Hotelier bans bloggers after row over free room request

A hotelier has issued a ban on bloggers after his social media post about a request for a free room prompted a backlash.

Paul Stenson of the White Moose Café and Charleville Lodge Hotel, Dublin, posted an email from a "social media influencer" with 87,000 YouTube subscribers asking for a free room in exchange for posts recommending the hotel.

Stenson responded to the unnamed blogger in a Facebook post that read: "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?"

The hotel has since been inundated with comments, some supportive and others arguing that he shouldn't have publicised the request.

Stenson, known for his controversial social media posts, claimed that negative reviews had been left on websites in response to the row, but also noted the publicity brought to the hotel, which has been featured on the websites of several national newspapers.

Announcing the ban 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."

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