Director of hotel apologises for use of language on sign

Ravi Gupta, director of hotel, in St Ives, wanted to explain that the sign may have come across to customers as ‘arrogant and pompous' but that was not his intention.

The sign read: “We are short on staff and they are doing their best.

“You may have to wait and prices are posted, if you can’t wait or afford to drink here, don’t go on social media to complain.. Go elsewhere.”

The sign that was left outside the Dolphin Hotel Cambridge. (Image: Vanessa Lambert)

Mr Gupta said: “The sign was said not in the way it was intended to be.

“There was one part of the sign where it said –if you can't afford to drink here and go elsewhere.

“The sign should have said our prices are posted, in line with the community, so if you don’t like the prices, you can go elsewhere.

“It was kind of pompous and arrogant the way it came out, so that part I do regret."

Mr Gupta said he felt strongly that his prices were reasonable and he was "fed up" with people asking his staff for discounts and complaining.

He said: “People go on social media and complain about these prices being too expensive and at the end of the day we are a hotel and we are still charging local pub prices.

He also said the hotel had faced staff shortages recently and that the last few months had been difficult.

The hotel also hopes to house some Afghan refugees as they enter the UK in the next couple of weeks.

They also provided rooms for the homeless during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Gupta won much support on social media, with many readers understanding the difficulties experienced by the hotel and pub trade in recent months.

One Facebook user wrote: "People in the hospitality industry are at their wits end.

"Abuse when trying to adhere to Covid regs, abuse when service takes longer due to having to sanitise everything, abuse when the full menu can’t be offered due to current shortages, I absolutely understand why managers worded this as they did."