Re: Why did the McCann's request an extra bed?

by Guest 22.07.11 14:07

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have often asked questions about this Nanny. All we know she is Canadian and she went back to Canada as her mother was ill. She was BOOKED to go to Portugal but let them down at the last minute (must have made the McCanns furious as they were hoping for lots of adult time!!). I would have thought that Team McCann would have been very happy for her to be interviewed by the world media with story of how wonderful Kate and Gerry were as parents etc. I am amazed this opportunity has been missed and find it very odd indeed that we have had total silence from her

This would explain the request for an extra bed. But why is her details not on the MW inventory? and if they had time to take her name off the list, then they had more than enough time to cancel the extra bed. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

When did they cancel her booking and why did they keep the extra bed ??

by lj 24.07.11 0:32

Stella wrote:
lj wrote:
Is she saying Katey and Gerry did also book a one bedroom one, but ended up having 2?

As they made the booking, by her own admission, I would say yes. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yet another incidence where by their statements do not match the MW paperwork.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Hello, is that the Met...

What a cheapskates they would be, if indeed the plan was to move in with 3 kids and a nanny (and an extra bed) in a 1 bedroom apartment!

by pauline 24.07.11 9:41

l[/quote]

What a cheapskates they would be, if indeed the plan was to move in with 3 kids and a nanny (and an extra bed) in a 1 bedroom apartment![/quote]

Cheapskates may be the right word. The McCanns had at that time a joint income of over £100,000 gross pa.

In the book she says that when her friends suggested the holiday one of her reservations was that it was pricey. Presumably having a one bedroomed apartment rather than a two bedroomed one would make the holiday price less. An extra bed usually costs nothing extra.

Then, she wouldn't consider hiring a babysitter from among the nanny's (whom she praises in the book) so that they could have enjoyed their dinner without all that movement. Considering her fertility problems and her struggle to have the children, you would think that paying £9-10 ph (as the charge would have been at that time) to a nanny the children liked would have been her childcare option. And how much fun is a dinner when the diners are getting up at different half hour intervals?

And most significantly, the children shared a toothbrush and a hairbrush - well this was the reason she gave for the lack of DNA in the apartment, making it necessary for Gerry to return home to bring back something with Madeleine's DNA.

My experience is that comfortably off people are often very MEAN.

by Guest 24.07.11 10:13

pauline wrote:
An extra bed usually costs nothing extra.

I do not believe that for one minute. An extra bed means another child/adult, which in turn means more income. £££ No hotel would turn that sort of money down. I would say an extra bed in all cases, means an extra charge.

by joyce1938 24.07.11 10:31

i find it hard to believe that 3 kids shared one toothbrush,could imagine a shared hairbrush,i had 3 and never would they be expected to have one brush and all 3 use it.good enough excuse not to be able to find hairs when needed,but at some point gerry gave some to the man that went over with a wierd machine to look for a body on ground? did i dream that No dont think so.joyce1938

by Guest 30.07.11 8:57

Would the McCann's really request an extra bed for the nanny and then expect her to sleep on it in their living room? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

They had a spare bed in the children's bedroom, so the nanny could have used that.

Perhaps the spare bed in the lounge was for the last person home, or the person who ended up in the dog house. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **PeterMac** 30.07.11 9:12

But if we look at the photos of the apartment, there wasn't an extra bed. Each bedroom had 2 single beds as is normal in apartments for letting and there were the 2 travel cots jammed bin the space between. There is no extra bed visible in the sitting area.
So there wasn't one.
But in the book Kate now talks about an extra bed, brought into the apartment they had moved into. This apartment, one assumes, already had 2 beds, and the twins cots, so for whom was there an extra one ?

p. 96 " I kicked an extra bed that had been brought into the apartment and smashed the end right off it."

by Guest 30.07.11 9:35

When I read the MW information once it said that an extra bed would come in the form of a sofa bed. Many people on their website are complaining about getting such a bed. It could be that one of those blue sofa's was a traditional type sofa bed. Until you release them, it is sometimes very hard to know if it is a sofa bed or not. One of the photo's of the rear of the sofa, looks like it has loose covers on, which is usually for the benefit of taking them off and washing them. As far as I know, sofa beds do not come with loose washable covers.

