Boutique hotel in Manchester changes name of ‘Plantation Bar’ that it said has ‘colonial vibes’ on its website after social media outcry
- Cow Hollow Hotel in the Norther Quarter has now issued a public apology
- The controversially-named bar was advertised for having ‘colonial vibes’
- Bar has now been renamed Cow Hollow Bar after social media outcry
A boutique hotel in Manchester has changed the name of its ‘Plantation Bar’ which boasted ‘colonial vibes’ after it was slammed on social media.
Cow Hollow Hotel in the trendy Northern Quarter has rebranded its bar and posted a public apology.
Screenshots shared to Twitter late last week show that the bar was advertised on the hotel website as having ‘colonial vibes’.
Cow Hollow Hotel in Manchester has changed the name of its ‘Plantation Bar’ which boasted ‘colonial vibes’ after it was slammed on social media
Users have pointed out the negative connotations associated with plantations, which were slavery sites in the colonial era, labelling the bar name ‘disgusting’ and ‘controversial’.
Cow Hollow Hotel, a small boutique hotel on Newton Street, quickly posted an apology to its Instagram account.
It wrote: ‘We’re sorry. As many of you have pointed out on social media, we have made an ill-advised choice on the naming of our bar.
‘To give some background, the plantation name was referring to the owner’s family wood plantation in India. The ”colonial” reference was to the furniture and architecture style.
Screenshots shared to Twitter late last week show that the bar was advertised on the hotel website as having ‘colonial vibes’
‘We would never, in a million years, seek to cause any offence or draw parallels to colonial-era crimes.
‘Our sincerest apologies. We have renamed the bar with immediate effect and taken the website down.’
The bar will now operate as the Cow Hollow Bar.
The hotel itself opened in early 2018 in a former textile warehouse and has received rave reviews nationally.
It’s operated by husband and wife duo Muj and Amelia Rana, and is named after the chic neighbourhood in San Francisco. The hotel declined to comment further.