Colin Campbell, 43, from Everton, is 14 months into recovery from cocaine and alcohol addiction and runs Do Your Talking While You're Walking - a supportive community built around mental health and recovery. He and his partner Chloe had booked a one-night stay in the four-star Dixie Dean Hotel, on Victoria Street, after attending Retrospective Festival at Sherdley Park on Friday, September 11.
The couple, who have three children, "rarely get a night out" and had arranged babysitters so they could make the most of the evening. But Colin said their stay was ruined after they woke the following morning and discovered a number of issues with their hotel room.
Discovery of suspected drugs
Colin told the ECHO: "We don't often get out because we've got three kids. We have no one to rely on for childcare so we thought we'd make the most of it and we hired babysitters so we could stay out for the night."
"We arrived, checked in, and when we went up to the room at around 4pm, I was hit with this smell of damp. But it was only a one-night stay so we thought we could put up with it. We wanted to get to the festival for about 5pm, so we just put our gear in and left."
The couple returned to the hotel at around 12.30am and went straight to bed. Colin said he woke at around 5.30am and found the smell "overwhelming".
"The smell was knocking me sick, so I got up and went out for a walk around town for some fresh air. My sense of smell is actually poor because of my drug addiction, but even so the smell was overwhelming."
Hotel response and refund dispute
Colin said that while he was out, Chloe noticed a small white bag containing suspected cocaine underneath a lamp on the bedside table. She also spotted what appeared to be white powder on the carpet near the dressing table, he said.
The couple went downstairs and spoke to a manager at reception, explaining that the discovery was triggering for Colin. They said they were told to go for breakfast and that the matter would be dealt with by the time they had finished.
Colin said: "It was like she was looking straight through me; it was bizarre. There was no empathy at all. I'm 14 months in recovery for cocaine and alcohol addiction. It's not an easy thing to be confronted with when you're in recovery."
When they returned to their room, Colin said staff had told them the issue had been dealt with and the room had been cleaned. But he claims the suspected drugs had been placed right back underneath the lamp.
He said: "As we went back up to the room, we looked at the bedside table and the cocaine was gone. But unbelievably, I looked under the lamp and it had just been shoved back under. It was nuts - I was fuming."
"We looked around and nothing else had changed. Then I thought I'd look at the bed. When I turned the blue throw over, my stomach turned. There was something that looked like bloodstains all over the bed. It was vile. The carpets were minty and covered in stains. It was that bad, we didn't even get a wash in there."
Refund dispute and charity pledge
Colin claims he was initially told that they would be fully refunded if they contacted Booking.com. The room had cost £178.20. However, an email from The Dixie Dean Hotel, seen by the ECHO, states they would be refunding 50% of the original price, amounting to £89. An email from Booking.com states that the hotel disputed the findings and the travel agency would offer £22.27 in travel credits.
Colin said he returned to the hotel on the following Monday to dispute the refund amount, but found staff were "unhelpful". He has since lodged a complaint with Booking.com.
Colin said his experiences with addiction have had a devastating impact on his family. Colin said his brother Terry took his own as a result of alcohol and drug abuse, and Colin said he has attempted suicide twice himself.
"That's how serious it is to me," he said. "I couldn't go back in until they'd removed [the cocaine], and then they didn't even do that. It felt a bit like a smack in the face."
"It's disappointing because they just didn't seem to care, as if it happens all the time. But that hotel is a representation of our city. The fact that people might be coming in and seeing that is appalling. There's class A drugs in the hotel room, and it's like they didn't even care. It just wasn't what I expected when you're paying almost £200 a night."
Colin said that, should he receive a refund, he intends to donate the money to a children's charity supporting young people affected by trauma. "This is not about the money," he said. "If I get a refund, I'll happily donate it to Alfie's Squad, a children's charity for kids affected by suicide. It's just the principle of it all."
A spokesperson for The Dixie Dean Hotel said: "We take Mr Campbell’s allegations about the property seriously and are already in direct contact with the lead booker, having agreed a 50 percent refund with them at check-out. We are investigating the claims made and, as a gesture of goodwill, we can confirm we have now refunded the guests in full for their stay."
A spokesperson for Booking.com added: "We were sorry to hear about this customer’s experience, and can confirm that the hotel has agreed to provide a partial refund."
