Hotel stay for special birthday celebration 'a disaster'

On January 18, Kellie Porritt, from Grimsby, travelled to Scarborough with her family to celebrate her dad’s 60th birthday.

The group of 13 booked their stay at the Grand Hotel, a place very special to them all, with a view to enjoying a celebratory dinner followed by quality entertainment.

However, the special celebration Kellie had imagined didn’t really go as planned.

On the night, the family turned up at the restaurant only to find there was very little food left and all they were served were “stone cold” chicken nuggets. According to Kellie, restaurant staff offered them to order from the bar but the menu had limited choice and when her family asked for steaks, these, they were told, were frozen and “not within the budget”.

“You can imagine how disappointed and disgusted we all were,” said Kellie. “We decided to go out for food and ended up with a McDonald’s. We paid £452 to end up with a McDonald’s.”

But it wasn’t just the meal. Once back at the hotel there was no entertainment either, as this had been booked out for a coach trip.

“The only choice we had was to sit in the lobby and have a drink surrounded by homeless people begging for money and offering cocaine to my 18-year-old daughter.

“It’s disgusting. If I’d known the council was putting up homeless people at the Grand, I would have never ever booked. I’ve got nothing against homeless people but this was meant to be a very special birthday and it was completely ruined.”

Scarborough Borough Council has confirmed the presence of rough sleepers at the Grand, explaining that over the Christmas period it was “necessary to seek alternative provision” for those in need of emergency accommodation.

The Grand Hotel declined to comment to The Scarborough News. However, responding to an email of complaint sent by Mr Porritt, managers apologised for failing to “deliver on our normal high standards” and “as a gesture of goodwill”, offered them a discounted rate for a return stay.