My favorite celebrity guest story.
In the hotel business I’ve encountered hundred of celebs in my tenure. Some A list, some way down the alphabet.
Here’s my favorite story.
Ludacris stayed at my hotel in 2002. Our hotel got all the concert acts in town. I was working audit.
He came into the hotel around 1am after the show, no fanfare, nothing big, I buzzed him in. All good.
15 or so minutes later an attractive young woman comes in, not suspicious. She said hello she small talked cordially then headed to the locked elevators, but had a key, and went to her room, so I thought.
An hour or so later, a man calls from an outside line. I give the customary phone greeting with hotel name, and angrily asks, “wait did you say hotel?”
I repeated and confirmed hotel name. He said he got a call from this phone number. I told him I had no way of knowing which room or who called. He got angry and said something about “her doing it again.”
The young woman from an hour before comes down to the lobby about 15 minutes later, with another person, chatting. Suddenly my doorbell rings. A man enters, immediately sees the woman, he starts screaming at her.
Then Ludacris comes into the lobby from elevators, asks the woman what’s up, and the guy is like “did you f**k Ludacris?” And Ludacris seems to be familiar with this young woman. My spidey sense tingling, I page security. Turns out, the young woman is the guy’s wife. And they start verbally tussling. I’m watching, waiting for security. They finally arrive (it always feels like security will never show up).
While security intervenes in the feuding couple’s drama, Ludacris decides to avoid confronting angry man and approaches me at the desk like nothing’s wrong, asking for a water, with a little light in his eye, slightly muffling a giggle. I get him his water, and Ludacris and I actually had a very pleasant chat at the desk while the screaming ensued. He was very charming and polite, considering he just banged the dude’s wife (I have no idea why she called him from the hotel phone tho, there was def no sign or implication Ludacris put her in danger).
The husband and wife left and Ludacris went back to his room. Security told me he had his young kids in the car and left them in there crying while he came in to scream at his wife.
It’s a funny story, and Ludacris, I gotta say, was one of the nicest, friendliest celebs I ever met at the desk.