Opening hotel in Glasgow was ‘mistake’, says owner

THE CHAIRMAN of a hotel chain has called the decision to open a branch in Glasgow as “a mistake” because of inebriated guests.

By The Newsroom Sunday, 25th May 2014, 3:27 pm

The chairman of a hotel chain has said opening a branch in Glasgow was 'a mistake'. Picture: Karen Bryan/Flickr

Rattan Chadha, chief of the citizenM hotel group, made the comments on a business magazine as he said the hotel’s Renfield Street site had someone falling down the stairs “every evening”.

The firm, set up in Amsterdam in 2007, opened their first UK branch in Glasgow after being initially priced out of London.

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He said: “London prices were sky-high, so when we found a prime place in downtown Glasgow, we said ‘it’s not ideal, but let’s try.’ It’s the number one hotel in Glasgow, but it doesn’t attract out target customers.

“Most people come from England or other parts of Scotland, and like to drink.

“When the bars close, they bring the party back to the hotel. That’s not what we intended.

“Every evening, we have someone falling down the stairs. We’ve had to hire extra security.”

A spokeswoman for the firm told the Sunday Herald that the comments were taken out of context, adding that the comments referred to incidents that occurred when the hotel opened in 2010.

She said: “He never actually said Glasgow was a mistake, as we are very deeply rooted in Glasgow. The hotel is well received here and we are very happy with the Glasgow property.”