A Nigerian woman named Hanna Fanni was discriminated against at a hotel
in Dubai on July 8th. The hotel staff at five-star hotel Mövenpick Hotel
Jumeirah Beach refused to serve her and showed
her the door when she
visited the hotel's popular West Beach Bistro & Sports Lounge with
her black American friend. The outraged Nigerian said what they did to
them reminded her of 1930s America.
"They suspected us of being prostitutes and targeted us solely because
of the colour of our skin. I have lived here for 10 years and have never
been treated in such a disrespectful and despicable manner." Hannah
said
“My friend had just graduated and we were hoping to enjoy a girls’ night
out at the bar but came back traumatised. First the waitress refused to
serve us and then a security guard ordered us to leave the hotel. At
one stage he was ready to engage with us physically which is classified
as assault and sexual harassment in UAE. He kept telling us that the bar
didn’t allow unaccompanied women. I found it strange because there were
several tables occupied by women. When I pointed to them, he said he
was merely following orders.” Hannah told Dubai News Express
Hannah said as things got heated, the bar manager intervened.
“I showed him my business card. When he saw it, his face contorted in
panic as it dawned on him that they had racially profiled the wrong
people. But instead of making amends, he said the security guard had
asked us to leave as some black women had come in earlier and solicited
their guests. I was stunned. Just because some black women had
approached their guests, the hotel assumed we were also prostitutes.”
Hannah said, realizing their mistake, the hotel tried to make amend but they were so humiliated they had to leave
“On the way out, I stopped at the front desk and sought to speak to the
duty manager but he refused to meet us. Instead a female staff came out
and tried to hush up the matter saying ‘Obama is the President of US’ as
if that had anything to do with us. I want the management of the hotel
to realise that this isn’t 1930. This is 2015. You cannot walk up to
random black women and tell them you will not serve them because they
are black. I am completely flabbergasted that in this day and age the
policy of an international chain is to not allow people into their bars
because of the colour of their skin,” she said
Hannah, who heads an events management company later wrote to management
of the hotel, asking for an apology. And they did apologize to her,
calling it an unfortunate incident.
"The incident occurred purely due to the misunderstanding of the
employees and we would like to clarify that there is no such management
policy existent in the hotel. Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach welcomes
and respect each and every guest and this incident in no way reflects
our true standards of service. An official apology letter from the hotel
management and employees involved has also been sent to the guest.” the
management said
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