Nashville to consider banning hourly room rentals at hotels

Joey Garrison | The Tennessean

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Hotels and motels in Nashville that let customers pay for rooms by the hour might soon be forced to halt their hourly rates.

The Metro Council is considering legislation that would prohibit rentals at hotels on an hourly basis, a push the bill sponsor says is meant to crack down on a form of temporary lodging that he says enables prostitution and drug use.

The ordinance would prevent any hotel, motel, or other similar establishment from offering any discount or rebate for early checkout of a room for a period of less than 10 hours.

"Their business model is such that it encourages prostitution, illicit drug use, and no good economic development happens around them," said Donelson-area Councilman Jeff Syracuse, who has introduced the bill.

"A perfect example is the one that I drive by everyday called the Airways Motel, that was actually a pretty swanky place in the 1950s, when it first opened up. It is now some place that you want to shield your eyes when you drive by."

The ordinance cleared a procedural first of three votes last week and will be considered on a key second reading on June 20.

Syracuse said he's counted 17 hotels and motels in Davidson County that offer hourly rates for less than 10 hours a day.

The Tennessean was unable to retrieve a comment from Airways Motel — the hotel on Lebanon Pike that Syracuse cited by name — despite multiple phone calls and a reporter's visit to the motel in an attempt to talk to a manager.

A sign outside the Airways Motel advertises three-hour stays for "$28.00 and up" and free adult movies.

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Council attorney Mike Jameson said multiple cities have prohibited hotel rentals on an hourly basis, with a pending ordinance in Jefferson Parrish, Louisiana being the most similar to Nashville's proposal.

Other cities, including Memphis, limit hotel stays at no less than 10 hours.

In addition, Memphis and other cities such as Cincinnati have separate regulations for "adult motels" — a special classification that is not under consideration with Nashville's proposal.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that a 10-hour minimum for hotel stays is constitutional, according to Jameson, if the city has identified a reasonable basis that hourly rates at hotels lead to an increase in crime and other unwanted "secondary effects."

Nashville allows short-term renting via Airbnb and other online hospitality companies, but stays must be at least 24 hours and no less than 30 days.

The homeless in Nashville often use cheap hotels and motels for short-term lodging.

Rachel Hester, executive director of Room In The Inn, a nonprofit that serves the homeless, said she had not reviewed the ordinance but said any measure that could reduce potential illegal activity at such hotels and motels would be a positive.

"Typically, the people I serve aren't looking for one hour of sleep here and there," she said. "They're looking for a good 10 to 12 hours. So, I would think it would make it better for them because maybe it would open up some of those rooms.

"It would also change some stereotypes. If I'm really trying to have a good night sleep, and the room next to me is every hour on the hour running a business, that just plays into that."

Syracuse likened his ordinance to legislation he successfully pushed through the council last year that prohibited so-called "flex loans" from payday lenders in Nashville. The payday industry had used the terminology to get around new Metro rules that restricted where new cash advance and payday loan stores can open.

With his latest bill, Syracuse said his hope isn't to shut down motels but to "clean them up."

He said ideally they can fill a niche in Nashville for affordable lodging, but in a way that doesn't encourage illegal activity.

"Hopefully, it will give these hotel owners an opportunity to rebrand a little bit and perhaps offer a lower cost option for those visiting Nashville that are finding a hard time finding a place that is not so expensive," Syracuse said.

Reach Joey Garrison at jgarrison@tennessean.com, 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.