Hilton Houses 28 Homeless People for Christmas Following Britannia Royal Cancellation

The DoubleTree Hilton in Hull, England, has offered 28 homeless people free rooms and meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day following a controversial cancellation by the nearby Britannia Royal hotel.

The original booking was made by Raise the Roof Hull homeless project. An annual occurrence, organizer Carl Simpson had paid £1,092 to the Britannia Royal for 14 twin rooms before the hotel canceled the reservation on Monday, Dec. 18. The hotel claims that they had heard reports of bad behavior from the program, specifically citing incidents that occurred at last year's location, the Ibis Hotel. However, Simpson, who had also organized the last year's Christmas event, denied these claims and took to Facebook to clear the air:

However, Britannia Royal maintained that a woman claiming to be a part of the project last year had contacted the hotel with claims that it had caused “a serious problem,” with room and property damage being quoted as a specific issue.

Yet, Simpson asserts that none of this happened. According to him, the guests who stayed in the Ibis Hotel last year were "grateful." Some even left hotel staffers gifts, and one even offered to help vacuum the rooms following the stay. "This means the world to homeless people," said Simpson. "Last year we had tears of joy from someone who stood on the edge of the Humber Bridge the night before."

Following Simpson's post and public outcry (people raised more than £9,000 in support of the project), The DoubleTree Hilton in Hull stepped in. "We can confirm that the DoubleTree Hilton have offered to put up 28 people for two nights with breakfast and Xmas dinner provided and they are doing this complimentary," said Simpson. As for the Britannia Royal? They've since reached out to Raise the Roof Hull homeless project and offered to take the booking under certain conditions. The group has since declined the offer and plans on moving ahead with Double Tree.