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Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 2:30 am
A woman who raised money so that a homeless couple could have a 'nice, warm Christmas' in a hotel was left devastated after they trashed the room and caused £1,000 worth of damage.
Louise Elliott, 32, and her friend Becky Mcsorley launched a Facebook appeal to pay for Lewis Holley, his girlfriend Stacey and their dog Bonnie to stay at the Ibis Hotel in Crawley, West Sussex over the festive season.
Twenty-five kind-hearted strangers responded and in just a few days the friends had raised £640 to cover the cost of the accommodation for 10 nights, from December 24 until January 2.
But the room was left in a 'total mess' at the end of their stay, with cigarette burns in the carpet, the window smashed and the TV ripped from the wall.
It later emerged the couple had also tried to cut the stay short after just one night, asking staff if they could check out on Christmas Day and receive £576 in cash instead of the remaining nine nights.
After learning of the damage, Miss Elliott, who has five sons, took to Facebook to 'apologise to anyone that donated to help these people', adding 'to say I am disappointed is an understatement'.
Miss Elliott, from Reigate, Surrey, said she and Miss Mcsorley decided to raise money for Mr Holley, known as Piper, after organising a collection of clothes to donate to homeless people in London.
Friends and neighbours suggested raising money for a cause closer to home, and a number suggested helping 'Piper', a well-known figure in Crawley, because he was 'so nice'.
Miss Elliott said that when she first approached the couple they were overwhelmed by the offer, saying they were 'so grateful' and that it would be an 'amazing' opportunity.
She posted an appeal on Facebook in the week before Christmas and within five days had raised £640.
One woman donated £120 and two of Miss Elliott's children each put £10 of their birthday money towards the fund, determined to give back to others over Christmas.
The money was far more than she had expected and was enough to pay for 10 nights in the hotel.
The window was badly cracked and has to be replaced, someone had tried to rip the TV off the wall and the carpet was so badly damaged it needs to be replaced.
The mattress was also 'left in a state' and the couple had taken the duvet. It took two members of staff two hours to clear all the rubbish out of the room.
Miss Elliott said: 'The hotel phoned and said "we just want you to know what happened. We are not chasing damages" and my heart just sank.
'I thought, "oh my God. What have they done? How could they do that?" It is just unreal.'
The neither of the mobile numbers Miss Elliott had for the couple worked but she encouraged the hotel to pursue the matter with the police.
'I just felt so angry and so bad for the hotel staff,' she added.
Miss Elliott said that the experience has taught her 'you can't take anyone's word' and that 'she won't do anything like this again'.
Adding it was worse because it was 'other people's money at such an important time of year'.
She said: 'We feel like fools. It was the time of year for goodwill and generosity.
'So many kind people went out their way to try and do something nice at Christmas but it has turned into a nightmare. I am so sorry for the people who gave money.'
Hotel manager Sam White confirmed that the damage would cost around £1,000 to fix, adding he had 'never seen a room that bad in my many years of hotel management'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z3xBLLv9KO
