That's an unusual rule

[infinitemonkies]

The other thing to consider is why someone is paying for a hotel room when they already live locally; and for the overwhelming majority, it breaks down almost equally into 2 categories:

1. They're having an affair/cheating on SO.

2. They're PLANNING to be loud, drunk, obnoxious & stupid. So they get a hotel room to not piss off the neighbors/parents/roommates. Instead, they piss off anonymous strangers they'll never have to meet again, and as a bonus don't have to clean up the gigantic mess they leave behind.

And it's that category which is responsible for most hotels being wary of locals. Specifically locals without credit cards. If you have a valid cc, you can do anything you want, but we can & will charge you for it.

[Merriweather]

Quoth infinitemonkies

The other thing to consider is why someone is paying for a hotel room when they already live locally; and for the overwhelming majority, it breaks down almost equally into 2 categories:

1. They're having an affair/cheating on SO.

2. They're PLANNING to be loud, drunk, obnoxious & stupid. So they get a hotel room to not piss off the neighbors/parents/roommates. Instead, they piss off anonymous strangers they'll never have to meet again, and as a bonus don't have to clean up the gigantic mess they leave behind.

.

I disagree, I think several people have brought up loads of reasons why people rent a room locally. Just in my own experience, I've stayed in hotels when I was having work done to my house; when power went out; when A/C went out, when the only toilet took two days to be fixed; when I was moving (goods packed and gone, no furniture to sleep on til leaving for new destination next day); to celebrate Valentine's Day or an anniversary when we couldn't afford to go on a real trip - a baby sitter at home, a local hotel with a jacuzzi, and you have a romantic getaway on a budget; for a special "vacation" with kids when we couldn't afford to go out of town (the pool alone was enough to keep them thrilled for the weekend); and I've booked rooms in my name for out of town guests when we didn't have space, to save them the trouble. I've also had friends who booked rooms for even more reasons - when one spouse had gone back to school, she'd take a room a day or two before final exam and leave the kids with her DH, it was the only way she could really get enough uninterupted study time. Another would book a room locally that was near a day spa and have a mini "me" time out away from cooking, kids, cleaning, etc. just to keep her sanity. Also, I know lots of people who will book a room at a hotel where a wedding, office party, etc. that they're attending is, so they can have a few drinks without having to worry about driving home (in a large city, if you live in the 'burbs, it can be not a huge amount more than the cab fare both ways) - these aren't people who get drunk and trash a room, just responsible adults who don't want to drive after 2 or 3 drinks. Conventions are another reason - from "theme" conventions like Star Trek to collectibles to work related stuff, if the convention is where you live locally, often getting a room is a way to get in on more activities and interact with more people who are there from out of town.
And I'm sure there are plenty of other legitimate reasons locals use all the time to say at hotels, it's a shame when a hotel decides to punish an entire local for what a few do - personally I'd boycott all hotels in the chain, and let them know why.

Luckily we don't have that proplem in this area, in fact, many hotels advertise weekend "getaways" for various holidays that are obviously aimed at locals.

[Midorikawa]

Quoth Merriweather

And I'm sure there are plenty of other legitimate reasons locals use all the time to say at hotels, it's a shame when a hotel decides to punish an entire local for what a few do - personally I'd boycott all hotels in the chain, and let them know why.

Agreed. Recently, (posted Here, we lost hot water for about 5 days. Wife and I were fed up with not having hot water in the middle of winter, so we drove 2 miles north of where we live for a hotel for a mini vacation. Was great having a nice hot shower, plus the hot tub, king sized bed (wife and I are jammed into a full sized bed atm), and just generally acted like we were on vacation far from home.

La Quinta is where we went. They've been great no matter which one we've stayed at, and have never given us grief about being locals (wedding night, we stayed in one where my wife lived rather than with her parents for obvious reasons.) Honestly, it's rather unreasonable to be turned away when you're an honest person trying to get a quiet place to sleep when home is not home.

[infinitemonkies]

Quoth Merriweather

I disagree, I think several people have brought up loads of reasons why people rent a room locally.

Those are all perfectly valid reasons.

However, local guests who stay for those reasons are outnumbered about 20:1 by local guests who are looking for a place to party or cheat on their SO.

And a key thing here is that I'm talking about locals who do NOT have a valid credit card. I've never heard of a hotel refusing service to a local who DOES have a cc.


Edit: Just to clarify: Professionally, I don't care if a guest is having an affair. It's absolutely none of my business who sleeps with whom, or why. Infidelity pays the bills for a hotel. I only bring it up because because nearly half the locals who get a room do so to be unfaithful, and they don't want charges from a hotel appearing on their credit card statement.

[Merriweather]

Quoth infinitemonkies

And a key thing here is that I'm talking about locals who do NOT have a valid credit card. I've never heard of a hotel refusing service to a local who DOES have a cc.

Ah, in that case, makes much more sense. Considering the amount of damage it is possible for anyone to do to a hotel room, you really can't blame a hotel for not renting to anyone, local or not, without a valid credit card on which to post any charges for damages found.

[infinitemonkies]

Most hotels don't allow anyone to stay without a cc, and I wish mine was one of them. We charge a $50 deposit for non-cc-paying guests, which is dumb because I've never seen someone cause damage that was less than fifty bucks.
Here's a few examples:

A couple weeks ago, I had 2 drunken fuckwits in the hotel who were wrestling in the hallway at 3am. First moron sends the 2nd through someone else's door. Absolutely destroyed the door and frame, cost to replace: approximately $700.00

This guy caused about $1200 damage in under 10 minutes to the window and walls.

And last summer we had a guy who couldn't figure out how the power button on a remote control worked so he threw a bottle of southern comfort through the tv screen. The $2000 52" plasma flat screen that had been purchase and installed less than 3 weeks earlier.