Gay couple say hotel forced them to have single beds instead of double room

Nick Hurley, 22, and Gavin Maclean, 28, from Manchester, said they had booked the double room at the Thistle City Barbican hotel in east London for Saturday night.

But when they came to take it – the receptionist insisted they have a family room with twin beds.

Mr Hurley told the BBC that he felt he had been treated in a “homophobic way" by the receptionist.

The hotel chain, which is investigating the incident, apologised for any offence caused.

Mr Hurley and Mr Maclean were visiting the capital for the weekend and had been to the theatre before arriving at the hotel at about 11.30pm.

He said: "When we got there, we tried to check in, and the receptionist looked at us and said 'are you sure you want a double room or do you want single beds?'"

"He had obviously seen it was two guys. We said 'we've booked a double and we'd quite like one'.

"He then looked at us and said 'are you sure you don't want single beds?'

"He insisted on repeating that question," Mr Hurley said.

"He said we'll have to put you in a family room, with single beds. There were no doubles left in the hotel.

Mr Hurley said the pair were no very confrontational but felt they needed to make an issue of what the considered to be “bullying”.

"This kind of thing is basic bullying," he said. "It can't happen. If anything comes out of this, it should inspire organisations to change."

He tweeted: "Homophobic receptionist at @ThistleHotels refused me & my bf our pre-booked double room. Insisted we take a "family" room w/ separate beds."

The gay rights group Stonewall's chief executive Ben Summerskill said: "Subject to the facts being as reported, it's sad to see that this sort of thing is still happening as it's been unlawful for five years.

"A major hotel company must be well aware they can no more turn away a gay couple than a mixed race couple, even though they might not approve of them either."

Spokesman for the hotel chain Chris King said he had yet to speak to the staff involved but apologised for the way the couple thoughtthey had been treated.

He said what he did know was that there was some kind of mix up with the bookings and there were no double rooms left that night.

"We apologise for the way they feel," he said.

He said he had offered the couple two nights free anywhere in the country as an apology.