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The Letcombe Street Premier Inn in Reading has been allowed to keep its licence after it sold a room and alcohol to a 13-year-old girl.
The child was accompanied by a plain clothed police officer at the time.
Thames Valley police said the check-in staff failed to recognise the signs of a possible child sexual exploitation incident.
The officer managed to book a double room at the hotel on 24 October while he was with the teen. Police claimed that the officer was only referred to as a friend, and there was no indication that the two may be related.
The girl then ordered a Malibu and coke and was not asked for proof of age.
The bartender who served her said they believed she was “24 or 25” despite the teen reportedly being asked not to change her appearance to seem older.
Reading council has since issued the hotel with a warning and has been ordered to adopt the Challenge 25 policy as well as keep a crime log of every time staff refuse to sell alcohol.
The council told the hotel that is was “very concerned” and claimed that it considered suspension of the property’s licence. It added that the hotel should “review [its] procedures” and do the “do your utmost to make sure this does not happen again.”
Councillor Paul Woodward, licensing committee chairman, said: “We felt [Premier Inn] were already doing a lot to put things right, so we thought it was more important to help them, as well as the public, by imposing conditions.”
