Nashville Bans Hourly Rate Hotels

NASHVILLE, TN — Hourly-rate hotels are now prohibited in Davidson County following a third and final vote on an ordinance setting a minimum 10-hour stay by the Metro Council Thursday.

Under the ordinance sponsored by Councilman Jeff Syracuse, hotels are further prohibited for offering rebates for stays of fewer than 10 hours. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

The hourly-rate 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. The Airways, on Donelson Pike near Mt. Olivet Cemetery, offered three hour stays for $28, but stopped offering the rate publicly shortly after Syracuse introduced the legislation. Syracuse said at least 17 hotels offered hourly rates.

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, welcomed the change 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.

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