Rambuster

Is it actually legal in the US to discriminate in this way by having a "no locals" policy ?
Sounds very strange to me and legally questionable ?

mecabq

I don't think that there's any reason why it would be illegal (at least under Federal law -- who knows about various jurisdictions).

The Hyatt Place Albuquerque Airport told me the same thing when I checked in with my New Mexico driver's license and Hyatt Gold Passport mailing address nearby. The agent let me check in, but said that they normally don't allow that, with the reason being that local youths hold wild parties and damage the rooms.

I shrugged my shoulders and said that that was pretty silly -- a poorly-conceived rule that seems to me like a blunt way to address a problem -- but I should have written a letter to the owner, perhaps explaining the countless legitimate reasons why someone with an Albuquerque mailing address might actually want to rent a room at an Albuquerque airport hotel.

Equally stupidly, of course it made no mention of this "policy" on the reservation, description of the hotel on the web site, or anywhere else. So, if they ever really enforce this (maybe they don't, but rather use it as a pretext to refuse to check in people who they perceive as dodgy), I can imagine an incredible inconvenience if someone shows up at a late hour after a long flight only to be denied check-in. Incredibly unprofessional, especially to a Diamond member.

LongingForORD

That sounds crazy.

I just had a great "local" stay 4 miles from my house. My 7 year old niece was visiting for the holidays and loves to swim. My mom had never seen her swim. So I turned in point for the brand new Hilton Garden Inn and headed down the road. They could not have been nicer.

When she asked for chocolate ice cream, they only had vanilla, but the waitress added chocolate sauce on it to try to "make her chocolate ice cream". Gave 3 coupons at check in for free breakfast (and boy can my niece eat her way thru a free buffet!), put a free roll away in the room. And of course, we were the only people using the pool.

They knew I was local and encouraged me to "be at home". Makes good business sense, I can recommend additional business for them.

NewsBruin

It does seem odd, in a business that is moving away from cash payments. It's not ideal, but it would be understandable if the hotel wanted to put larger "holds" on credit cards from local guests.

trekkie

A lot of businesses esp in Australia and Asia tend to like to "pick and choose" their customers similar to is being described here but the consumer environment in the us does not encourage such a practise as word does get around fast and this is why we should always make as clear and as loud as possible the complaints.

ORDnHKG

I stayed at one HI that is close to me, (well not exactly that close but still in IL to do some cheap hotel runs) when I check in she said "thank you for supporting the local businesses", and I got an extra bottle of water and snack.

sdcarver

In San Diego one of the Doubletrees have special staycation price which includes bar and room service discounts only good for San Diego residents

sdcarver

noirpepper

now I don't want to Hijack this thread but some hotels in great locations (for instance, Hawaii) have special local only rates which sometimes makes me want to be local :-). Back to topic, I am yet to find this "No Locals" policy in the US in all the 20 states I have been to. I've done some Mattress runs close to home and never had problems.

Happy 2009 all!

SixAlpha

You'll find the same thing in Alaska. Many hotels there offer "Alaska Resident" rates.

Don Schmincke

Just had it happen tonight. Am doing a weekend out at a remote small town. Saw their sign, and found out the reason. They were losing a lot of money from locals committing property damage and reputation damage due to parties, theft, guest abuse (rent one room and have 20 people let in through back door to use the pool and free breakfast), furniture damage/theft, prostitution, drug dealing, using stolen credit cards, police always in the lobby, etc. They lost a lot of money due to repairs, and lost a lot of sales, when they rented to locals. Regular guests and legitimate visitors would no longer stay at the hotel. So it was far more profitable to restrict locals and rebuild their customer base.

diesteldorf

Another national hotel chain had a promo to stay 2 nights get 1 night free.. I booked a room on 2 different weekends to complete the promotion. A couple years later, the chain ran a similar promotion. I was considering another mattress run and called a property and was hit with the "no locals policy," because of parties and drugs.

Ultimately, I could've picked a different property, but the promotion wasn't as lucrative, and I opted not to participate.

Points Scrounger

Not a "no locals" policy exactly, but the Homewood near Seattle Airport (Southcenter) required locals (within 100 miles) to keep their photo ID "on file" there because of parties. I made the decision that if they were going to include previous elite with no history of any problem as potential troublemakers, I was done with them.

DELee

So did you test them on this policy?

David

Steve M

I have run into this myself. For business reasons, I would from time to time stay at the hotel (national chain) that's literally across the street from me. I even saved on parking because I could just park in my normal spot at home. One time checking in, they shoved a piece of paper in front of me to sign, that had a list of conditions that I had to agree with. In somewhat indirect ways, I had to agree to "no drugs, no parties, no prostitutes." It was on the edge of being insulting. The front desk agent said "Oh, we now require this of all guests" with a look on his face that said he was lying. I checked with a colleague who also checked in that day, and he had to sign no such paper. It only happened once, but apparently my reservation had been flagged that day.

It does not surprise me that, generally speaking, they have more problems with locals due to any number of the issues brought up in this thread. I'm not sure what the best way to handle it is. I've seen something similar with car rental agencies, where they require proof of insurance for locals but not people flying in from out of town.

The Road Goes On Forever

I've only worked at one hotel that did this. Many years ago I worked at a RI where the GM insisted that everyone who checked in on a Friday or Saturday sign a no party/no locals policy. Not that we've come a long way in 20 years, but of course the website of the time had nothing about this (since it's kind of a bootleg LSOP, I highly doubt that Marriott or even Hilton would allow it to go on there) and we would have issues with guests every weekend not wanting to sign it. To the GM's credit, she stuck by her guns and didn't care who complained or what was said, the hotel had that policy in place for the four years she was there and if you dug in your heels at the desk with a guest to enforce the policy, she backed you up. The policy basically said that if you live within 20 miles of the property you are not welcome to stay and that if you're staying this is your warning regarding smoking, drugs, prostitutes and noise. If the staff finds any of the above applicable to your room it was an automatic police call and right to eviction. As soon as she left the next GM thought the policy was insane (her words at the time) and scrapped it within the first week she was there. Anecdotally the GM with the party policy idea is still working for Marriott and has been a regional VP/Director for 15+ years.

In my travels over the years I've seen this a few times in the past when staying at Marriott properties. The old Ritz Carlton in Boston (they made all associate rate stays sign one), the RI in Hillsborough Oregon (it was over a NYE weekend) and at the Ritz Carlton in Sarasota.

FWIW, I have never seen it with a Hilton property in 13 years of travel within mostly the HIS, HGI, ES and HWS brands.