Dummy of dead son lying on couple's hotel bed a result of 'misunderstanding' by staff

[blighted star]

Meant to post this last night.


It. Is. Amazing








https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-...staff/10597158

Dummy of dead son lying on couple's hotel bed a result of 'misunderstanding' by staff

Posted yesterday at 2:52pm

A pair of trousers and a long-sleeved shirt stuffed with padding, arranged to look like a person lying on a hotel bed.


PHOTO: Karen Baker told the BBC she was "utterly horrified" after seeing what resort workers had done. (Karen Baker)


A UK couple have been refunded the cost of their five-star holiday in Jamaica after an effigy of their dead son was created in their hotel room.

Key points:

Workers were asked to decorate room in honour of the couple's dead son

Staff stuffed clothes with towels to make life-sized dummy holding can of beer


Family refunded for their holiday, which cost $2,300 per person
Karen Baker asked staff at Royalton Jamaica Resort to decorate the room her friends, Faye and Andrew Stephens, were staying in.

The Stephenses made the trip to honour their late son Alex's birthday, something they made a tradition of after he died in 2014, so Ms Baker asked for a cake and some balloons to be put in the room.

The staff obliged, but went far beyond the request.

They arranged a long-sleeved top, a pair of trousers, sneakers and gloves on the bed and stuffed them with towels to make the outfit look like a body.

Next to the effigy were the words "we miss you Alex" written in flower petals.

The dummy's "hand" was clutching a beer can, while the staff arranged tears running down its face.

Ms Baker found the dummy before the Stephenses could see it.

The couple were refunded their $2,300-per-person holiday after Ms Baker complained about the experience on BBC's Three Counties JVS radio show, saying she had been "utterly horrified".

"I have truly never seen anything like it," she said.

"I still look at the photographs now and can't believe somebody thought to do that."

A spokesperson for TUI UK, the British-based travel operator that runs the hotel, apologised to the family.

"We're following up with the hotel and believe it was a misunderstanding with no intention to cause upset," the spokesperson said.

Well I think they're going to be seeing it now.

A lot.

"Ms Baker found the dummy before the Stephenses could see it."

[blighted star]

Oh my god, what's that poking out from beneath him?

They turned him into Slenderman

[marycontrary]

I like how the dummy is smiling and crying at the same time. I wish I could read what's on the cake. It looks like the last line says a boy wonder. Actually it says Alexander I think, but what else is scribbled on it? Also makes me think of dick in the box. It takes a special planner to decorate for a dead kid birthday party.

[blighted star]

Ok now I've decided this woman is just an attention-seeking arsehole.

Apparently effigies are common in Jamaican mourning culture, so the palm fronds make sense now.

Her request was probably poorly explained & contained a word that had a specific meaning in Jamaican funerals but a very different meaning in the UK.


There is no fucking way this wasn't explained to her in the aftermath


It makes perfect sense she'd misrepresent shit though since she's also claiming she needed to protect the couple from seeing it but she's now made the pix, their names & their son's death an international news item.


The hotel should turn this attention into a positive - "Come to Royalton Jamaica Resort where we will go to any length to make our guests happy"



Edit : (& I should know better than to take articles like this at face value but it was on the publicly funded Australian ABC which is supposed to fact check everything. Hopefully someone at the ABC gets pulled up for running this story without including the cultural info for balance)

[Angiebla]

That's pretty fucked up but also funny and I feel bad for thinking it's funny. Where's the "you tried" meme when I need it?

[Queena]

That's pretty fucked up but also funny and I feel bad for thinking it's funny. Where's the "you tried" meme when I need it?

Funny and makes you cringe with laughter. It's bad, horribly bad.

[Jumaki15]

It makes perfect sense she'd misrepresent shit though since she's also claiming she needed to protect the couple from seeing it but she's now made the pix, their names & their son's death an international news item.

This.

Also, if I walked into a hotel room and saw that thing on the bed, I'd shit my pants and have a heart attack at the same time. It may haunt my dreams from just seeing the picture of it.

[thepits]

Thanks, now it makes a little more sense. I wasn't able to grasp why ANYONE would think that this was a good idea.

[blighted star]

Bad idea or not. The crotch cake was a nice touch.

[PeaceBeWithMe]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

[kevansvault]

This.

Also, if I walked into a hotel room and saw that thing on the bed ,I'd shit my pants and have a heart attack at the same time. It may haunt my dreams from just seeing the picture of it.

I lost it right there.

And if it's a cultural thing, okay, but all I could think of after seeing it was those people having their relatives embalmed and posed.

[Jumaki15]

I lost it right there.

And if it's a cultural thing, okay, but all I could think of after seeing it was those people having their relatives embalmed and posed.

You mean something like this?