Woman in wheelchair claims she was denied hotel room and had to 'climb' stairs to leave

A disabled woman says she was denied entry to a Manchester hotel for not having photo ID — and was then forced to crawl down a set of stairs.

Julie Boardman and her friend booked two rooms at the Britannia Hotel on Portland Street in the city centre for Thursday, April 27. When they arrived, at roughly 10.30pm on Thursday night, staff asked for photo ID in order to hand over the keys to their accommodation.

However, neither Julie, who came in from Blackburn, nor her friend had photo ID - because they say it wasn’t listed as a requirement on the booking confirmation. Julie says the situation has left in her in ‘disbelief’.

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“I showed them the booking confirmation, then they said we needed a photo ID,” the 37-year-old, who uses a wheelchair due to chronic pain, said. “There’s nothing clear on the website.

"They would not give me a manager’s name, and then they just started ignoring me, before saying it was the policy of all the hotels. The lift was not working, so to get me back out, I had to get out of my chair and climb up the stairs myself.”

Julie claims she and her friend then went to a different hotel chain, where staff tried to find a room, but none were available in the city that evening. She added: “We then went to the Premier Inn around the corner to see if they had any rooms available, but they were booked up. The lady there said it was only walk-ins that need ID but online bookings do not.”

It meant that Julie had to cancel her stay in the city, where she was supposed to perform at an open mic night, because her ‘ nurse recommended’ she try her hobbies again. In order to get home, the pair had to ‘run’ across the city to make a train.

She went