Abbott blamed for last-minute cancellation of hotel booking at Thursday Island

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his group of ministers cancelled the bookings at Jardine Motel, northernmost part of Queensland, on Tuesday. The sudden cancellation has prompted the hotel towards huge loss.

Abbott visited Thursday Island to pay tribute to the martyrs of World War II and also to discuss defence issues of Australia.

The manager of the motel, Steve Mills, said the bookings had been made even before the arrival of the PM on the Thursday Island. The department booked a significant number of rooms for around eight ministers who were supposed to join Abbott on the trip on various points. The owner publicly blamed the PM and held him responsible for the severe loss it had to suffer from.

Mills claimed that the bookings had been cancelled at the last-minute with less than two days left to their check-in. The department booked 44 rooms in total for seven nights from Aug 11 to 17. Out of 44, the booking for only 11 rooms was confirmed for the stay. The accommodation which charges more than AU$53,000 were cancelled, shifting the motel to an out of pocket situation. The cost per night for the motel rooms was AU$220.

Mills regretted his decision to turn down the sick people who had come to book rooms in his motel for easy access to a nearby hospital. He stated it was not only about the loss of income, but also about turning down prospective customers. Mill was very sure of claiming complete AU$53,000 for what the PM department did.

“I feel very let down, betrayed ... It’s all because they didn’t want to do the brain thing of figuring out how many rooms they actually needed,” he said .

“Would have Mr Abbott known about it? No. Do I blame him for it? Yes,” he concluded.

The department, on the other hand, said that it was discussing the matter with the owner to come to a fair cancellation fee to make it up for the inconvenience caused.

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