Having Booked Conventions, I Will Let You in on a Secret

Different convention groups behave differently, and in terms of pure mayhem and vandalism, the police are widely known to be the worst offenders.

They trash rooms and public spaces, and there is a plethora of alcohol induced misbehavior, including drunk officers yeeting 100+ pound planters into the atrium of a New Orleans hotel from 3+ floors up. (Not a personal experience, a recollection from a discussion circa 1993 in the context of hotel bookings for a science fiction convention).

Of course, hotels cannot afford refuse their business, because they would certainly experience retaliation from the local constabulary, but when the police show up, everyone in the business knows that they are in for an unpleasant event. 

That being the case, it appears that Minnesota Hilton hotels, the meth head steroid abusing thugs that are ice ICE was a bridge too far.

Whatever potential retaliation that might occur, particularly in Minneapolis, where the police are especially awful, these goons are simply too bad for business. 

The Department of Homeland Security on Monday said a Hilton hotel canceled reservations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota, where the Trump administration has deployed officers after allegations of fraud against Somali immigrants.

After ICE officers booked rooms using official government emails and rates, Hilton canceled their reservations, the department said in a post on X.

The department also posted screenshots of emails, in which the hotel’s operators said they had “noticed an influx of GOV reservations made today that have been for DHS”, and that they were not allowing any ICE agents to stay at the property.

In a statement, a Hilton spokesperson said the brand’s hotels “serve as welcoming places for all” and that the hotel that canceled the reservations was independently owned and operated. The cancellations “are not reflective of Hilton values”, the spokesperson said.

Hilton HQ is full of morons.  You are going to get tarred for this by MAGAt snowflakes anyway, so either stay silent or lean in.

Your statement only managed to piss off non-fascist potential customers.

And then they backtracked.

………

Everpeak Hospitality, the owner of the hotel, said it had “moved swiftly to address this matter” and that it was “inconsistent” with hotel policy.

“We are in touch with the impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated. We do not discriminate against any individuals or agencies and apologize to those impacted,” Everpeak said in a statement.

This is literally the worst course of action that they would take.  No one will be happy, and I expect petty vandalism from the ICE yobs than would have happened before this all blew up.