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All I want for Christmas...

Catherine Deshayes

This is either the greatest Christmas treat out there or a total turkey of an idea - all of you who are dreading the thought of another festive season spent dodging the mother-in-law may have to worry no longer - a leading hotel chain has spotted a gap in the market and is offering a special mother-in -law rate for the Crimbo period - meaning that warring families now have the chance to offload certain relatives - but is it fair?..

This has got to be one of the most creative marketing ideas out there - it certainly gave me a pre-Christmas chuckle.

Hotel chain Holiday Inn are offering mother-in-laws a special 25 per cent discount between December 23^rd-29^th when they book a stay at any Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express across the UK.

So long to those frosty silences across the dinner table, farewell to panic-buying bath salts and auf wiedersehen to that unwanted advice about defrosting the turkey - now you can offload your mother-in-law for the festive season.

Joking aside, (and from the very smug position of really liking my (unofficial) mother-in-law), this idea could end up hurting more than a few feelings over Christmas.

So is this a turkey of an idea? Age Concern certainly thinks so - the organisation has understandably condemned the idea, calling it insensitive and old-fashioned. And, no matter how much we joke about our family members, would we really want to offload them over the most family-orientated time of year?

But, the hotel chain has said that it hoped the idea would ‘help to reduce stress levels in the busy days just before and after Christmas Day.'

"The mother-in-law rate is a tongue-in-cheek initiative providing families with an alternative solution to help them avoid the stress of an overcrowded home this Christmas and save the in-laws from sleeping on the sofa," a spokesman for the hotel chain said.

If you are pushed for space or have millions of relations of friends descending for the big day, then this quirky package could be a lifesaver.

Family expert Kirsten Gronning said, "Christmas can be an extremely stressful period, especially for the family planning and catering for it, with incidents of arguments increasing five fold during the festive period."

Happy Christmas to one and all!

Picture by claymor