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Calumn Donaghey, a 30-year-old homeless man, described his experience of being refused entry to a Manchester hotel on a freezing night as “disgusting.” Despite having a pre-booked room at the Holiday Inn Express on Oxford Road, he and another man were denied accommodation because of the hotel’s policy, which reportedly “did not allow” homeless people to stay. Calumn expressed shock at the treatment, remarking, “From the look of myself you’d never think that I was homeless. So to make that judgement and reject us straight away – I think it’s disgusting really.”
The bookings had been made by Amanda Thompson, a volunteer with the charity Two Brews, who also paid a £100 damage deposit for each of the two rooms. Speaking about the incident, Calumn, who has spent the past eight years sleeping rough, shared the emotional impact it had on him. “It made me feel inadequate,” he said, adding, “I didn’t feel good enough for that hotel. As a homeless person, I was made to feel embarrassed.”
On the night in question, temperatures in Manchester had dropped to around -6°C, making conditions on the streets especially dangerous. Calumn highlighted the severity of the cold, saying, “It can be quite scary sleeping on the streets in this weather. I’m someone that’s been adapted to the streets for a while – but I’ve cried sometimes, I’ve been that cold.” Following the rejection, Amanda secured accommodation for the group at a Travelodge in Moss Side, where they were welcomed. Calumn reflected on his relief: “As we got there, I won’t lie, I let out a sigh of relief to myself because I had a roof over my head – somewhere warm.”
In response to the incident, a spokesperson for Holiday Inn Express Manchester issued an apology, stating that the situation was “not in keeping with our policy of welcoming all” and acknowledging that it “should have been handled differently.” The hotel also mentioned it was taking internal steps to improve staff training to prevent similar situations in the future. However, Calumn felt that these measures came too late to undo the harm caused. “They should’ve done that in the first place,” he said, expressing a desire for a personal apology and assurance against future occurrences
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