Wedding plans in ruins after Walsall hotel blaze
Two couples who had been due to have their weddings at the Walsall hotel which went up in flames say they are desperately searching for an alternative venue.
Emergency services were called to the Holiday Inn on Wolverhampton Road West yesterday afternoon after a fire broke out.
It is believed to have started in the sauna, but the cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.
Now, couples, who booked the hotel for weddings and other events, have been left scrambling for a venue change at the last minute.
This is the case for Rachel Fellows and her partner Dean Webber, both from Walsall, who had planned their wedding ceremony at the hotel in just three weeks time – on August 25.
The 37-year-old mother-of-two was left devastated when she heard the news that the hotel they had booked in May 2018 had been burnt to the ground.
She said: "We had our final meeting at the hotel about the wedding last week, and on Friday we were planning to go and sort out paying the final £1,200 we owe, we've already paid £1,500.
"My mum called me to say what had happened, I didn't believe her at first, I thought it must have been a different hotel.
"I was quite calm at first, I thought it was probably a small kitchen fire but I then saw all the smoke, it didn't look good.
"It's terrible and quite shocking to see how quickly it happened.
"Its scary, I couldn't catch my breath when I realised, I just cried, I was a mess – I'm still crying now.
"A friend of mine rang a number for the head office of the Holiday Inn, and they're saying they can't find the booking in my name – I've heard nothing from them about my booking or my money.
"I'm looking for other places that might take us at short notice, but if we have to change the date we'll have to do another marriage of notice which is another £500.
"Dean's sister lives in Italy and is coming over on the 16th with her children – we don't know what to do.
"It doesn't seem real, we're so upset, everything has been planned and arranged, the only saving grace is that we didn't get the chance to pay the rest of the money.
"People have now lost their jobs, and the people living there have lost everything they had with them, it's terrible.
"It's lucky that it wasn't in the night as people could have been hurt, thankfully everyone is ok."
The pair are one of many couples who had booked out the hotel for a wedding, including Alexander Powis who had booked a wedding reception and two-night stay with his partner Chloe Jones, for December 7 this year.
The couple from Walsall spent £3,000 on the booking, which they made in January 2018, and are now facing the prospect of losing out on a reception for their wedding.
Alexander, aged 25, said: "My mum came home from town and said she had seen some smoke, we knew it was in the direction of the hotel but hoped it wasn't that – it wasn't until we saw the updates on Twitter that it was a fire at our hotel.
"It's a shock, you don't expect it to happen to you, we didn't know how to react.
"We wanted a Christmas wedding and it will be hard to find a new venue now.
"We're trying to get in touch with the company, and I got an email back saying we'll hear back soon.
"Obviously we need to find somewhere new, but it's also the financial side of it, we spent a lot of money and we don't know if we're getting it back, we can't afford to put a deposit down on another place because we paid Holiday Inn with all of it upfront.
"We're worried, but we have some really good family and friends who are trying to help us.
"I am relieved to see everyone is ok, we met a lot of the staff there and they were amazing, so I'm thrilled they are ok, but obviously they have now lost their jobs."
