HotelChatter

Interestingly enough, the hotel actually arranged for the massage therapist to visit Gore's room, although this is not an uncommon practice for hotels that don't have their own spas on-site. The therapist was reportedly paid $540 with a 20 percent gratuity.

There's been some issue now over how the Enquirer obtained the story (they insist they did not pay the woman to tell her story) and why the therapist has decided to come forward now. She reported the incident several weeks after it happened and it was cleared. But for reasons not yet known, Portland police decided to re-investigate the matter late last year.

While no one will know for sure what went on in this hotel room--the woman, after all, wanted the Enquirer to pay her $1 million--the idea that Al Gore got a massage in 2006 at the Hotel Lucia is actually true. The Washington Post reports:

According to a source friendly with the Gores, Al Gore confirmed he received a therapeutic massage in his hotel room that night, and likely from the therapist making the accusation. But, the source said, Gore remembers getting a massage without incident and the therapist leaving on good terms.

There's no doubt this story will bang around for a lot longer than Al Gore (and Hotel Lucia) would like but until this blows over, Al Gore should probably not request hotel massages anymore. Similarly, massage therapists should be wary of any guest named "Mr. Stone" who requests an abdominal massage.

[Photo of Hotel Lucia sign: jmchuff/flickr]