My 'nightmare' experience at Glasgow hotel riddled with mice and filth

A rough sleeper thought getting off the streets and into a Glasgow homeless hotel would finally give him a break, but he was wrong.

Alex McGinty stayed in the Rennie Mackintosh Hotel on Union Street for three weeks while struggling with homelessness last year.

The 54-year-old, from Maryhill, was devastated to check in and find the place 'filthy' and he could hear rodents.

Alex said he wouldn’t wish his “nightmare” experience on his “worst enemy” after lying awake listening to mice scurrying around in his cold room.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Hotel Glasgow (Image: Sourced)

READ MORE: My story from New York fashion scene to Glasgow Homeless hotel

He spoke to the Glasgow Times as part of our End the Homeless Hotel Shame campaign with Govan Law Centre.

We are calling for a rigorous inspection regime to force owners to improve conditions. For the Scottish Government to provide funding to ensure there is enough social housing and the UK Government to compensate Glasgow for the high number of asylum seekers and refugees who end up homeless.

Alex said: “I had slept on the streets around Christmas time last year, so when I got a room there I thought I was going to be safe and get a break at last. I was wrong.

“The Mackintosh Hotel which had lots of mice in the rooms and was very filthy.

“It was very cold and I would lay awake all night listening to mice in the walls and in the room, getting to sleep was a nightmare.

“They then put you out at 6am and you had to hang around the streets until the evening, there was no chance to rest between that and the mice.

“I would not wish my experience staying in some of the homeless hotels on my worst enemy.

“The place should be shut down. It is not fit to accommodate people, no one deserves to stay somewhere like that.”

The Glasgow Times has launched the End the Homeless Hotel Shame campaign with Govan Law Centre. (Image: Sourced)

Alex became homeless after losing his tenancy in Maryhill as he struggled with bills and returned to find his locks changed.

He then faced a year and a half of sofa surfing, hostels, hotels, and sleeping on the street before recently getting his own flat.

Now he is sharing his experience of feeling “degraded” while rough sleeping to raise awareness and help others in the same situation.

Alex wants to help people who face homelessness (Image: Sourced)

He explained: “I have my own flat now after getting help so I am in a much better position.

“It was horrible having to rely on friends or the homeless hotels but I knew I had to just persevere until I got something else.

“Sleeping on the streets is horrible and degrading, I had people spit at me.

“I want to campaign to change things and stop the stigma because no one thinks it could be them until it is, things need to change in Glasgow.”

READ MORE: Hotel used for homeless people to be 'decommissioned' to save cash

Alex got help from the Scottish Tenants Organisation (STO) who helped with the process of getting a flat in the city.

Sean Clerkin, STO campaign co-ordinator, said: “Alex was homeless and came to me for help with the paperwork.

“I wanted to help him leave the streets and into permanent accommodation, there were a lot of problems but we stuck together and got him there.

“Now we want to keep helping people who are suffering these horrible conditions , it is a very difficult process which we want to change.”

When the Glasgow Times contacted the Rennie Mackintosh Hotel there was no one available to comment.