that comment John? (Seriously, debating aside a moment).
September 5th, 2008 12:42 am
Here come the flames… That’s a very sensitive issue.
I can’t say I’m really fond of military, or armed conflicts, and I definetily don’t want to join the Red Army or anything. Nevertheless I agree with Chris that individuals should get equal service, no matter what group they belong to, and what other people think about this group.
I didn’t get that the story happened in the UK before I looked at the map, I thought it was some Middle East town. I really can’t understand the hotel people. Really.
September 5th, 2008 3:48 pm
You caught me on a bad day.
This is not about a hotel, this has been made, by the media, about war.
Violence, in all its forms, is abhorrent. No excuses can be made. If a man is willing to sign up, go to, and fight a war for our governments true reasons then so be it. But not in my name.
In a moral and just world, an independent international arbitrating body like the UN would resolve disputes like the existence of a Palestinian State, US forces in Saudi Arabia and sanctions on Iraq. To prevent 7.5 million innocent Afghan people from dying of starvation over the coming harsh winter we should listen to the international aid agencies in Afghanistan and immediately end the bombing in order to distribute sustained aid. This act of compassion over retribution would encourage the Muslim people to help in our search for the terrorists. In order to limit American geopolitical interests all over the world, energy conservation measures and self-sufficiency in energy from non-oil sources such as electrical generation from wind, solar and biomass should be encouraged. But in the long run, if the US really wants to destroy terrorism it will need to fundamentally readjust its basic policies to create a level economic playing field and ensure genuine justice and national sovereignty for all.
Force is not a remedy.
Bright.
Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.
Emerson.
Beware of those who would use violence, too often it is violence they want and neither truth nor freedom.
Lamour.
So, to anyone I have offended my sincere apologies. It was a reaction to, as I see it, a media driven acceptance to violence. As in, don’t hate the troops, they’re doing a good job, hate the government that sent them there. Well, if we, and the troops stood against that government, told them we where not willing to fight an immoral war solely for the benefit of money and a select few vying for more control, even at the cost of life. Or a government basing this on religion (of which I am still to find one that condoles violence) then fine, we could lead the way to a just and peacefully world. As it is, no, we do not have the right.
Anyone refused shelter is being wronged. But simply because he had a forces card is not a reason to expect acceptance, neither is it a reason to deny him.
It is a round world, one that should exist without boarders.
Again, my apologies.
John.
(As for taking my post down, ‘Seriously, debating aside a moment’,
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire.)
;]
September 5th, 2008 3:51 pm
Oh, and I have emailed the hotel…
Not expecting a reply from them…
September 5th, 2008 10:28 pm
@JR – my offer of removing the comment was referring to the comment immediately above it – it was just the letter b. If you actually typed more than that, I swear that ‘b’ is all that arrived. The only edits I make to other peoples’ comments are removing profuse & un-necessary swearing, or if someone make a valid point about something, but then goes on to link to dozens of their sites.
I think you and I might actually be closer than we initially realised when it comes to the actions carried out in Afghanistan – if you pushed me into a corner, I’d label myself as left-leaning Liberal (in the UK Liberal Democrat sense). I was not suggesting that the man should have received better treatment than other potential guests, just equal. I assumed (my bad 😉 ) the only reason the hotel knew he was in the army was that he produced his forces card when he was asked to provide ID confirmation (he was almost certainly in civilian clothing, as it is not safe for UK forces to wear their uniforms off-base anymore, certainly since IRA mainland actions occurred at least).
As to your point about the media taking this story and giving it prime position for ulterior motives, I can see where you are coming from, certainly.
As you may have guessed, I have had jobs where I worked with people in the armed forces – purely as a civilian myself, and based in the UK, but this experience led me to alter my assumptions about the guys & girls at ground level (I’d tarred them all with the same brush after meeting some rather drunk and aggressive examples when out drinking one night), though not those who define policies from upon high. In a similar way, until I became good friends with a few Americans, I always assumed that most of them were fervent supporters of Bush Jr & Sr, and that holding an intellectual conversation regarding world events would be a non-starter. I was very happy to discover that this wasn’t the case. I suppose the fact that these (civilian) Americans were in a Central Asian country, voluntarily living a normal, not overly-privileged (for a Westerner) lifestyle means I’m more likely to come across people with their eyes and thought processes open. Anyway, I’m getting quite off-topic here, so I’ll shut up for now on that topic.
“But simply because he had a forces card is not a reason to expect acceptance, neither is it a reason to deny him.”
Just to confirm, I wasn’t expecting him being in the military to guarantee him a room, I was annoyed that having previously reserved the room on the phone (without a problem), when he turned up in person, and they discovered he was in the army, he was suddenly not allowed to sleep there.
“It is a round world, one that should exist without boarders”
Is that a play on the word borders, meaning politicians should butt out and not invite themselves into a country, or just a straight typo?
I didn’t find your comment offensive at all – please see this post’s second comment (from ‘egg’) for that type of reaction from me.
I’ve not yet made a post on it (been stuck in bed 1/2 the day), but the hotel in question has apologised and ‘clarified’ what actually happened, explaining that the receptionist had mis-understood the policy – she was only supposed to be careful of military people, as they’d apparently had problems with aggressive behaviour before. Whether she is now the innocent sacrificial lamb and that the policy really wasn’t so black and white, we may never know. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7598523.stm for more info.
September 6th, 2008 3:55 am
Just adding my voice and agreeing that soldiers should not sufffer for the politics of the nation. I remember my father’s story of touring the UK right after WWII and being taken in everywhere, treated to huge dinners because he was American -he didn’t serve but the People were just grateful that the US joined the war effort
September 7th, 2008 8:49 pm
Update added over here.
September 7th, 2008 8:54 pm
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