A Glasgow hotel accused of being run like an “open prison” is raking in up to £1 million a year of taxpayers’ cash to house the city's homeless community.
The Queen’s Park Hotel charges Glasgow City Council £1,400 a month for one single room with shared toilet facilities.
The Balvicar Drive hotel pockets £2,800 a month in housing benefit per homeless couple for a double room – the same rental cost for a luxury three bedroom, two bathroom mews cottage in the prestigious Park area of Glasgow.
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At least four doubles can be rented out for couples, which adds up to a staggering £134,400 a year alone.
One Queen’s Park hotel resident said their dirty single room consisted of a bed with a filthy mattress, an “unhygienic carpet” and access to a faulty toilet which had to be flushed with a bucket for days before it was fixed.
The resident told the Daily Record: “There is stickiness, drops and stains all over the place, including streaks of what I’d rather not identify are on the mattress cover.”
A resident who uses one of the 12 shared bathrooms said the sink in their room “triples for cleaning myself, washing dishes, and washing laundry, as I cannot afford the exorbitant prices at the launderette.”
The hotel supplies “emergency” accommodation for homeless people and by law they should be there for a maximum of seven days.
However, according to a FOI request to the local authority, in the seven months from September 2021 to May 2022, there were 315 individual stays, of which 70 per cent exceeded the statutory seven-day maximum.
The data showed that in September last year the hotel had accommodated a resident for 16 months.
Many of the residents at Queen’s Park have mental health and addiction issues but because it is a hotel, staff don’t need training or disclosure checks for working with vulnerable people.
One resident said: “My mental health is getting worse every day. When you are not even allowed to speak to other residents you can’t even have a chat when you are down. I spend most of the day sleeping because there is no reason to be awake.
“Even prisoners are allowed to speak to each other. We are constantly in fear of being “cancelled” which means they chuck you on the street. It’s horrible. It is inhumane.”
Neighbours of the hotel wrote to Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney complaining of antisocial behaviour, raising concerns for the residents’ welfare after witnessing altercations with staff.
Mr Sweeney said: “I was horrified to hear of some of the incidents of antisocial behaviour taking place in and around the Queen’s Park Hotel. It’s abundantly clear that the hotel owners are raking in huge profits from contracts with Glasgow City Council to provide emergency accommodation that is entirely unsuitable for homeless people, and that they are failing both in their duty of care towards those who are living there and in their duty to the residents who live in the neighbouring properties.
“There have been concerns raised about the conditions within the hotel and the treatment of those living there.
“I will continue to call for tougher action against the owners of the hotel who are failing in their duty to keep those living there safe and reiterate the point that any organisation in receipt of public money should be held to the highest of standards. I do not believe that is the case in this instance.”
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Now neighbours in the same leafy residential street have also raised concerns about the welfare of residents in the hotel.
A neighbour said: “The hotel is ill-equipped for its current role. We deserve better and so do the guests of the hotel.”
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “The council has a duty to provide emergency accommodation to the homeless and utilises a range of accommodation including a number of B&B type establishments.
“Those who are accommodated in a hotel or B&B receive support from case workers and our homelessness team liaises directly with accommodation operators on a routine basis.
“As with most bed and breakfast establishments, a curfew will be in place in order to ensure the comfort and safety of all residents.”
The Daily Record has approached the Queen’s Park Hotel for comment.
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