Families who have had to seek emergency accommodation after being made homeless are being forced to live for months in an isolated airport hotel in cramped rooms with no cooking facilities or fridges.
People in desperate situations are being housed at the Holiday Inn Express in Rhoose beside Cardiff Airport, which has been entirely taken over by the Vale of Glamorgan Council as emergency housing. They told WalesOnline they have been given rooms where the windows are permanently locked shut and have no access to fridges, cookers or laundry facilities.
Those staying inside the hotel have said that there are now at least 100 people there who have found themselves homeless in the last year. Most of the people who spoke to us became homeless when their landlords issued them eviction notices because they wanted to sell their homes.
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While at first they said they were allowed to take self-catering items into the hotel, all of them have now received letters informing them that they must hand over every cooking or food storage item that they have in their rooms. They say it means that they can't make any food, other than "tinned food or a Pot Noodle", for themselves and they are either having to spend money ordering food or are going hungry. On top of that they have to pay £5 every time they need to wash their clothes - but that isn't the end of their problems at the hotel which they say is unfit to house anyone struggling financially for any considerable length of time.
Some work and pay a not insignificant monthly fee for what is essentially a small breakfast, a wash and toilet facility, a bed and a television, while most people staying at the hotel fund it through their housing benefit payments. They have all told of their frustration at staying at a hotel which they feel does not understand their needs.
One woman, who has just had all of her self-catering items confiscated, says she has been told she could be in the hotel for more than a year from now. Another young mother who has stayed at the hotel for the last month says she has been on the housing list since November 2017 and is moving from one temporary accommodation service to another, but she added that the hotel was the worst she'd ever stayed at.
Amanda Simpson and her 16-year-old son Ben moved into the hotel five weeks ago and have told of a "crazy" experience. “We rented privately for 15 years in Rhoose,” Amanda, 42, explained from a cafe close to the hotel. “There were issues - we had some problems with damp, and some things took longer to fix than others, but it was home. We’d love to go back there - anything is better than here.”
After their landlord decided they were selling up the pair were issued a section 21 notice last June and following a lengthy dispute which ended up in court, they became homeless and were sent to the hotel in early February. When they arrived they claim there were dead flies in the room.
“In between the window frames were piles of dead flies,” Amanda said. “You can’t even open the windows, there is no fresh air. It’s inhumane. There is nothing here, we’re basically existing here while waiting. It's not operating as a hotel. There’s no communal area - you can’t have visitors or anything. It’s crazy. When you’re homeless you’re tarred with the brush that you’re beneath people. You’re looked down on, and it’s unfair. It’s not our fault this has happened, and we feel like we’ve been treated as criminals.”
A spokesman for the Vale of Glamorgan council, which has effectively taken over operations at the hotel, said it was only ever meant to be a temporary measure, and said the county faces an "acute shortage of affordable housing".
Amanda said initially the only positive thing about the hotel was that they could cook and save money while they were there. They say they were told they were able to have a microwave, an air fryer, a slow cooker and a mini fridge-freezer in their rooms. But Amanda says since new management recently took control of the hotel each room has received a letter informing them that all items for cooking and storing food must be removed. A spokesman for the Holiday Inn said the company would not be commenting.
“When we got here we were told we could have a microwave, an air fryer, a slow cooker and a fridge-freezer," Amanda explained. "The only thing not allowed were open flame items or toasters. But now the management has already changed and we’ve received a letter saying all those items must go. We’ve offered to have all of our stuff PAT tested if that’s the issue, but they still said we wouldn’t be allowed it in any circumstances.
“We’re really struggling food wise. When we could use a microwave we did. It wasn’t ideal, but it was food. Now it’s just something out of a tin or whatever we can get. Tinned food or a Pot Noodle. We can’t even store milk or a sandwich because we aren’t allowed a fridge.
“People are also spending money eating out or they’re not eating. All we get are small breakfast bags - that’s the only allowance. There is a choice between cereal, a croissant or bread. They cook meals at the hotel but they are costly. Beans on toast is £3, a pizza is £10.”
