Positive Action in Housing was among those who raised concerns after Mears moved asylum seekers from self-contained accommodation to hotels.
A press conference held by the charity heard that some of the asylum seekers staying there were “desperate and vulnerable”. The asylum seekers said many of them had no windows and no fresh air in their rooms.
They also said they had been in a dire mental health situation.
Andrew, a 33-year-old asylum seeker from Biafra in Africa, had been living at the Park Inn for two months. He told BBC Scotland: “People wanted to know why they were being kept this long in the hotel.”
He said it was hard living without privacy and having to eat food they would not normally eat.
“I’m an African and I do normally like eating African food but I can’t have that here. I just have to eat what I’m given.
He said he had heard that the attacker had made a series of complaints, that he wasn’t happy with conditions in the hotel and the way he had been treated there.
Andrew handed a card over to police to be passed on to PC Whyte “as a sign of appreciation for his bravery”.
At her daily briefing, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Scottish government was in contact with the Home Office about the attack.
“We’re considering what further lessons need to be learned from what happened on Friday,” she added.