Hotel chain 'refused to give NHS staff a discount on their rooms' when they couldn't get home

[Northerner]

A hotel chain refused to give NHS staff a discount when they were forced to book rooms during the heavy snow, it has been claimed.

Dozens of doctors, nurses, midwives and other health professionals at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny braved the treacherous conditions so they could get into work to help patients.

But many found themselves stranded at the hospital unable to get home and with no option but to book rooms at the newly-opened Premier Inn, Llanfoist, which is just a short walk away.

But some NHS staff have claimed the hotel – which allegedly had plenty of spare rooms due to the extreme weather – would not budge on price .

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/hotel-chain-refused-give-nhs-14366919

Very poor for their PR

 

[mikeyB]

Three hotels in Oban offer “islander rates” if the ferries are off due to weather. That’s long been the case, because bad weather is a fact of life. It’s also a fact of life that hotels aren’t charities. Premier Inn prices are set by head office, and if they offered cheap rates, somebody would have to pay.

The story here is the NHS not offering to pay the bill, surely.

 

[Davein]

Three hotels in Oban offer “islander rates” if the ferries are off due to weather. That’s long been the case, because bad weather is a fact of life. It’s also a fact of life that hotels aren’t charities. Premier Inn prices are set by head office, and if they offered cheap rates, somebody would have to pay.

The story here is the NHS not offering to pay the bill, surely.

Exactly Mike. My employer always picked up the tab if I happened to be stranded away from home or if I was carrying out my job too far to travel home.

 

[Ralph-YK]

Block booking? I sure I've heard they can get discounts.

 

[Northerner]

I've been told that Premier already offer discounted rates for NHS staff...🙄 Looks like we don't get all the facts - unusual for a British newspaper/website 😉

 

[Amigo]

Poor commercial move by Premier Inn however. Head Office could have sanctioned ‘emergency rates’ and done themselves some good. These rooms were empty for goodness sake! Big raspberry to both the Hotel chain and the NHS who should have paid extra to cover it.
I was immensely grateful to the badly paid care staff who got into work during atrocious conditions to look after my mum.

 

[grovesy]

Some of these chain hotels will only let you book through central booking.