Amanda says she would save “a lot more money” in a house provided by the council. “It needs highlighting because so many people are suffering and we feel treated worse than an animal. We might be able to leave soon but this can’t carry on for others here. We’re speaking for others too. A lot of people here have eating disorders and medical needs and they need better facilities to be able to cook for themselves.”
Some have reportedly been in the hotel for more than a year - while many have been there for many months, waiting to leave while on a lengthy housing waiting list. Amanda said on the day they received the letters confiscating self-catering items many were confused because the hotel had previously given permission, and in some cases even aided installation of the items.
“We were all told we could have mini fridge-freezers and some went and bought them. They even helped one woman measure up for it. And then four days later they told her she could no longer have it.”
Ben has autism and ADHD and is currently suffering with stress as a result of what has happened. Amanda said sharing a room where “he literally sleeps two inches away from me” is having a seriously detrimental impact on him.
They said the only way staff could know about items in the room in such detail is by walking in when residents aren't there. “They [staff at the hotel] see fit that they can enter your room when you’re not there, that’s not fair,” Amanda said. “The part I’ve got a problem with is that they can enter whenever they want. If you’re on the toilet and don’t answer they let themselves in. There is little privacy. I put a towel up when I’m in the bathroom. He’s 16 and we have no privacy really.”
Amanda and Ben are further ahead on the housing list than most of the others in the hotel, but are still unsure when they will be able to leave. “We’re waiting on a date, it could be a couple of weeks. I’m hoping by the end of the month,” Amanda said.
One woman, who would like to stay anonymous, said she has been in the hotel for a month on her own and has been told she could be there for more than a year. She was recently evicted from her home in the Vale in similar circumstances to Amanda and Ben, but as she works and is not on housing benefits she has to pay £420 to stay at the hotel - not considerably cheaper than her old flat.
"I lived in my flat for five years and when I was evicted and looked at prices to privately rent I was completely shocked how high they'd become," she said. "I work but there is no way I could have afforded it. I've found myself in this situation I believe because I'm single. In a relationship you can share the cost, but I can't do that. It's a lot."
She says staff at the hotel were at first very accommodating and told her she could take some of what she had at her old home. "They told me I could bring my microwave, some furniture, and even a mini fridge-freezer. I was really pleased. I said: 'Really?' And they said: 'Yes.' They even measured up for it for me, but four days after it arrived I started receiving letters saying they needed to go.
"It doesn't seem fair. I've even been told I can't have razors. I feel like their approach is to just treat every person the same which means no-one can have anything. I feel I'm being treated like a violent person."
She added that the hotel isn't fit for long-term stays and she "feels sorry" for people staying there who do not drive or cannot afford to drive. "I am able to afford to drive but others can't, and there is nowhere around here like a shop or anything. You can't just pop out to get a meal, and meals here aren't cheap."
Lucy, 24, who has just left the hotel for a hostel where she is staying with her two young children, said she felt she could no longer stay at the hotel because she needed to keep her insulin for her diabetes closeby in the mini fridge she'd bought. Lucy, who has been on the council's housing list since November 2017 and is moving from one temporary facility to another, said: "There is a small communal fridge-freezer in the hotel downstairs, but at one stage I found knickers in the freezer. It's horrible. I just kept on to social services and I've been able to leave. Hopefully I can now have a new start."
A Holiday Inn spokesman said the company will not comment on individual matters and said it is for government departments to comment on social housing issues.
A Vale of Glamorgan council spokesman said: “This is a temporary arrangement, provided by the council, for residents who would otherwise be homeless while more suitable long-term accommodation is found. The council provides a range of support for residents who find themselves in this position, but management of the hotel facility is the responsibility of another party. We appreciate that living in a hotel can present certain difficulties and this option is only ever used as a short-term measure. However, unfortunately, finding a more permanent solution sometimes takes longer than desired given the acute shortage of affordable housing in the area.”
WalesOnline asked the council what action the council has taken on behalf of the people in the hotel to ensure that they can look after themselves more economically in the hotel. The council did not respond.
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