Salmond’s luxury suite
ALEX Salmond spent £3,000 of taxpayers’ money on four nights in a ‘grand deluxe’ suite at a top Chicago hotel on a Ryder Cup trip.
The five- star Peninsula Hotel confirmed the First Minister booked one of its most impressive suites, with a marble bathroom and spectacular views of the city.
Mr Salmond and his wife Moira stayed in the hotel as part of a seven-day trip during which he made a series of speeches promoting his dream of breaking up Britain.
He has consistently refused to reveal how much he spent at the public’s expense, dismissing criticism of the trip as ‘ridiculous frippery’. But last night he faced new calls to ‘come clean’ about his spending as opponents called for an Audit Scotland investigation into his use of public funds.
The Peninsula has seven grand deluxe suites, all of which are almost identical in design. Each has more than 1,000sq ft of
‘Time for Salmond to come clean’
floor space, a guest powder room, spacious living room, a separate dressing area and a surround-sound stereo system.
There are three televisions in each suite, mood lighting and PlayStation games consoles.
Mr Salmond would have been treated to panoramic views of Michigan Avenue, one of Chicago’s main thoroughfares, Lake Michigan and the city’s popular Water Tower Park.
When the Team Scotland delegation visited the Ryder Cup in 2012, the majority stayed in a more modest hotel near the Medinah course, which charges about £60 for a room.
But, Mr Salmond chose a suite at the Peninsula, which is popular with such celebrities as Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Brad Pitt, even though it was much further away.
He has consistently refused to answer questions about spending on the trip and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was ‘flabbergasted’ to be asked about it during a debate last week.
But last night, Labour MSP Paul Martin said: ‘It is time for Alex Salmond to come clean about his Chicago trip. For a year and a half he has refused to say how much taxpayers’ money he spent on himself.
‘Now we know he spent thousands on himself to stay in luxury at a five-star hotel. But there are still thousands of pounds not properly accounted for.
‘Everyone in Scotland will be asking themselves, what does Alex Salmond have to hide?
‘If he won’t come clean, we need an Audit Scotland investigation into what he spent our money on.’ Mr Salmond’s delegation’s total bill at the hotel was almost £10,000.
The suite he stayed in currently costs guests at least £1,164 per
‘What does he have to hide?’
night but his civil servants managed to get a deal with the hotel because the Scottish Government block-booked some rooms. The Peninsula Hotel confirmed the First Minister was charged $1,194 per night – £740 using the exchange rate at the time.
That means his bill for the rooms alone would have come to nearly $5,000, or £2,956, for the four-night stay.
VisitScotland, the tourism agency responsible for the trip, provided a breakdown of its £414,731 costs, including £82,303 for rooms at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center.
But the Scottish Government refused to provide details of Mr Salmond’s spending at the Peninsula and said disclosing the information would jeopardise his safety.
The Scottish Government has previously said the First Minister’s delegation spent £9,768.16 at one hotel, £2,448 at another, £1,117.55 at a third and £298 at a fourth, but refused to say which one Mr Salmond stayed at. These new figures suggest his bill was the highest.