Wednesday's Gatecrasher had an item that a recent New York female guest, Katy Valentine, at the new Thompson Hotel in La-La Land got ripped, er ripped off. Evidently bottles and bottles of her attention deficit/hyperactivity/narcolepsy/depression pills had gone missing from the room.
Note: the gossip item said the new Thompson hotel which would make it the Thompson Beverly Hills. But they posted pictures of the Hollywood Roosevelt. So we aren't sure at which place the incident occurred.
Here's what went down:
After Valentine complained to the front desk, who reportedly stated the most likely scenario was that the housekeeper "accidentally" knocked the bottles into the trash and later emptied said can, management said they'd look into it and get back to her.
Hotels are often thought of as places to escape from your everyday life. Places to have memorable experiences whether in the room or outside. Whether you're on a beach or in a busy city, hotels are supposed to be your safe haven.
But of course, this is real life and not an American Express commercial. Shit happens.
And it seems to happen more and more in these parts for Britney Spears. Word is that the Beverly Hills Hotel has blacklisted her. This is obviously good news for us but not the bit where Page Six mentions Britney typically ignores these type of bans. Is any place in LA safe anymore?
In other news: · Models get jacked: Two men made off with $20,000 after robbing a modeling audition at the Hilton Chicago. [Chicago Sun-Times] · Suicide in Brooklyn: An accountant for the AP is found dead in the bathtub at the Best Western. [NewsDay] · Crappy Economy Woes: The Four Seasons in Tamarack, Idaho hits a construction snag. [Hotel-Online] · Too Expensive: Moscow hotels now really expensive. [Moscow Times] · No Workout For You: We are hearing the Gansevoort South's David Barton Gym won't be open until May 15th. Uh-oh, this does not bode well.
My boyfriend and I had an overall pleasant experience at the hotel besides the event of his new 80G iPod being stolen from the room when we went out for dinner. The hotel staff did nothing other than suggest that we file a police report (what will a police report do for a stolen iPod?).
As we left last weekend, OJ Simpson had been questioned in a break-in case at Palace Station Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. Well, that has now changed. OJ is in jail without bail and TMZ is practically pissing its pants with excitement anytime something new develops in the case.
LVPD have arrested the Juice on felony armed robbery charges. So it turns that what happens to OJ in Vegas will stay in Vegas, for now.
Meanwhile, Carol Channing's diamond dress that went missing from the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel has turned up, thanks to a homeless "fan" who "found" the dress in a plaid shopping bag in a Hollywood park.
Yet, we save the latest bombshell for last. The Sun is reporting that Britney Spears has been blacklisted from the Chateau Marmont for her atrocious dinnertime behavior.
And it seems "acting weird" doesn't begin to describe her latest act of lunacy, which saw Britney stunning fellow diners in the posh hotel restaurant by smearing a plate of top-notch food over her FACE.
Horrified guests were understandably outraged and demanded the management kick her out for good.
A source said: "The diners were disgusted. You wouldn't expect that from a teenager in a fast-food joint.
"Royalty have dined in this restaurant. Her behaviour was totally unacceptable."
We here at HotelChatter are no stranger to hotel blacklists but we fully applaud the Chateau Marmont for this step, if it's indeed true. We just hope the Mondrian starts issuing some blacklists as well.
The Broadway star had checked into the hotel with her husband yesterday afternoon and while doing so, a thief snatched one of the bags containing the famous "diamond dress" that Channing wore over 700 times in the stage production of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."
The valuable garment, which originally had long sleeves, was scheduled to be photographed and then sent to the Smithsonian to be exhibited. Luckily, her 1964 Tony award for "Hello Dolly," which she is also donating to the museum, was in another bag.
Channing is in Hollywood for a concert she's doing at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend. Meanwhile, police are investigation hotel surveillance tapes.
Next time Carol darling, may we suggest something a little better than the Renaissance? Anyone of these will do:
[UPDATE: It looks like OJ Simpson is saying "I did it" but only that he took back some of his sports memorabilia and that he did not break into a hotel room.]
What happens in Vegas apparently won't stay in Vegas for troubled O.J. Simpson.
According to Las Vegas police, the former football star is being investigated in a robbery case that took place late Thursday night at the Palace Station Casino.
Details on what happened are sparse but TMZ reports the Juice allegedly broke into a room. For now Simpson is not in police custody and is only being questioned along with several others.
We're not so sure what kind of loot the robbers were looking for since the last time we wrote about the Palace rooms were going for $19 a night.
Sorry, we are a little nostalgic for the Clue board game. Anyways, two maids on the housekeeping staff at the Fairmont Copley Plaza were charged yesterday with stealing $100,000 worth of jewelry from hotel guests.
Meanwhile, we left our fake diamond earrings at the Mandarin Oriental Spa in New York and they thankfully held onto the them for three days until we returned to the city to pick them up.
Have your own hotel theft horror or hotel lost and found story to tell? Let us know.
Christmas Eve, 2006, my family of 10 came together at Barcelo Bavaro Beach Hotel, Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic.
We had reserved 4 rooms for two weeks. Half of the safety deposit boxes worked and half did not. Unfortunately, my one daughter-in-law left her money [about $600US] in her not-working SDB and we went for dinner.
They had called the front desk and asked for the SDB to be serviced. When we came back, people had been there and the SDB was now working. But her $600US were gone! The front desk never responded appropriately to our call. They seemed to accuse her of having lost the money and they accepted no responsibility.
Security assured us that no one had been in the room except their staff; and they assured us that these were honest people! However, they never did invite an open time to discuss the matter.
As the Grandpa of the family who paid about $50,000 for this escapade to the DR, it has been extremely frustrating that the Hotel assumed absolutely no responsibility.
I wrote a personal letter suggesting some kind of negotiation for some kind of very moderate reimbursement to us as a family; but never was given even the courtesy of an acknowledgment that the letter was received.
I will never again go the the Barcelo Beach resorts and will never recommend them either. In fact I would say: "Don't trust their security."
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