Margaret claimed she was unaware of the tax, which was introduced in 2023
A hotel guest claims she was left ‘stranded in the cold’ after she couldn’t pay a £1.20 charge on her room. Margaret Jones, 63, says she was told to leave a Britannia hotel after being informed at check-in about a ‘tourist tax’ of £1.20 due on top of her booking.
Margaret, who suffers from mobility issues and memory loss, prefers paying with cash as she often forgets her card PINs, which she says can cause panic attacks. She had travelled from Lincolnshire to stay at the Britannia Hotel on Portland Street in Manchester city centre on Thursday, January 2. Britannia also has properties in Merseyside, including the city centre Adelphi Hotel.
Hotel guest Margaret offered to settle the City Visitor Charge levy in cash but claims she was told card payment was mandatory. She told the MEN: “I don’t like using my card, normally I carry cash all the time. I’m reluctant to use my cards because I don’t remember my PIN numbers. I know where I stand with cash, my cards all look the same so I often forget which card I’m using.”
She claimed she was unaware of the city tax, introduced by the Manchester Accommodation BID in April 2023, and while not opposed to the charge, she claimed the hotel staff were ‘unwilling’ to assist her with an alternative payment method. Liverpool could be among the next cities to introduce a similar levy, with council leader Liam Robinson saying recently the city was “crying out for” a similar measure.
Margaret, who relies on a mobility walker, voiced her dismay after staff at a hotel reportedly turned her away into the cold for not being able to pay a fee by card. She said: “I gave them £1.50 in cash and they refused it.”
To her distress, she was informed that without card payment, she would have to leave. She said: “I tried to use one of my cards and it wanted my PIN number. They told me that I couldn’t have my room and I couldn’t stay there. They actually turned me away from the building – I was pretty much left stranded in the freezing cold. I didn’t know what to do – I was shaking and crying.”
A friend’s attempt to settle the levy remotely proved futile. She said: “They said it was too late to use the internet to pay for any bookings and they wouldn’t take payment over the phone.” Desperate to find resolution, Margaret eventually used a contactless card. She said: “Eventually, I found a card that would accept a tap payment without requiring a PIN.”
“It’s ludicrous,” she said. “I thought cash was legal tender. I told them I was at another Britannia hotel a few months ago and had no issues and they just said ‘well, different hotels have different rules’. Maybe I’m being too old-fashioned, but surely there’s a way of collecting the fee in cash or something? Not everybody has cards.”
“I don’t mind paying the £1.20 city fee but when I’ve already paid for a room and to be told I can’t stay there and turned away in the cold, I think there’s something seriously wrong with that.
“I had no way of getting back to Lincolnshire. It just showed to me that they weren’t really geared up for disabled people. Sadly, you get used to things like this happening on a regular basis and I think that’s wrong.”
The MEN reported it had reached out to both Britannia Hotels and Manchester Accommodation BID for comment.