[1][2] The hotel became notorious as a homeless hostel due to the poor living conditions it provides after a number of press and media reports and it was prominently mentioned during a debate in the Scottish Parliament on 16 December 2014.

In 2000 the social justice minister for Scotland, Jackie Baillie, announced that £12M had been allocated to help replace Glasgow's homeless hostels with new smaller-scale supported accommodation which would better assist those with health, drug, or alcohol problems.

[6] In 2012, the Glasgow Evening Times reported that the MSP John Mason was calling for tighter regulation at the Bellgrove to ensure the welfare of the vulnerable residents.

The management of the hotel denied allegations that the hostel was used as a "dumping ground" and responded that they had spent £400k over 4 years to achieve the standard of accommodation necessary to qualify for a multiple occupancy licence.

[9][10] The fictional reviews mentioned a range of non-existent facilities including marble floors, crystal chandeliers, swimming pools, and spa.

[1][11] The Daily Record pointed out that social justice minister Jackie Baillie had promised to close Glasgow's homeless hostel on the recommendation of the review team in 2000, but that 14 years later this had never happened to the Bellgrove which was still open.

[12] The conditions in the hostel were described by the Daily Record as "comparable to the poverty George Orwell encountered on the road to Wigan Pier in the 1930s", and were variously described as prison-like, "rat-infested", and "squalid".

[17] It was also announced that the Care Inspectorate were visiting the premises to assess whether regulatory standards could be required of the hostel, but that the owners were meeting social workers with a "less than accommodating approach".