Comedian Jason Manford slams Village Hotel in Bournemouth after having to share a room

Former One Show host - comedian Jason Manford - has named and shamed a hotel chain after he was forced to share a room with a friend due to the venue 'overbooking'. The 44-year-old posted a stinging rebuke of the Village Hotel in Bournemouth on Saturday (June 28) after arriving ahead of a show the following day.

He spoke of how he was forced to share with a friend because the property was overbooked, a policy he called "ridiculous", with staff informing him that because he arrived so late, his room had been sold.

"So we got to our hotel tonight in Bournemouth and it's fully booked," he said in a video posted on social media. "We were like, 'Fine, that's good - well done you'.

"They went, 'No, no, as in, like, without you'. So me and Steve, obviously (were booked) in separate rooms. And then we just discovered that basically if it's fully booked it means that, (we have to share)." He added that "these things happen" and that "at least we've got a nice view of the car park".

The joker went on to name the Village Hotel - a chain with 33 venues across the country - branding it "naughty" and adding: "Worse things happen at sea. But Village Hotel, just beware, if you are booking and it's a busy day in a busy city.

"I mean, we're lucky that was two rooms because that fella coming behind us, a doctor as well, and no room for him. He just had to walk out, and like, and there's no rooms anywhere in Bournemouth tonight. Naughty that, naughty. I've heard of aeroplanes doing it, but I've never known in 25 years of touring, a hotel doing it. That's not on, that is not on."

Following the reaction to the clip online, Manford returned to the subject the following day, saying the chain had asked him to remove his video - which he declined to do.

"I know the general manager of the Village Hotel’s got in touch with the manager at the Bournemouth one and came and found me and have a word with me and it was very nice to speak to them," he said.

"For people who don't know, I got to the hotel last night and the hotel was overbooked. So it meant because we arrived late - we always arrive late because of the two late shows - our room had been resold to somebody else. Now we dealt with it, it was fine, we kept our humour. What can you do, you know what I mean, it's nobody's fault in that building, so me and Steve had a laugh and had a shared room and it was fine."

In explaining why he would not remove the post, he said: "Now they asked me to take the video down, politely, but I’m not going to because I think it’s important that people know that this is happening, for one. What if it was a wedding or you had kids with you or a million other situations that were much more serious than mine? It's wrong. Fundamentally, it’s wrong."

The personality went on to stress how it was not the fault of staff in Bournemouth, instead blaming those in charge of the firm who made the "ridiculous policy".

"And this is the problem with these big companies," he added. "That is somebody in an office, making a policy that makes them more money. I didn't kick off, but I can imagine people would. So the staff then have to deal with upset customers and getting vitriol in heightened emotional situations.

"So I'm not going to take the video down, because I think it's right that people know that's what your company are doing. And I'm going to leave it up as a bit of support for the staff, who aren't being paid as much as the person who made the decision is and how much that person is making out of this ridiculous policy.

"So bear that in mind if these things do happen. Same with an aeroplane. We've all been there, we've all been in a moment where the person we're in contact with is the person that's going to get it. But we have to take a step back sometimes, just remember that person is just doing their job and they don't like it either. In fact that's what the manager said to me last night; "I don't like this either, I hate it".

"It takes a video like this and us talking about it for them, hopefully to have a little look at their policies and think maybe this is not in the best interest of our staff and certainly not of the customer."

Village Hotels has not yet responded to the comments.