Monopoly angry bride blasts ‘greedy’ Welsh hotel bosses who canceled her October wedding and housed more than 200 migrants has rocked the community
EXCLUSIVE: A distraught couple claim the hotel acted ‘greedy’
An angry bride blew up a Welsh luxury hotel that could house more than 200 migrants so it canceled a planned wedding while deciding to fire its entire staff.
When she was a little girl growing up in the village of Furness, South Wales, Miriam Williams dreamed of having her wedding reception at the Strady Park Hotel and Spa.
But hoteliers Stirling Woodrow suddenly canceled her booking when they decided to convert the hotel, effectively turning it into a migrant processing centre, fearing she and her fiance Liam Martin would lose thousands of pounds in their savings.
The decision to fire the hotel’s entire staff sparked outrage in the community, and dozens of protesters camped outside and effectively blockaded it. This week, council officials ordered the hotel to halt its conversion, with video showing protesters cheering as the hotel’s security guards left the premises.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline today, Ms Williams accused hoteliers of ‘greed’, claiming: ‘The Home Office threw money at owners who were happy to take in asylum seekers and to hell with the local community.
Miriam Williams and her fiance Liam planned to get married at Strady Park Hotel and Spa
However, hotelier Sterling Woodrow canceled their wedding after agreeing to house 241 asylum seekers.
‘It’s horrible, we were there waiting for our reception when the rumor started that the hotel was taking in migrants.
‘I’m a Furness girl, I always thought my wedding day would be in Strady Park. It is close to my heart. My 89-year-old grandmother lives just opposite the hotel, she was walking to reception.’
Ms Williams and Mr Martin, a fire service project manager, thankfully got their deposit back – and their October wedding will instead take place a mile away at the Diplomat Hotel.
The bride, who works at a housing association, continued: ‘It has had a devastating effect on many people in the area. We are very lucky that our wedding is in October and this gives us the opportunity to host another venue. But there are couples who got married in July and August, for them it is terrible.
‘I feel sorry for the 95 hotel workers who lost their jobs and for the DJ and florist who were part of the package we booked with Strady Park. They’ve also lost their jobs – it’s a hell of a blow to the local economy.’
Angry residents camped outside the hotel for days to stop it from being converted into a migrant centre
The protesters have vowed to continue protesting for as long as it takes
Police met the protesters (seen earlier this week) asking their men – all ex-military – to safely move away from the hotel
Ms Williams said it was ‘absurd’ to house migrants in such an important building in the community, effectively doubling the population of the village on the outskirts of Llanelli.
Asylum seekers were unable to enter after a small force of protesters barricaded the hotel’s three entrances and vowed to maintain round-the-clock vigil ‘as long as it takes’.
Bride and groom Lucy Watkins and Adam Kenny, from Llanelli, said they would never use Strady Park again after the hotel pulled the plug on their wedding day next March. Luckily the couple found another wedding venue near Swansea and were able to swap everything but the registrar.
The mother-of-two told Wales Online: ‘A lot of tears were shed, not only by Adam and me, but also by our two beautiful daughters who were so excited for the wedding.
‘Also everything was already booked, the car, the flowers, the registrar, and we had to find a new venue available on the same date or the above costs would probably mean it would all be cancelled.’
Asked if they would ever visit Stradey Park Hotel again, Ms Watkins said: ‘No’.
Share or comment on this article:
Read Full News Here