A HEARTBROKEN family claim they were uprooted from their hotel room at the last minute while on a trip to visit their ailing grandfather.

Alex Macdonald arrived in Glasgow last week alongside his twin sons, Charlie and Ethan, to visit his elderly father who is battling bladder cancer.

The trio made the decision to stay at a Travelodge in the city for three nights, from October 25 to October 28, to be close to the 84-year-old who lives just streets away.

It was the first time the family had opted to use the hotel, previously staying at the Premier Inn near Braehead, however, Alex said his experience has put him off for life.

He claims he and his 11-year-old boys were alerted to a “bang on the door” at 9pm on October 26 and staff informed they would no longer be able to stay at the hotel the following evening as the site was being “taken over” by police as part of the COP26 operations.

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Alex, who hails from Glasgow’s Southside, said: “I was completely shocked and in my pyjamas. I had had no text or email about this.

“He was basically going around chapping the doors and they said the hotel was being taken over – making it sound like an emergency.

“I had no idea what to do and he just kept saying you can’t stay here tomorrow because the police need the hotel for COP26.”

The following day Alex was busy transporting his ill father, who is receiving chemotherapy treatment at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, and elderly aunt around to various medical appointments and returned to the hotel in the evening, without his children, in a bid to find out where his family could stay.

He was informed by the assistant manager a “head office error” meant hotel staff was only informed of the take over the day before and staff had done “everything possible” to alert customers as quickly as possible.

Alex claimed staff were “unhelpful” and refused to confirm when police had made the booking or what advice officers had given prompting him to call the force directly for answers.

The father-of-two had made the booking weeks in advance.

Alex added: “It was only when I passed my phone to her [a member of staff] to speak directly with the police she confirmed that the booking was made on June 23.

“She then said head office never told them so, I asked for her to phone them and she said ‘oh, there will be nobody there’.”

The frustrated dad was told the chain had booked a taxi to transport him and his kids to another of its locations which would be picking him up momentarily – despite Alex being unaware of the plans and having left his children with family.

He was forced to hurriedly carry his family’s entire luggage on foot to his father’s home only to wait more than 40 minutes for the taxi, which had been booked for 9pm, to arrive.

It was almost 11pm when the trio arrived at the back-up hotel leaving Alex’s sons – one of whom had fallen asleep on the journey – exhausted, and him completely drained.

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“It’s just out of order,” Alex said. “It seemed like it was an emergency when it was booked months before.

“Why they couldn’t let us stay that night and leave early in the morning before the police arrived, I don’t know.

“My dad’s 84, he’s had cancer a few times in the last few years – two bouts of melanoma skin cancer in his head and the newest one is bladder cancer.

“I’m just trying to see him as much as possible and take over caring for him from my two sisters, who are exhausted. This has just been a nightmare.”

The family has since returned to their home in Brighton, however, have vowed never to use the hotel chain again.

A Travelodge spokesperson said: “We would like to sincerely apologise to Mr MacDonald and his family regarding their recent stay with us.

“On this occasion, there was a miscommunication regarding their booking – however, at the time, we did our utmost to accommodate the family at a nearby Travelodge hotel.

“Upon receiving Mr MacDonald’s feedback, we have contacted him and apologised for the inconvenience caused, refunded the booking in full and also offered a future complimentary stay for the family at any one of our hotels.”