EXCLUSIVE – A tale of two hotels: How migrants set to be housed in four-stay luxury hotel would be ‘treated’ while homeless people will be put up in cheap hotel so grimy that it shut and was then converted into a hostel
Llanelli is a quiet, unassuming town in Wales that found itself in the eye of a storm last week.
The Stradey Park sparked local fury when it sacked its entire workforce so it could house more than 240 migrants under a deal struck with the Home Office to tackle the crisis in the Channel.
With sweeping views over Carmarthen Bay, the asylum seekers would be able to enjoy all the amenities you’d expect from a four star hotel – including wide, spacious rooms and beautiful grounds to walk in.
It’s a far cry from the the grim hostel just two miles away where 19 homeless locals have been bedding down. Inside the cheap and decidedly uncheerful Vista Hotel, the area’s homeless claim they’re forced to sleep on bloodstained bed mattresses, and having just very basic facilities – including a small chest-sized fridge and single microwave they’re all forced to share.
The issue has paralysed the town and led to days of protests outside the luxury spa which only ended on Wednesday when Carmarthenshire Council issued a temporary stop notice on work to transform the spa into a migrant site.
Speaking to MailOnline, a homeless man named John, 31, laid bare the shocking disparity between his living arrangements and the migrants revealing that he was sleeping on ‘bloodstained mattresses’ while the Home Office ordered new beds for the foreign arrivals.
Before becoming homeless in January, John worked in retail, security and local factories and admitted that his new digs were a far cry from what he was used to.
He said: ‘The only four stars at this place are what you can see through your bedroom window at night.’
At the Vista Hotel ‘guests’ say they are sleeping on mattresses stained with blood, urine and even excrement. John, an educated and articulate man born in the former steel town, said: ‘We also have to put up with bed bugs and fleas – you don’t get them at the Stradey Park. It’s appalling that homeless people are treated like dirt while asylum seekers get four-star treatment.
241 asylum seekers are due to move into the four-star Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli
The luxury four star hotel has a host of amenities to make their stay as comfortable as possible
Meanwhile 19 homeless men and women are living in squalid conditions in the Vista hotel
The hotel was closed in 2019 and has since been operated by Camarthenshire council (Pictured: A Tripadvisor review showing filthy tables in the Vista)
‘I know the Stradey Park Hotel well, I went there for my cousin’s wedding reception – it’s a smart place.
‘I appreciate asylum seekers come here to escape war and injustice in their own countries, but when it’s to the detriment of British citizens it’s wrong.
READ MORE: Protesters camping outside Welsh hotel which sacked staff to house migrants vow to stage demo ‘for as long as it takes’
‘We wouldn’t get that sort of treatment if we turned up on their doorstep.’
John fears some of the 95 workers sacked from their jobs at the 76-room plush hotel could join him on the Homeless Register.
Residents of the Vista have their rooms paid for out of their housing benefits while trying to get back on their feet after bad luck or bad decisions left them homeless.
Mark Lloyd, 29, said: ‘Staying at the Vista is better than being out on the street – but only just.
‘Illegal immigrants is a touchy subject and I have sympathy with them if they come here to work and not sponge off the country.
‘But 95 people working at the hotel have lost their jobs in the last few weeks – it’s not easy for anyone to find work.’
Mr Lloyd said he was a regular taxpayer while working in kitchens and on building sites. He had an interview with British Steel at Trostre, Llanelli, earlier this week and is desperate to find work and move back into rented accommodation.
The Stradey hotel is an amazing facility which has its own in house spa complex as well as acres of rolling grounds
Prior to being commandeered by the government the Stradey hotel was used as a luxurious event space
John and Mark who are both homeless and living at Vista Hotel in Llanelli
Residents inside the hotel claim they are living rough sleeping on ‘bloodstained mattresses’
As part of a council scheme, all residents of the hotel pay for their stay through their homeless benefits
Before this, the hotel was open to the public but many guests branded it filthy (Pictured: A Tripadvisor review showing ‘bloodstains’ on sheets at the hotel)
He said: ‘I’ve never been to the Stradey Park Hotel but I’ve seen pictures and it looks amazing.
‘It’s an important location in Llanelli but they are giving it away. It’s very sad.’
Another homeless man who didn’t want to be named said: ‘Asylum seekers are being treated to top hotels, not just here but all over the country.
‘People who are genuinely homeless like me end up on the streets or in a doss house. I’ve had my problems but I have to sort them out myself – I get nothing on a plate.’
In the past the Stradey Park Hotel has hosted top celebrities and the world’s great rugby teams including the New Zealand All Blacks have stayed there.
Until it was earmarked for asylum seekers, a night at the hotel could cost upwards of £200.
But a message on Booking.com says no rooms are currently available.
Meanwhile before the Vista was closed in 2019, TripAdvisor reviews were far less than favorable – with guests describing the site as ‘filthy and disgusting.’
Other guests said their visits had been plagued with mould and dirty carpets.
Meanwhile residents at the Stradey can expect to have their entire luxury stay free of charge
Prior to becoming a homeless facility, visitors to the Vista described the hotel as dirty and disgusting (Pictured: A TripAdvisor review showing a stained bed from the Vista)
Other Vista guests documented seeing mysterious brown smudges on the sheets when they checked in and shared evidence on TripAdvisor
Other guests said that they had come into contact with mouldy bedframes during their stay (Pictured: A Tripadvisor review showing mould and dirt on a bed in the Vista Hotel)
In one review from 2018, a guest revealed that she had stayed in bloodstained bed sheets.
She said: ‘This hotel seemed spotless until on my last morning I noticed a stain on a corner of the duvet that had come out of the cover.
‘I took the cover off and the whole duvet had blood spots and other dubious soiling all over. Yuk, what sort of business uses bedding in that state for its guests?’
Another disgruntled former guest said that even whilst it was operating it was noticeably tired.
They said: ‘One word – filthy. This hotel is nothing as expected and seen on photos. Disgusting state of lobby carper and sofas with tacky decor.
‘Old tarnished bedroom furniture.’
MailOnline approached Carmathenshire Council and Stradey Park Hotel for further clarification.
Cllr. Ann Davies, Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Rural Affairs for Carmarthenshire County Council said: ‘Carmarthenshire County Council has issued a temporary stop notice to the owners of the Stradey Park Hotel under section 171E of the Town and Country Planning Act 1980.
‘The notice relates to the removal of part of a hedge bank bounding the Stradey Park Hotel, along its boundary with Pentre-poeth Road, Furnace. The gap created is being used as an access point and leads directly onto the carriageway of a classified road at a point where there are no pedestrian facilities.
‘The access is therefore considered to be detrimental to pedestrian and highway safety. The notice takes effect immediately and requires the cessation of access by pedestrians.’
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