Sure, hosting a famous guest can translate into great PR for a hotel,
but “it can also be a mixed bag,” admits Mark Plonkey, the general
manager of Denver’s Hotel Teatro. “The one thing I’ve learned throughout
the years is that public persona is not always the reality behind
closed doors.”
According to most hotel managers that Travel + Leisure spoke with, most conflicts with celebrities are pretty mundane, and often result from overzealous “handlers:” demands for discounts or precise requests like a bowl of single-colored M&Ms. But other hotels know that debauchery can be good for business. “We embrace the spirit of rock ’n’ roll,” says Brandon Powers, creative director of the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. “They can trash their room or even take a donkey up there, so long as we don’t have to clean up after it in the casino. It takes a lot for us to ask someone to leave.”
Joe Stevens / Retna Ltd. / CorbisJohn Travolta
The Incident: Did the Saturday Night Fever star
really lose his spa privileges? According to an insider at New York
City’s Peninsula Hotel, Travolta was banned for repeated “inappropriate
behavior” at the spa in the early 2000s. Reportedly, after enough male
employees complained about Travolta’s “creepy” antics during massages,
the actor was banished to the “no-thigh zone.”
Still Unwelcome?
The ban was lifted after about three years, claimed the Peninsula
source, though Travolta’s representative declared the whole thing
hogwash. Either way, the actor was reportedly seen back at the
Peninsula’s fitness center in Spring 2012.
Harry Pluviose / Retna Ltd. /CorbisCharlie Sheen
The Incident: It’s become a modern hotel-trashing classic: when staying at New York City’s Plaza
in 2010, the actor supposedly had an adverse reaction to “medication”
and went into an underwear-clad rage in his room—all while a recently
acquainted porn actress hid in the bathroom out of fear. Sheen’s
smashing of mirrors, TV, and furniture supposedly racked up $20,000 in
damages before the authorities intervened.
Still Unwelcome?
The Plaza has reportedly banned Sheen for life—and other Manhattan
hotels have taken a similar stance: the Waldorf-Astoria and the Trump
SoHo have supposedly refused to book Sheen. Sheen’s representative,
meanwhile, told one reporter that the actor also has the travel obstacle
of finding a hotel that will let him smoke.
Ted Soqui / CorbisAmanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan
The Incident: Hollywood’s Standard Hotel
found itself entangled with two former child stars in the spring of
2012. First, former Nickelodeon actress Amanda Bynes was reportedly
banned from entering the hotel’s nightclub Smoke & Mirrors when she
arrived just hours after she’d been arrested, and then released, on
suspicion of a DUI.
Lindsay Lohan, meanwhile, opted to beat the
hotel to the punch. Within days of the Bynes incident, Lohan reportedly
got into a fight with another patron at Smoke & Mirrors, after which
Lohan reportedly banned herself from the hotel, declaring it “a curse”
for her.
Still Unwelcome? The Standard would not
comment, saying only that its policy is “to create a comfortable and
inviting experience for their guests,” adding that any incidents are
handled on a case-by-case basis.
Mark Halmas / Icon SMI / CorbisLil Wayne
The Incident: In 2010 the Wynn in Las Vegas issued a
preemptive ban against the rapper, who arrived at the hotel for
festivities after a performance at the Hard Rock Hotel. At the time, Lil
Wayne was fresh off an eight-month sentence for attempted criminal
possession of a weapon, and had also been legally prohibited from having
alcohol for the next three years. The Wynn, according to reports, was
concerned that Wayne (and the hotel) would be asking for trouble if he
came inside.
Still Unwelcome? Lil Wayne took his business to The Palms instead, without incident. The Wynn had no comment.
Sindeyev Vladimir / ITAR-TASS Photo / Corbis Paris Hilton
The Incident:
In 2010, just trying to check in at the Wynn got the hotel heiress both
banned and facing criminal charges. As they were pulling up at the
hotel, Hilton and her then boyfriend underwent a traffic stop that
quickly escalated—culminating when Hilton reached for lip balm in her
purse, and a bag of cocaine fell out instead. The Wynn and Encore resorts banned Hilton from staying and fired her boyfriend, who was, at that time, manager at two of the resort’s nightclubs.
Still Unwelcome?
Hilton pleaded guilty to drug possession and obstructing an officer,
and served a year of probation, as well as paying a $2,000 fine and
serving 200 hours of community service. By the end of 2011, the Wynn
reportedly reinstated Hilton as a BFF, and she’s been spotted partying
at The Encore Hotel’s Surrender nightclub (“Wynning,” as TMZ.com put
it).
Jason Moore / ZumaPress.com Vince Neil
The Incident: The Mötley Crüe rocker apparently
didn’t care for the service he received at Las Vegas’s Palms in Spring
2012. Rather than fill out a customer reply card, however, he reportedly
took to Twitter to vent: “OMG RUDEST STAFF EVER!! Don’t go!!” The Palms
released a statement saying that Neil was asked to leave the hotel for
undisclosed “behavior” and was not welcome to return: “We would prefer
that Mr. Neil put his efforts toward apologizing for his conduct.”
Still Unwelcome?
According to reports, Neil replied by calling the hotel staff “liars.”
This hasn’t been his first clash with a Vegas hotel, either. In 2011 he
pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a $1,000 fine, for an
expletive-laced outburst at the then–Las Vegas Hilton.
Frank Trapper / CorbisBritney Spears
The Incident: Even though the legendary Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles
has a history of harboring wild celebrities, from Errol Flynn to Dennis
Hopper and Lindsay Lohan, the Hollywood hangout reportedly banned
Britney in 2007. The reason? Bad table manners: she was supposedly
smearing her dinner on her face, inspiring several complaints from other
guests.
Still Unwelcome? Other hotels reportedly
followed suit during the pop star’s very public troubles that year: the
Beverly Hills Hotel and the Beverly Hills Four Seasons both reportedly
closed their doors to Spears’s antics. The Four Seasons ban was
apparently not universal, as Spears has since been spotted at branches
in Budapest and Buenos Aires.
ZUMA Wire Service / AlamyJenn Hoffman
The Incident:
Be careful what you tweet. Jenn Hoffman—blogger, reporter, and 2007
contestant on "The Apprentice"—reportedly got a one-year ban from
Chateau Marmont for posting on Twitter about other, more famous
celebrities’ bad behavior. One night in 2011, Hoffman tweeted about
Rachel Hunter, alleging that the actress and model was doing the splits
and trying on other guests’ glasses.
Still Unwelcome? A
representative from the Marmont would not comment on any bans, but said
it is the hotel’s policy to “uphold the privacy of their guests.”
Hoffman, however, wrote on her blog, “Apparently when it comes to status
updates, the customer isn’t always right.”
Gene Blevins / LA DailyNews / CorbisO. J. Simpson
The Incident:
In 2007, the tarnished NFL Hall of Famer was charged with 10 felony
charges—including kidnapping and armed robbery—after a memorabilia sale
gone bad at the Palace Station Hotel
in Vegas. During the ensuing trial in Nevada, Strip mainstays such as
MGM Grand, the Mirage, Harrah’s, and the Palms made it clear that they
would rather the Juice not stay at their properties.
Still Unwelcome? It’s a moot point now, since Simpson was convicted and is serving a 33-year sentence in a Nevada state prison.
