Once dubbed the ‘worst hotel in Britain’, it became renowned for being infested with cockroaches – and even made Fawlty Towers look like a reasonable place to stay.
Now the owner has been officially told that he cannot run it after 30 years at the helm, after shocked hotel inspectors discovered a mouse infestation, raw sewage and flies.
Stephen Gethin, 62, was deemed unfit to continue running the Happyvale Hotel in Mornington Crescent, north London – a five-storey townhouse which overlooks a park.
At last week’s hearing, District Judge Newton said Gethin ‘exhibited a callous disregard for the safety and welfare of vulnerable residents [and] a wilful refusal to comply with statutory obligations.
The judge added there were ‘regular contraventions of legislation’, he ‘had failed to respond to advice from the council’, and ‘had exhibited a dismissive attitude towards the local authority’.
Councillor Julian Fulbrook, Camden Council’s cabinet member for housing, told the Standard after the case: ‘It should be renamed the Unhappy Vale Hotel – it’s really quite grim.’
He added: ‘It’s a pretty desperate situation. I think it’s very possibly the worst hotel in Britain.’
Source: Dailymail.co.uk
