Dragon Duncan Bannatyne blows fire as hotels ransacked

HE HAS destroyed the hopes of hundreds of budding entrepreneurs with one blast of his fiery breath, but now Duncan Bannatyne has delivered a withering rebuke to his own customers.

• Duncan Bannatyne feels he can no longer sit back while his hotel guests pack more than their belongings into their suitcases before they check out (photo credit: Getty Images)

The Dragons' Den star has expressed exasperation at the number of items being stolen from his chain of hotels by sticky-fingered guests.

The Clydebank-born tycoon has blamed the disappearance of bathrobes, towels and other items - along with frequent last-minute cancellations - for eating into the profits of his hospitality ventures.

The 61-year-old, who also has a string of leisure clubs and spas, revealed that establishing a hotel chain has been one of the most arduous challenges he has ever taken on.

The multi-millionaire has established hotels in Darlington, Durham, Hastings and most recently the 3 million Charlton House in the Somerset countryside.

Bannatyne said: "As well as dealing with guests who cancel at the last minute, leaving no opportunity to resell a room, we also have the problem of those guests who take everything they can from bedrooms, including the bathrobes."

The mogul appears to be justified in bemoaning the economic impact of guests who believe that the help-yourself attitude extends beyond the breakfast buffet.

Research commissioned by an online travel firm estimates that 5m worth of bathrobes and towels was taken from UK hotel rooms last year.

Other hoteliers have been forced to take steps to try to deter guests tempted by the bedroom goodies. Vivienne Bardoulet, managing director of the Horseshoe Inn at Eddleston, near Peebles, explained: "To prevent theft and to cover ourselves financially we have placed a disclaimer in every bedroom telling guests that if they want to take items the cost will be charged to their account.

"If our housekeepers find any item missing we quickly and simply charge it to the guest's credit card.

"It has proved an effective deterrent although we do still end up charging the odd person for things that disappear."

Bardoulet was amazed by the quantity and range of items that have vanished over the years.

"The most common items to be stolen are bathrobes and our Molton Brown toiletries, which are quite expensive.

"But we have also had people stealing sugar tongs, the salt and pepper pots from the restaurant table and even the fancy spoons that we serve with the sorbet. It is just incredible what people end up taking."

By contrast, the Kilspindie House Hotel at Aberlady, East Lothian, has fallen victim to a very specific and recurring form of guest theft.

Waiting staff have noticed that the ornamental ceramic birds in their Ducks restaurant - placed there as quirky decoration by owner Malcolm Duck - have a habit of heading on a sudden, one-way migration.

Roslyne Sloan, the hotel's general manager, said: "We have been very lucky when it comes to guests taking things from rooms, but the wee ducks that we put on our tables have proved to be irresistable to some diners.

"On quite a few occasions people have taken them away in their bags.

"If people really want a duck and are polite and upfront enough to ask for one then the answer will usually be yes.

"It's when people just take them without asking that we get annoyed."

David Smith, executive housekeeper at the upmarket Park Plaza County Hall in London has years of experience of dealing with larcenous guests. He said: "The most stolen item from a guest's room isn't the bathrobe, it's the hairdryer. That's why so many hotels have permanent ones wired to the bathroom wall."

"Once at a hotel on Park Lane, a guest stole the heated towel rail off the wall as well as the curtains."

The British Hospitality Association, said it was "a fine moral judgement" as to what items could rightly be removed from hotel rooms.

A spokesman said: "There's a difference between a bottle of shampoo and a bathrobe."

Bannatyne, whose fortune is estimated at around 320m, is known for his no-nonsense approach to business, The former welder, sailor, hospital porter and ice cream van salesman recently spent 3m buying the Charlton House Spa Hotel in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, but was unimpressed by the original condition of the hostelry. After spending 500,000 on improvements occupancy has risen from 65 to 80 per cent, but Bannatyne insists he still expects to hear criticisms.

"My photograph is in every hotel bedroom with my direct email address. If guests are enjoying themselves I want to know about it and if not, then I really want to know about it."

The more popular targets for the hotel thieves include:

1. Towels

2. Bathrobes

3. Slippers

4. Hair dryers

5. Bibles

Among the stranger items stolen are:

1. Sugar tongs

2. Ceramic ducks

3. Towel rails

4. Pepper and salt pots

5. Curtains