Hotel deal for swingers crashes Wowcher website

A total of 500,000 people took a look at a hotel deal offering a half-price break for swingers on the discount website Wowcher, making it the site's biggest-ever offer.

The website crashed after becoming overwhelmed when 10,000 people logged in to look at the two-night deal at the Vanilla Alternative at the Anchor Lodge hotel near Tempsford in Bedforshire. The offer was for a two-night stay for £99 instead of the usual £180, according to the Metro.

The retreat offers a ‘huge hot tub' and ‘open and private play areas', with ‘no-pressure environment' for guests worried about stripping and promised "two nights you will never forget", the paper said.

Many of those who signed up to Wowcher were taken aback by the offer. One tweeted: "@wowcher just sent me an email offering a discount ‘swingers break for two'. I hope that's not targeted email marketing…"

Roland Bryan, chief executive of Wowcher, which is owned by the same media company, dmg, that owns the Metro, said he had been astonished by the "ballistic" reaction to the offer. "We thought it might get a bit of a buzz going but it's gone absolutely nuts," he said.