A hotel owner has been forced to deny claims that the hotel she owns is actually a brothel after rumors began circulating due to the risqué sign out front. Lyn Dew, who owns Sydney House in Plymouth, England, recently placed the new signage, which features the silhouette of a woman that’s hot pink and lights up at night. Needless to say, it’s caused quite the stir.
- People are not feeling the change. Some have dubbed the sign “inappropriate” while one family said the place looks like a brothel now because of the sign. Dew’s response, according to Plymouth Live, is simple: “Grow up.”
- Sydney House needed a change. Dew said she’s owned Sydney House for a few years now and thought the place could do with a revamp as well as a more personal touch. “I’ve had this place for a few years actually, I bought it on a whim because my husband had died. Coming to Plymouth I soon realised that areas, especially Stonehouse, needed a bump up,” she explained. “I looked at the Hoe but this had 11 rooms and 22 capacity. The lady was looking to retire, so I took it on.”
- So what gave her the idea for the signage? “I thought, I’ll put a silhouette of me, and my parents always dressed me in pink, my favorite color, so I put my childhood in the back, and I’ll put LGBTQ+ friendly,” she said. “That’s all.” Dew also wanted to make people think, adding, “I just wanted psychologically to see how people perceived a woman’s body – and black at that. It’s all double negatives.”
- Not everyone hates it. Some patrons have been supportive of the change and have expressed their approval to Dew. “Most people have been very, very good to me. Rung me up and said I’ve upgraded the area. [The sign] lights up in the evening, neon on a timer for catching the right light,” she said. “Initially the first few days you had some drugged up drunks saying ‘What do you do?’ It’s a hotel. ‘Is it a club?’ For what? You see a woman’s body and something of ill repute? They kept quiet.”
- She doesn’t care if you don’t like it – the sign is here to stay. Given that the sign for Sydney House is something she came up with and feel represents her, she has no plans to remove it no matter who disapproves. “I put this sign outside my hotel because I wanted me to be represented as part of the people of colour community. This has been a hotel since its inception,” she explained. “The image is me, it’s my body. There is no bra on there, there’s no bikini on there, just a stylish pose. That’s me. I’m always a stylish woman and proud of it.”