Then we have the Dianne Webster issue where she talks about a "put you up sort of bed" in the lounge. That to me is not a sofa bed. In fact, from her description it sounds more like a type of fold down sunbed thing. When Dave and Gerry were faffing around at the beginning of the holiday moving a cot from one room to another, I wonder if it was actually the extra bed. Or perhaps the reason they had to move the cot, was because they swapped rooms to give Dianne the extra bed ?

But as you pointed out PeterMac, maybe the McCann's needed an extra bed for Kate to regularly kick.

by **PeterMac** 30.07.11 10:14

Good point.
see [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and scroll right down to the extra photos
There are 2 sofas, but each is a 2 seater, so again that would not be unusual for a 2 bedroom apartment. In the photos there is no sign of chairs, and there have to be sufficient items for all guests.
Whilst one might be a sofa bed it was clearly not being used as such, as the layout of the room is against that. The sofas are close up at 90 degrees facing the TV and the table, with all the normal clutter is in that angle, is in the angle in the place one would expect for placing the beers and the bottle of New Zealand wine.

by jd 30.07.11 12:38

From a user review comment in May 2006:

The final downside, was the extra beds. Four of us stayed in a one bed apartment, which was in itself, like a small flat, with its own kitchen, dining table and chairs, living area, good bathroom with bath and shower, a large raised terrace with sea views and a seperate bedroom. The twin beds in the seperate bedroom were comfortable enough, however, the sofa bed and camper bed we were provided with, were atrocious! They might be suitable for small children, but to expect a fully grown adult to sleep on those things, was appalling. In short, if you have back problems, make sure you sleep on the beds in the bedroom and do not go anywhere near the camper or sofa beds!

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Seems the apartments had extra sofa beds

by Guest 31.07.11 9:01

Apartments would not automatically have sofa beds in them for two reasons. People would invite extra guests willy nilly and MW would frequently be out of pocket.

The very fact that there is an extra bed request attached to the McCann booking, must mean they have to be moved into each apartment as and when required.

by Guest 31.07.11 10:48

Another point.

Children under the age of 2 automatically qualify for a free cot. Children 2 years of age and older, if they still require a cot, there is an additional charge.

More beds = more money.

Funny that. The McCann's could pay for an extra bed, but not a night baby sitter. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by pauline 31.07.11 11:13

Stella wrote: The McCann's could pay for an extra bed, but not a night baby sitter. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Stella, the McCanns at that time only had a joint income (being conservative) of £100,000 gross pa. Babysitting cost then c.£9-10 per hour. Paying that out every night takes from the drinking budget. The bed charge would have been much less than paying for babysitters every night.

On another thread the drinks order docket has been posted showing 14 bottles of wine and 9 bottles of water for the evening of May 3. People have different priorities. We can see what the Mccanns priorities were.

by Miraflores 31.07.11 12:25

the drinks order docket has been posted showing 14 bottles of wine

Doesn't Kate deny this in her book? Can anyone post the docket and the quote from the book side by side, so that we can all see?

by Guest 31.07.11 12:34

pauline wrote:
Stella wrote: The McCann's could pay for an extra bed, but not a night baby sitter. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Stella, the McCanns at that time only had a joint income (being conservative) of £100,000 gross pa. Babysitting cost then c.£9-10 per hour. Paying that out every night takes from the drinking budget.

That depends on who paid for all the drinks. As far as I know this has never been established. They might have had it all paid for by someone else. ?

The bed charge would have been much less than paying for babysitters every night.

I'm not so sure about that. Where can you get a bed for the night at less than £10 ?
On another thread the drinks order docket has been posted showing 14 bottles of wine and 9 bottles of water for the evening of May 3. People have different priorities. We can see what the Mccanns priorities were.

by Guest 23.12.11 10:13

Bumping for monkey mind.

by dentdelion 23.12.11 11:09

I thought there was a theory that they were bringing a UK childminder with them on the holiday hence need for extra bed in a bedroom. But is there not the usual complement in 5a with the set of twin beds in the second bedroom? Maybe they were thinking of a one bedded unit and an extra bed for Madeline? A one bedded unit might just have accomodated twins in cots but not an extra bed in the main bedroom as well. Was the sofa also a bed? Perhaps they considered that for someone to sleep in but later decided on the two bedroom unit as more practical for five people.

