Dear Tadpole (name changed)
I received you email - and really appreciate that you have taken the time to express your very strong views of this very unfortunate incident at the Metro Hotel reported by the local and national media on Thursday of this week.
The Hotel is situated in the heart of Woking Town Centre in the 'late night district' around 300 metres from the busy mainline station. It is a very popular 26 room budget, short stay hotel with a near 90% year round occupancy. The Hotel Management and the Directors of the Hotel have had a welcoming "open door" policy to all members of the local and international community for the 10 years that we have owned and operated the hotel. It is a very popular hotel indeed with members of the local Pirbright Barracks and is regularly booked out by the soldiers, officers and by friends and visitors to the barracks. It is a highly regarded budget hotel.
Indeed the hotel had 8 rooms booked and used by members of the armed forces only last night (Saturday) ! The hotel nor its management nor its owners would ever discriminate to any individual or group. However it is know that on rare occasions, the management does choose to refuse entry to those guests who present themselves in a manner or condition (eg being totally intoxicated) which would be obviously unacceptable on the night of stay in question. This can and occasionally does occur on weekend nights during the late hours.
The most highly regrettable issue relating to Corporal Stringer is that he came to the hotel, without a booking (no problems there as there were several rooms available), well presented on a quiet Sunday in civilian clothing on 30th June 2008. He was completing his hotel registration as would any other guest and then, because he was paying for the room by cash, was requested by the duty receptionist to provide some form of identification. The duty receptionist, on seeing his military ID then decided, and for some completely bizarre reason that we still cannot determine, to refuse this fine gentleman a stay at the hotel. The duty receptionist did not log the refusal or give Corporal Stringer a proper reason why was being refused and sent him on his way.
From our de-brief of the incident it appears that Corporal Stringer made little fuss and left the establishment as peacefully as he came in. I am not then sure why he then chose to sleep in his car as there would have been many other hotels with rooms available on that night in the local area, however that's a decision Corporal Stringer chose to make and we have to respect that decision. The receptionist made no further written or verbal comment that night in the hotel log book or indeed that week or month or next month about the incident and due to there being no pre booking and thus room vs payments check, not one member of the management team of the hotel knew anything of this incident until a letter arrived at the hotel from the local MP of the constituency of Corporal Stringer on 29th August - almost 2 months after the incident occurred.
The hotel, it's management and it's company Directors (to whom, over the past 72 hours, have received the most vicious threats and abuse of extreme proportions that we have ever witnessed or experienced) immediately responded to the MP but was already snookered! The story had already been broken to the Welsh press and to the national media and the whirlwind had started (and which has still not ended!).
The hotel was clearly not able to change it's policy because there never has been any policy to "refuse", only one to "admit". The Daily Mirror's "u-turn in policy" could not be further from the truth! We were all as staggered as you were (and also the thousands of others who have expressed their strong opinions to us in the past two days) to learn of this highly regrettable incident and all we have been able to do is profusely apologise to the MP who wrote so strongly to us, to the soldier himself and his family, issue a press announcement which the press have mostly decided to ignore, invite the soldier back to the hotel on any occasion he wishes and urgently provide significant re-training and guidance to the receptionist who made this incredibly unfortunate and wrong decision to refuse a room and all other hotel staff as well, the majority of whom have had to ensure phone call after phone call of the most horrendous abuse imaginable.
The local Pirbright Barracks, the local Military and Community Police who frequent our hotel for a coffee and chat every single weekend and our local council (Woking Borough Council - our Landlords) and local Councillors and officers all know we are a very fine establishment who welcomes all and has an excellent reputation and provides and excellent level of service and quality. The hotel is we host to guests attending disabled charity receptions, sporting and music receptions and local Mayor's receptions and business and local visiting people.
However this one event in isolation which has stemmed from a decision made by a single individual has caused the world of the Metro Hotel to go upside down! I have never personally experienced anything quite like it and undoubtedly never will again.
I do hope this therefore provides you the benefit of the facts of this most regrettable matter in response to your email and will provide some level of comfort to your belief and understandable concern that the Metro Hotel does not welcome our fine men and women who represent our country so bravely and proudly.
Thank you again for your correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Michael Appleton
Managing Director
