A brief history of celebrities and their infamous hotel bills
Madonna was so unimpressed by the service at the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel — specifically, the lack of security — that she refused to pay the $90,000 rate for her suite. It’s just the latest chapter in the serialized drama, Celebrities and their Infamous Hotel Bills.
Lindsay Lohan racked up a massive bill while staying at Hollywood’s exclusive Chateau Marmont Hotel. She reportedly didn’t spend much time in the luxurious bungalow, but when she did, she was not on her best behavior.
And then there’s Amy Winehouse. If your eyes didn’t roll at the mention of her name, consider the outrageous bill the Riverbank Plaza Hotel must have presented her with after a recent stay in which the singer trashed her room. “It was carnage,” one insider said.
Not to get carried away with this, but my friends over at Budget Travel published an excellent writeup of the top 10 celebrity-trashed hotels. It claims the first instance of modern hotel room trashing can probably be traced to F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, who reportedly fled their eucalyptus-scented bungalow at the now-demolished Ambassador Hotel of L.A.’s Wilshire Boulevard after it caught fire.
But back to the Material Girl. Madonna was angered when footage of her hotel room appeared on French television after a TV crew apparently sneaked past security during her stay and filmed her suite, showing the specially provided purified water and gym equipment she had requested.
Is there a lesson for us mere mortals? Perhaps.
Beyond pulling a Lindsay Lohan or Amy Winehouse, is there a time when you should refuse to pay your bill?
Yes, probably. But having your suite shown on TV isn’t one of them.
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3 Responses to “A brief history of celebrities and their infamous hotel bills”
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That’s an amusing list. It’s difficult for this commoner to relate to celebrity snobbery and feeling of entitlement.
I’m confused here (not being a celebrity and all…)
Every time I check into a hotel, a motel, an inn, a resort, a lodge et al, I end up showing a credit card. I traveled to the same hotel every single week for 18 months - they still wanted to see my credit card. If I ever refused to pay my bill, I expect that they would charge the credit card and I’d be disputing the charges for months thereafter. How is it that a celebrity “refuses to pay” and gets away with it? I’m with Sheila - another commoner who can’t relate (and doesn’t want to!)
Kathleen
Some celebrities and VIPs are offered direct billing as a courtesy so no credit card is required at check-in. Unfortunately, it can be a problem collecting when disputes arise like those mentioned in the article.
We recently had a TV star stay here and run up a sizeable bill. All seemed fine at checkout and their AMEX charge went through without problem. About a month later, AMEX notifies us the guest is disputing their entire bill and stating they were never even here. After collecting all of the guest’s signed receipts (unfortunately, there were some unsigned ones) and sending them to AMEX, the chargeback was partially reversed. It turns out the guest’s TV show was cancelled that month too!