As for the drink at the meal, was the food and drink not inclusive with the holiday? This might explain the highish cost of the week and why they were restricted to eating in one of two restaurants in the club.The fact that 14 bottles were ordered does not mean that all was consumed. All ordered water and maybe some wanted white wine in addition to red even if only a glass might be taken from it. On that night, there was hardly time to finish up any of the bottles before the alarm was raised.

by Guest 23.12.11 11:21

dentdelion wrote:I thought there was a theory that they were bringing a UK childminder with them on the holiday hence need for extra bed in a bedroom. But is there not the usual complement in 5a with the set of twin beds in the second bedroom? Maybe they were thinking of a one bedded unit and an extra bed for Madeline? A one bedded unit might just have accomodated twins in cots but not an extra bed in the main bedroom as well. Was the sofa also a bed? Perhaps they considered that for someone to sleep in but later decided on the two bedroom unit as more practical for five people.

There is nothing in the files to suggest they were bringing a nanny. The PJ surely would have mentioned this in their questions to Kate, if that was true. I think that is a myth.

When entering your details into the Mark Warner booking system, which I have done, you are automatically allocated a bed for any child over the age of 2. They did not need to book an extra bed for Madeleine.

Their Mark Warner booking form, clearly states they had a 2 bedroom apartment. That's 4 single beds, for 3 people. Why did they still need an extra one, when they already had one free in the second bedroom?

by TheHare 23.12.11 11:33

PeterMac wrote:p. 96 " I kicked an extra bed that had been brought into the apartment and smashed the end right off it."

I know I need to, but I cant actually bring myself to read the book, let alone pay for it ! What was the event that triggered this particular outburst ?

If KM goes out of her way to discuss such trivia, I think its probably a pretty safe assumption that the damage to the bed definately wasnt caused by KM kicking it. I supose then you have to ask, what did cause that damage.

by Guest 23.12.11 11:43

TheHare wrote:
PeterMac wrote:p. 96 " I kicked an extra bed that had been brought into the apartment and smashed the end right off it."

I know I need to, but I cant actually bring myself to read the book, let alone pay for it ! What was the event that triggered this particular outburst ?

If KM goes out of her way to discuss such trivia, I think its probably a pretty safe assumption that the damage to the bed definately wasnt caused by KM kicking it. I supose then you have to ask, what did cause that damage.

This particular 'kicked' bed was in block 4, G4G, after they had been moved.

Not to be confused with G5A. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by TheHare 23.12.11 11:51

Stella wrote:This particular 'kicked' bed was in block 4, G4G, after they had been moved.. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thanks for clearing that up. I'm going to have to read the book, but I'm not looking forward to it at all

by sijm 23.12.11 13:41

Hello Stella

I read in Kate's book when they moved to the appartment, they also got a small flat back in Ocean Club for Justine to stay in, maybe they needed her out of the way for something.

There is a Andrew & Isabel Hubbard removed contact details, These Hubbards let out an apartment at Club Phase, Ocean Club.Praia da Luz.

If these are the Hubbard's that welcomed Kate and Gerry to stay until they asked them to leave when relatives needed the apartment for holidays, this means that apartment was not vacant for the first half of 2007.

In the advert that was found at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The Hubbard state new beds for 2007 and new freezer also long term renters are welcome. What would be interesting and would clear up a lot of speculation is, were these new beds, new freezer advertised before or after McCanns had let the apartmet, there is no monthly date on the advert, but is definitely for 2007

Also does anyone know what Father Hubbards wife's first name is?[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **PeterMac** 23.12.11 13:44

sijm wrote:
Also does anyone know what Father Hubbards wife's first name is?

We assume he is not RC ?

by Guest 23.12.11 14:14

Here's a link regarding the various ministers of religion.

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It's Haynes and Susan Hubbard.

by jd 23.12.11 14:23

On the subject of religion, a very interesting fact is the Vatican removed the mccanns from their website only a few days after 'their meeting with the pope'