An Aberdeen woman with a vision impairment has spoken of her distress after being challenged by a hotel worker about her support dog.
Faith Robertson-Foy, from Stockethill was staying in Bridge Street Travelodge with her husband Ted last month, while her house was put back together after a ceiling collapsed.
During her stay at the hotel, Mrs Robertson-Foy was challenged over her support dog, she believes because of its small size.
However, in a statement Travelodge said they were not aware the dog was a support dog, or that Mr Robertson-Foy had any disabilities.
‘Extremely afraid’
Mrs Robertson-Foy – who has a licence to prove the chihuahua is a registered support dog – claims she was “interrogated” by hotel management in her room, and that he did not stop even when he saw the paperwork and how upset she was.
“The whole situation made me extremely afraid,” she said.
“We had to have work done on our house after our ceiling had fallen down on us during the night.
“After the incident, I was left with broken bones, and my foot and leg were injured. While the work was taking place in the house, we decided to stay in a hotel. I am in plaster with a boot, and my mobility is very poor.
“I have a vision impairment and I am registered disabled, so I made a booking on the phone with the customer service team. I told them I was disabled.
“Over the course of four weeks we stayed in two Travelodge hotels.
“They offered me a family room, so I would not have to move rooms during my stay, as there was no disabled room for the full time I was there. They charged an extra £90 to change from a disabled room to a family room, saying there was a lift so I did not need to worry.
“I paid an extra £20 for our cat, and I was told it was for the whole duration for my stay in both hotels. I was told that I did not need to pay to have my dog with me.”
Overall, Mrs Robertson-Foy paid £1,700 for her stay.
‘Without Toots I don’t know what I’d do with myself’
“People often just assume I take Toots everywhere with me and are perplexed as why she can go everywhere with me,” she said.
“I usually either call up in advance or show my licence to the people.”
However, one day while staying at the Travelodge a man came to the door.
Mrs Robertson-Foy assumed it was her husband, and as she was struggling to move, he called for him to come on it.
At that point, the man came into the room and introduced himself as hotel management.
“He said he did not believe Toots was a support dog and that I had to pay to have my dog in the hotel. Toots is a chihuahua, and people often make assumptions about that,” she said.
“In the end I was sitting on the bed crying while this stranger stood over me. He did not stop when he saw I was upset. It was very, very difficult position for me to be in.
“I feel that once I gave evidence, I should not have be interrogated. I showed a licence that confirms I have a support dog which is protected under multiple laws.
“Without Toots, I honestly wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”
Did not inform hotel of bringing pets
The following day, Mrs Robertson-Foy in her room when a fire alarm went off. As it was an emergency, she could not use the lift and her husband helped her down the stairs with her broken bones.
When they got to the reception they discovered it was a fire drill, but were still not allowed to use the lift to go back upstairs.
Mrs Robertson-Foy felt she was being “penalised” for having a support dog.”
A Travelodge spokeswoman said: “We take customer feedback very seriously and as soon as this feedback was brought to our attention, we have attempted to speak to Ms Roberton-Foy on a number of occasions but Ms Roberton-Foy has not returned our calls.
“The safety and welfare of our customers and staff is paramount to us and we have undertaken a full investigation regarding Ms Robertson-Foy’s feedback.
“Our findings have revealed that Ms Roberton-Foy did not book an accessible room nor inform us of bringing pets, and there were no instructions on her booking to specify that Ms Robertson-Foy needed assistance during her stays.
“Our hotel team tried their best to support Ms Roberton-Foy during her stays.
“We are still trying our best to contact Ms Robertson-Foy so that we can personally address her concerns.”
Conversation