“I will never go back to Athens again or stay in a Hilton.”
Concert-goers searched, barred from hotel over smoking complaints
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May 5, 2007
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ATHENS, Ga. –? Some fans of Athens band Widespread Panic are fuming after complaints over cigarette smoke got them locked out of their hotel rooms during a recent series of concerts by the band.
Sean Whittaker, an attorney from Washington D.C., was one of at least a dozen people whose rooms were searched at the Hilton Garden Inn, where he was staying April 23-26 for the concerts.
“Nobody ever smoked,” Whittaker said. “I will never go back to Athens again or stay in a Hilton.”
Athens-Clarke County bans smoking in public places, and Hilton Garden Inn guests must sign a letter informing them that the hotel is 100 percent nonsmoking, said hotel manager Barry Gilliland.
Gilliland added that the letter spells out the hotel policy and consequences for smoking or making too much noise.
“We give one warning; after that we kick them out,” he said.
On April 24, guest complaints about the smell of smoke prompted Gilliland to start room searches while guests were away – even if they’d placed “Do Not Disturb” signs on their doors.
Hotel staff took photos to document evidence of smoking and other violations of hotel policy or laws, Gilliland said.
When hotel staff discovered smoking or illegal drugs, they deactivated guests’ electronic room keys and required them to sign a document admitting they violated the hotel policy and agreeing to pay a $150 fine before they could get into their rooms.
The hotel fined six to eight people for smoking and checked more than a dozen rooms for smoking, he said.
A hotel cleaning crew also found three tanks of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, in one room, and other hotel staff discovered cocaine and marijuana. Those cases were reported to Athens-Clarke police.
