Holiday Inn Express rejects Romanian woman ‘because they suspected she was a prostitute’

Holiday Inn Express has apologised

The Holiday Inn Express where a woman was turned away (Google Maps)

A Romanian woman has claimed that she was refused a room at a Holiday Inn Express in Hull because staff suspected she was a prostitute.

A receptionist at the Holiday Inn Express in Ferensway allegedly told Alecsandra Puflea that the hotel does not “accept Romanians” when she tried to check in to a room with her boyfriend on 6 July.

The 22-year-old criminology and forensic science graduate had previously booked the room online, she told the Hull Daily Mail.

Humberside Police confirmed to the newspaper that that force had investigated a hate incident, and that after speaking to the general manager of the hotel their policy is to be reviewed.

Ms Puflea told the Hull Daily Mail that after speaking to police, she believes she was turned away because other Romanian women had used the rooms for prostitution.

“You can't tar everyone with the same brush because of their nationality,” she said.

A spokesperson for Holiday Inn Express told The Independent: “We apologise for any distress caused by the misunderstanding. Ms Puflea's booking - by pure coincidence - shared several booking patterns with suspicious bookings that hotels in the area have recently been alerted to.

"Reception staff made a judgement call to refuse the booking based on booking patterns and not racial grounds."