Homeless teenager 'feared for safety' in Glasgow hotel

Adam Taylor claims he thought he was going to be “eaten alive” by bugs while staying in the Queen’s Park hotel last month.

The 17-year-old, from Clydebank, relied on the service for eight days after becoming homeless following his 16th birthday.

Adam's mattress at the hotel (Image: Sourced)

Adam is sharing his experience (Image: Sourced)

Adam said: “I was scared for my safety staying in the Queen’s Park Hotel.

“I thought I was going to be eaten alive by bugs and woke up constantly covered in red marks from them.

“The conditions were disgusting. The mattress was covered in stains, the smoke alarm was detached, the furniture was broken, and the kettle was burnt.

“The hotel has a lot of drug use, alcohol, and violence. I couldn’t believe they put a teenager in with that.

“I am shocked that the city’s most vulnerable people are being left to suffer like this.

“More needs to be done to stop homeless people being left in these conditions. Everyone deserves decent accommodation and a roof over their head, no matter what.”

Adam claims the red marks are from bugs biting him in the hotel (Image: Sourced)

The fire alarm is Adam's room (Image: Sourced)

We previously reported how Adam shared images of his room while staying at the facility in the Southside.

He has spoken out as part of our End the Homeless Hotel Shame campaign with Govan Law Centre.

We are calling for a rigorous inspection regime to force owners to improve conditions. For the Scottish Government to provide funding to ensure there is enough social housing and the UK Government to compensate Glasgow for the high number of asylum seekers and refugees who end up homeless.

Adam is now in temporary accommodation and is working on getting a parement home soon.

He hopes to help youngsters like himself who find themselves in similar situations.

Adam is speaking out (Image: Sourced)

Queen's Park Hotel (Image: Sourced)

Adam said: “Glasgow really needs more services to help the homeless as well as improving the ones that exist.

“It would be good if they listened to people who have actual experience of rough sleeping to find out what their needs are.

“I want to try and become a social worker so I can help people like me, especially young people that are struggling.

“I have been volunteering with Homeless Project Scotland and I see how much people are suffering. No one wants this, someone has got to do something.”

The Glasgow Times with Govan Law Centre has launched the End the Homeless Hotel Shame campaign. (Image: Sourced)

The hotels used by Glasgow City Council to accommodate homeless people are private, commercial businesses.

Owners are expected to put remedial actions in place with the local authority allowed to inspect on a voluntary basis.

In this case, the hotel arranged for pest control to carry out inspection of the room and the mattress and kettle have now been replaced.

The council claimed that the smoke alarm was not broken when the service user was placed there, which Adam refuted.

When the Glasgow Times contacted the Queen's Park Hotel we were told there was no one available to speak to the press.