Pity poor celebs chum Lisa Pikington...
All set for a lovely weekend away at the Lacemarket Hotel in Nottingham, Lisa and her partner turned up early to check in only to be told they couldn't until considerably later that afternoon .
Understandably Lisa questioned this. The reply was not very helpful:
"The people in your room have requested a late check out so are not leaving until 3pm"
Now at this point, the fed-up couple made the (quite valid) point that if a room is already booked, a late check-out is ordinarily refused. It's an unwritten hotel law.
The receptionist leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially: "Between me and you, there's a lot of them and they've taken over the top floor"
This buttered no parsnips with Lisa, who was only at the Lacemarket Hotel for a complimentary stay after a not-so-great experience at its sister hotel in Derby and told the receptionist as much...
Receptionist, reluctantly: "Ahem... but it's a band"
Slightly stunned Lisa: "Anyone we know?"
Receptionist, whispering: "Metallica"
Very stunned Lisa: "Aaaaaah, ok"
Metallica: The Metal Militia show No Remorse
L-R: Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield
By all accounts, the band were quiet and very well behaved. No nude ladies running round reception at 3am. no televisions out of windows and no room-trashing. Indeed, after Lisa and her partner checked in later that afternoon, the room bore no signs of the legendary heavy metal band's stay apart from a slightly cracked bidet. Boo!
P.S. Lisa and her partner confirmed that - after a shaky start - they had a wonderful stay. The Lacemarket Hotel was gorgeous and the staff and manager went out of their way to look after them. So all's well that ends well.
Their Alcoholica days are long over they are more likely to be doing yoga and drinking tea now.
And, as they are getting older they probably needed their sleep after performing the night before.