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An Irish hotelier has issued a ban on bloggers following a row that erupted when he lambasted a YouTuber who tried to obtain a free stay in return for recommending his hotel.
Paul Stenson of the White Moose Café and Charleville Lodge Hotel, Dublin, posted on his Facebook page an email from a ‘social media influencer’ with 87,000 YouTube subscribers asking for a free room.
In response to the email Stenson posted the following on Facebook: “Thank you for your email looking for free accommodation in return for exposure. It takes a lot of balls to send an email like that, if not much self-respect and dignity.
“If I let you stay here in return for a feature in your video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you? Who is going to pay the housekeepers who clean your room? The waiters who serve you breakfast? The receptionist who checks you in? Who is going to pay for the light and heat you use during your stay? The laundering of your bed sheets? The water rates? Maybe I should tell my staff they will be featured in your video in lieu of receiving payment for work carried out while you’re in residence?
“In future, I’d advise you to offer to pay your way like everyone else, and if the hotel in question believes your coverage will help them, maybe they’ll give you a complimentary upgrade to a suite. This would show more self-respect on your part and, let’s face it, it would be less embarrassing for you.”
Reactions to Stenson’s critique ranged from praise for calling out the YouTuber, to those who considered it ‘bullying’. Doubling down on his position after a considerable social media backlash, Stenson has announced a ban on all bloggers at his hotel.
He said: “Following the backlash received after asking an unidentified blogger to pay for a hotel room, I have taken the decision to ban all bloggers from our hotel and café.”
Stenson, claimed that negative reviews had been left on websites in response to the row, but also noted the publicity brought to the hotel.
While the blogger in question remained nameless in Stenson’s post, she has since been identified as Elle Darby after she posted a video to her Youtube channel defending her request.
In the video, which at the time of writing has over 250,000 views, Darby said: “I feel disgusting having to say this. As a 22-year-old girl, who’s running her own business from her home … I don’t feel like I did anything wrong.”
She added that that comments calling her a “freeloader” were bullying her and finished by saying that most of them came from a group of people who “don’t understand the social media world”.
