Jason Manford hits out at hotel's 'ridiculous policy' after having to share room

Daily Mirror

01-07-2025

Comedian Jason Manford hits out at a Bournemouth hotel for selling his room to another guest after he arrived 'late'
Jason Manford hit out at a hotel's 'ridiculous policy' after he had to share a room with a friend because it was overbooked. The comedian, 44, was in Bournemouth on Saturday before his A Manford All Seasons show but the staff at the hotel told him the place was overbooked for the night.
Staff at the Village Hotel told Jason his room was sold to someone else as he arrived late. Because of the issue, he was forced to share a room with his friend Steve. "So we got to our hotel tonight in Bournemouth and it's fully booked. We were like, 'Fine, that's good - well done you'," he said.
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"They went, 'No, no, as in like without you'. So me and Steve, obviously [we're] in separate rooms. And then we just discovered that basically if it's fully booked it means that, [you have to share].
"Okay, don't worry, it is what it is, these things happen - all that b******t! I mean we spent all day together! Oh, well, at least we've got a nice view of the car park. Oh well, these things happen and all that. Worse things happen at sea. But Village Hotel, just beware, if you are booking and it's a busy day in a busy city...
"I mean, we're lucky that [our booking] was two rooms because that fella coming behind us, a doctor as well, and no room for him. He just had to walk out, and like and there's no rooms anywhere in Bournemouth tonight. Naughty that, naughty. I've heard of aeroplanes doing it, but I've never known in 25 years of touring, a hotel doing it. That's not on, that is not on."
He then showed the bedroom he was staying in and added: "So we've managed to make best of our situation. But that poor doctor, maybe he could sleep on the floor! Anyway, good night." In the caption, he said: "What's your minimum expectation when you book a room at @Villagehotelsup? Staff were lovely but policy stinks!"
Jason returned to social media the next day to reveal the hotel management had been in touch and asked him to remove the video. He refused to take down the video and said he wanted to warn people about the company's practice. Jason also reminded fans it wasn't the staff's fault, but the company's itself.
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"What I will say is it's not the staff's fault. And this is the problem with these big companies. That is somebody in an office, making a policy that makes them more money, but they don't have to deal with the s**t," he said to the camera.
"I didn't kick off, but I can imagine people would. So the staff then have to deal with upset customers and getting vitriol in heightened emotional situations. So I'm not going to take the video down, because I think it's right that people know that's what your company are doing.
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"And I'm going to leave it up as a bit of support for the staff, who aren't being paid as much as the person who made the decision is and how much that person is making out of this ridiculous policy. So bear that in mind if these things do happen, same with an aeroplane. We've all been there, we've all been in a moment where the person we're in contact with is the person that's going to get it.
"But we have to take a step back sometimes, just remember that person is just doing their job and they don't like it either. In fact that's what the manager said to me last night, 'I don't like this either, I hate it'. It takes a video like this and us talking about it for them, hopefully to have a little look at their policies and think maybe this is not in the best interest of our staff and certainly not of the customer."