Have been to 51 different away grounds following the Albion but this trip was the weirdest of all. Four of us decided to make a weekend of it, with us men going to the football and the wives going shopping in the Oracle. We booked the 4* Crowne Plaza by the Thames for Friday and Saturday nights.
The trip started with our tickets not turning up in the post which meant picking them up at the stadium before the match.
Anyway, we arrived at the hotel and decided to eat there on Friday evening. We ordered the food and some nice wine and settled down for an enjoyable night. First course came and went, very enjoyable. Dessert had just arrived and we thought "what the hell is going on?"
Little kids began to charge around the restaurant climbing over low walls and making one hell of a racket. Then older kids came into the restaurant with takeaways and promptly started requisitioning plates and cutlery from behind the counters. The waiters were completely gobsmacked and sent all the kids packing.
We then noticed that the bar, which we could see, had filled up with the roughest looking people (beyond chav) who had taken over the whole bar.
The decibels rose and the kids were running around more manic. It ruined our meal and I strode off to speak to the manager. It appeared that 5 travellers had booked rooms in the hotel (unknown to the staff) and a lot more in the Premier Inn down the road. That had no bar so they all arranged to meet in our hotel.
Eventually there were about sixty of them in the bar and some of the younger blokes starting fighting in the bar which also spilled into the entrance. The manager was horrified as he could see his core guests were getting angry. Eventually he gave his non traveller guests the key to the executive bar, with free drinks, and called the police. Three cop cars turned up followed by another two. They were useless. After gently talking to the travellers they shook hands with the packs leaders and left. Of course, this meant they carried on as usual.
Some of the guests in the executive lounge got nervous and checked out to another hotel.
The police were called again. We decided to go to bed but to get into the lift or door to stairs you needed your room key. As we opened the door about 5 teenage travellers tried to pass through with us. We tried to stop them until the manager and cops came to our aid but 2 got through and ran up the stairs. The copper came through and we said to him "If the police had clamped down on the first visit these problems wouldn't have re- occurred". Of course, the copper thought we were wrong to complain and that a few people running shouting through hotel corridors was nothing to moan about.
The 5 who had booked rooms were trying to get others without rooms to doss down with them, free of charge.
We went to bed but at 3am a group of their youngsters, who had been clubbing, turned up demanding to be let in. Fights broke out, again, and the police were called again. At 5am those travellers who managed to get in the rooms were running up and down the corridors banging doors, waking all the guests. The whole lot of them, including those in the Premier Inn, were off to fly to Ireland for a funeral.
By the end of the night, none had been arrested, but the hotel was out of pocket as they had given all the legit guests free drinks and coffee and when we checked out this morning took the costs of our desserts off the bill.
Why are they allowed to get away with anti social behaviour for which the rest of us would be arrested.
The trip started with our tickets not turning up in the post which meant picking them up at the stadium before the match.
Anyway, we arrived at the hotel and decided to eat there on Friday evening. We ordered the food and some nice wine and settled down for an enjoyable night. First course came and went, very enjoyable. Dessert had just arrived and we thought "what the hell is going on?"
Little kids began to charge around the restaurant climbing over low walls and making one hell of a racket. Then older kids came into the restaurant with takeaways and promptly started requisitioning plates and cutlery from behind the counters. The waiters were completely gobsmacked and sent all the kids packing.
We then noticed that the bar, which we could see, had filled up with the roughest looking people (beyond chav) who had taken over the whole bar.
The decibels rose and the kids were running around more manic. It ruined our meal and I strode off to speak to the manager. It appeared that 5 travellers had booked rooms in the hotel (unknown to the staff) and a lot more in the Premier Inn down the road. That had no bar so they all arranged to meet in our hotel.
Eventually there were about sixty of them in the bar and some of the younger blokes starting fighting in the bar which also spilled into the entrance. The manager was horrified as he could see his core guests were getting angry. Eventually he gave his non traveller guests the key to the executive bar, with free drinks, and called the police. Three cop cars turned up followed by another two. They were useless. After gently talking to the travellers they shook hands with the packs leaders and left. Of course, this meant they carried on as usual.
Some of the guests in the executive lounge got nervous and checked out to another hotel.
The police were called again. We decided to go to bed but to get into the lift or door to stairs you needed your room key. As we opened the door about 5 teenage travellers tried to pass through with us. We tried to stop them until the manager and cops came to our aid but 2 got through and ran up the stairs. The copper came through and we said to him "If the police had clamped down on the first visit these problems wouldn't have re- occurred". Of course, the copper thought we were wrong to complain and that a few people running shouting through hotel corridors was nothing to moan about.
The 5 who had booked rooms were trying to get others without rooms to doss down with them, free of charge.
We went to bed but at 3am a group of their youngsters, who had been clubbing, turned up demanding to be let in. Fights broke out, again, and the police were called again. At 5am those travellers who managed to get in the rooms were running up and down the corridors banging doors, waking all the guests. The whole lot of them, including those in the Premier Inn, were off to fly to Ireland for a funeral.
By the end of the night, none had been arrested, but the hotel was out of pocket as they had given all the legit guests free drinks and coffee and when we checked out this morning took the costs of our desserts off the bill.
Why are they allowed to get away with anti social behaviour for which the rest of us would be arrested.
