“We Don’t Accept Romanians” — Woman Was Allegedly Denied Room Because Hotel Thought She Was a Prostitute
Jennifer Billock July 24, 2015
A Romanian woman claims was denied a room at a Holiday Inn Express because staff thought she was a prostitute.
Romanian Alecsandra Puflea, 22, claims she was recently refused a hotel room in Hull, England because of her ethnicity. Puflea, a graduate from the nearby Hull University, told the Telegraph she initially booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express online. When she and her boyfriend arrived to check in on July 6, though, Puflea says hotel staff told her: “I’m sorry, we don’t accept Romanians.”
The Holiday Inn Express in Hull adopted a policy of screening and turning away guests they believe could engage in illegal activity after discovering Romanian women were using its rooms for prostitution.
“It was an awful experience and quite shocking,” said Puflea. “He took one look at my ID and said that I could not stay in the hotel. I tried to show him my British driver’s license but he said I could not stay in the hotel because I was from Romania.”
Even though Puflea was slightly more understanding after discovering the reasoning behind the initial refusal, she still noted that this policy should not be allowed to stand.
“I was very upset when I found out the reason they had told me to leave,” she told the Telegraph. “Not all Romanians are prostitutes … Even though it made more sense when I found out about the problems they have had in the past, it is still discriminatory and it is still wrong. You can’t tar everyone with the same brush because of their nationality.”
Puflea later filed a complaint with the Humberside Police, who investigated her claim. According to authorities, the hotel has since apologized to Puflea and is reviewing its policy.
[Photo: Telegraph]
You’re Reading
Makes no difference what the law is, the hotels are allowed to refuse service to anyone they see fit.
Just to play devil's advocate for a moment, please consider this: http://www.upworthy.com/a-young-girl-narrates-her-story-of-being-sold-for-sex-and-wondering-why-hotel-workers-did-nothing?c=ufb1 I understand that the situation was offensive to this person, but hotels are becoming increasingly aware of the problems of sex trafficking and their need to play a role in preventing it, and I suspect we may see more of these situations.
In the US they would have been sued.
One should also point out that the hotel's justification that, "The Holiday Inn Express in Hull adopted a policy of screening and turning away guests they believe could engage in illegal activity after discovering Romanian women were using its rooms for prostitution" ignores the fact that, in even if a guest were to be engaged in prostitution, this is not an illegal activity in England or Wales.
I'm not a legal expert but isn't this totally against the law? You can't have a policy that says "we don't take Romanians". You can have a policy against prostitutes (I think) but not against an ethnic group.