Hotel in Paradise Valley is accused of racism

Manager denies claim, says event was too noisy

Some members of a predominantly black group of professionals say they were asked to leave their Paradise Valley hotel suite under police supervision Saturday night because of their race. A manager at the resort, though, says the group was hosting an unauthorized event and disrupting guests.

A group of predominantly black professionals attending a business mixer were forced to leave their resort hotel suite under police supervision Saturday night, sparking some to claim they were asked to leave because of their race.

A manager at the Doubletree Resort by Hilton in Paradise Valley said the group was hosting an unauthorized event and disrupting other guests, which led to their eviction.

The event organizer, OD Harris, says the corporate employee for the hotel company who booked the suite knew about the plans for the event.

The Hilton corporate office has since apologized to Harris and indicated it will refund him $372.

Organizer: Gathering wasn’t noisy

Harris told The Arizona Republic he can find no other reason than racism to explain why his event, a combination business mixer and fundraiser attended primarily by African-Americans, ended in eviction from the hotel at 5401 N. Scottsdale Road.

He said the hotel’s front-desk manager repeatedly contacted him, saying she was responding to noise complaints. But Harris said there was no excessive noise from the gathering in the hotel’s presidential suite. He said the first report of a complaint came when only he and one other person occupied the spacious suite.

Harris, an Army veteran and tax professional, is the president and CEO of Phoenix-based Ready, Set, Go! Foundation — the benefactor of Saturday night’s event. The foundation helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses, according to its website, which lists several prominent corporate partners.

Attendance at the event required a $25 donation to the foundation. Harris said about 30 people attended, including business leaders, family friends and a group of children ages 10-15.

Resort manager Jeff Garrett said the hotel initially called Harris because staff saw his group bringing a DJ booth into the suite, which is not allowed because of noise concerns.

Garrett said his staff also saw fliers posted at the resort advertising the event in the suite, which had a $25 cover charge. Guests are not allowed to host paid-entry events, he said.

Manager denies racism, points to event’s scale

Doug Heaton, area general manager for the Doubletree Resort, said the organizer never asked management if he could host such large-scale event in the room, and if he had, managers would not have given approval.

“There wasn’t very much cooperation, so the police were involved and the parties were evicted because they didn’t heed the warnings ahead of time,” Heaton said.

Harris said he detailed his plans when he booked the suite and the booking agent confirmed to him that similar events are held in the suite regularly. Harris said the agent worked for Hilton corporate, not at the hotel site.

Harris provided The Republic a copy of an email he received Wednesday from an unnamed “guest-assistance specialist” at Hilton corporate headquarters who apologized “for falling short of our commitment to extend a rewarding experience due to issues with management during your stay.” The email did not detail the management issues.

Harris said he was treated rudely by the hotel’s front-desk supervisor.

“She said, ‘I’m not going to let you people mess up my suite,’ “Harris said, and repeatedly referred to his gathering of business professionals as “them.”

Heaton said he trusts that his staff made the appropriate decisions and adamantly denied accusations of racism.

“I just think that’s unfortunate. What do you say to that? We deal with a variety of people every day in the hospitality department and we’re charged to take care of all of them. We don’t look at (race),” he said.

‘It was a business meeting’

Denise Meredith, who runs a consulting business, was a featured speaker at the event. Meredith confirmed Harris’ account of a low-key professional gathering.

“They didn’t even have alcohol at this meeting,” she said. “It was a business meeting.”

Like Harris, she said the claims that the event was noisy didn’t add up.

“I project,” she said of her speaking style, “but I didn’t think I talked that loud.”

In a video Harris posted on his Facebook page, Meredith can be heard addressing the group but does not appear to be using a microphone.

Meredith said Paradise Valley police were called to the hotel and entered the suite during her talk about running a business on a budget and were perplexed as to why they had been summoned.

“The police were very, very polite,” she said. “That was the nice thing about it.”

“The resort called us and we stood by while the resort evicted them.” Lt. Michael Cole Paradise Valley Police Department

The event ended by 9:30 p.m. with the attendees leaving quietly, she said.

“You can imagine the scene: Business people marching out of the room,” she said.

Late Wednesday, Meredith said she received an email from Garrett, the hotel’s manager, in response to her complaint.

He was polite and apologetic, she said, but said the hotel does not allow events with DJs or those that charge admission.

While the event did have a set-up for a DJ and speakers, Harris said, the equipment was never turned on.

He said police were sympathetic to his objections and urged him to seek body-camera footage of the Saturday encounter, as well as the police report of the incident.

No formal report from police

Paradise Valley police Lt. Michael Cole told The Republic the department was called because hotel officials reported the hotel’s rental agreement does not allow hosted parties.

“The resort called us and we stood by while the resort evicted them. Everyone left without incident,” Cole said.

Cole said the police did not write a formal report because they only stood by while the individuals were evicted. In a police incident entry, one of the responding officers noted he did not see anyone collecting money or hear any noise.

One of the property managers told police the event was not authorized and she wanted the individuals evicted, according to the incident entry.

Garrett said it’s standard protocol to involve police during every eviction.