Prostitution, Drug Concerns Could End Nashville's Hourly Rate Hotels

NASHVILLE, TN — Sparked by concerns about prostitution and drug use, the Metro Council may bar hotels from renting rooms hourly under legislation filed by Donelson-area councilmember Jeff Syracuse.

Metro currently has no restrictions on how long hotels and motels can rent rooms and more than a dozen across the county will let rooms for 10 hours or fewer. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

The business model is often exploited by those engaging in prostitution and drug use, Syracuse told The Tennessean, noting that the Airways Motel in his district was "a pretty swanky place" when it opened in the 1950s. These days, the Airways, on Donelson Pike near Mt. Olivet Cemetery, offers three hour stays for $28.

The motel did not return the newspaper's requests for comment.

Memphis, among other cities, has restrictions that set minimum stays of 10 hours, similar to what Syracuse proposes, and those restrictions have been upheld by the United States Supreme Court. Memphis does have separate regulations for so-called "adult hotels," with the city's code defining them as hotels that advertise adult movies and offer stays of less than 10 hours. These establishments are regulated as sexually-oriented businesses. Nashville municipal code is silent on "adult hotels."

While hourly-rate establishments have a reputation for attracting vice, they are sometimes used by people who are homeless. Rachel Hester, executive director of the non-profit Room In The Inn, told The Tennessean that her organization, a non-profit which serves the homeless, would welcome a change to the city law, because, she says, people who are homeless using the hotels generally want to stay for 10 or 12 hours in an effort to get sleep.

The council is scheduled to vote on the crucial second reading of the proposal next week.

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