The hotel accused of refusing to give a gay couple a double room
Nick Hurley and Gavin Maclean claim they were treated ina homophobic way at the City Barbican Thistle Hotel at the weekend.
Today Chris King, head of media for the Thistle Hotel Group, said there were simply no double rooms available because of an online booking computer error.
He said,
"The men's online booking had dropped off the system. It is rare but sometimes online bookings don't register with our central system and that's what happened in this case. They arrived at 11.30 at night and there were no double rooms available. They were given a family room which is an upgrade."
"We have apologised to them on twitter in an email and on the phone. We also offered them a weekend away at one of our many hotels around the country but they declined."
A spokesman from the Thistle Hotel Group has told ITV News that they are investigating claims that a receptionist denied a gay couple access to a double room at a London hotel.
From our initial investigations it appears that the couple booked through an online booking system which didn't work properly and so when they arrived at the hotel there were no double rooms available. We are very sorry if the couple feel they have been badly treated and we are now looking into the situation.
Having spoken to Mr Hurley we understand that the couple were not to upset that there were no double rooms available, but rather with the manner in which this information was conveyed. We have offered them a free night in one of our hotels but they have refused this offer. Thistle Hotels does not tolerate homophobic behaviour and will investigate this matter thoroughly.
