30 October 2023 , 11:53
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A hotel guest was left fuming when he was kicked out of a restaurant at a Premier Inn, despite it advertising “anything goes”.
Blake Kerr says he often ditches his shoes when out as his size 10 feet and 'hammer toe' rub and suffers sores and blisters. During a recent stay at the chain in Manchester he went down for breakfast barefoot but was angry when staff told him to put on shoes. He begrudgingly returned to his room but was left unhappy as the blurb on the Thyme Bar & Grill boasts “we don't believe in rules… anything goes. Relax and make yourself at home”.
Barefoot Blake Kerr, 31, was kicked out of the restaurant (Kennedy News and Media)Blake told Manchester Evening News : “To me it's not inappropriate so I'm not really sure what his issues were. I'm just a little bit annoyed about it. [I'd tell Premier Inn to] allow people to go barefoot to breakfast if they want to, it's not doing any harm. There's a whole barefoot society for health reasons and lifestyle choice, it's not too different from a diet lifestyle.
"The way my foot is shaped my two pinky toes rub the side of the shoe and I usually get blisters. I've also got a bit of a hammer toe so a lot of shoes don't fit correctly. I normally don't wear shoes, for me it's a comfort thing and I've never had any issues [at Premier Inn before]. When I'm barefoot sometimes I get looks from the cleaning staff. The staff sometimes make comments [saying] 'just be careful' but for the most part they don't really care.
"This was true for the Premier Inn in Beckton, Canning Town and last week in Basildon - I had absolutely zero issues. The member of staff in Manchester who seated me had zero issues, it was the second member of staff who took issue with it. He came over and [said] that I would need to put some footwear on to be in the breakfast area because of 'health and safety'.
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"A lot of companies do harp on about health and safety but in actual fact in the UK there is no health and safety law that prevents someone from going barefoot. It's more of a thing of 'look if you injure yourself it's self-inflicted'. When you're wearing flip flops no-one cares but when you're barefoot some people do care. It's the same in some supermarkets as well."
Premier Inn said the 'anything goes' slogan was 'not current'. A spokesperson for the hotel chain said: "The health, safety and comfort of all our guests must always come first. Any actions taken are always with our guest's best interests at heart, recognising restaurants are busy areas which may risk sharp objects or hot items falling to the floor.”