Asked the best defence, Marshal Foch once replied “attaquez, attaquez, attaquez!”
Faced with accusations of racism for asking eight Aboriginal guests to leave, the Haven Hostel in Alice Springs came up with the claim that it was a hostel for “international guests only”. Not much of a defence, but enough to muddy the waters. Who knows, eh, some hostels do restrict who can stay there on the basis of taking foreign backpackers only.
Yes. Unfortunately one of them isn’t Haven Hostel. Soon as I saw the story, mid-morning in the US, I went to booking site Hostelworld.com, and booked a three night stay, filling out the online form – which includes a question about nationality. (Where there are restrictions, hostelworld displays them – many New York hostel pages explicitly say that NY state residents can’t check in, for example).
As the receipt below shows, there wasn’t a problem with booking in. Not only that, but they were so happy to have an Australian guest, that they’re offering me low-cost travel insurance, based on my nationality.
Then there’s the on-site reviews for the hostel, include one from “Evilpandas” of “Australia”, who gave it 80%, but noted that the frying pan in the kitchen was broken.
Pitching the Haven Hostel it would seem, into the fire.
Foreigners actually tend to be fascinated by the Indigenous. Doesn’t stack up. Still southern media will probably be dismissed as ignorant preachers by many in the NT. What this place clearly needs is strong legal direction but also strong mediation.
Heh, if every inquiring mind is doing the same thing at $8.21 a pop Hostelworld might just have a nice little earner here, negative publicity notwithstanding. Then there’s the highly niche market of open bigots who have just found their new fave hotel…
This action is wierd, even by Alice Springs standards. Last tape I heard up there supported a dirt barrier not a colour bar.
A (white) friend of mine was recently refused service in a backpackers bar in near Roma St station in Brisbane on the gropunds that he was Australian. Don’t know the facts of this affair, but it does seem that this odd sort of discrimination does exist.
Great minds Guy, we did the same thing via hostelnorthernterritory.com earlier today to see what would happen… guess 🙂
Surely, a door is grinding open somewhere in the bunkers of slater@gordan and a small army of Terminators are emerging