UPDATE | Hotel California open house shut down by police and fire officials

AUSTINTOWN

An open house at Hotel California Monday evening was shut down after about an hour by police and fire officials.

The hotel at the state Route 46 interchange of Interstate 80, near the new Hollywood Gaming casino and racetrack, invited the public to get a sneak peek of its rooms, restaurant and night club.

The open house started at 5 p.m, but at about 6 p.m, fire and police officials from the township came onto the property and shut it down.

“The problem is they don’t have any permits to open the building up to the public,” said fire Chief Andy Frost III. “As far as fire codes are concerned, they have a few more things to complete.”

He said the fire department, with police standing by, asked management to ask the guests to leave. They were cordial and complied, he said.

The hotel was full of visitors at the time, said Dave Robich, who handles entertainment at the hotel, which is known for the faux palm trees in the parking lot. He estimated that at least 350 people had toured the facility at the time of the raid, and more were trying to get in.

“People were having a great time, loving it, when the police showed up,” said Robich. “A parade of more people were still coming in to the parking lot.”

Robich said visitors were disappointed when the open house was shut down. “As people were leaving they said, ‘This is not right, this is beautiful, we’ll be back when you are open’,” he said.

Robich said the hotel has an occupancy permit, but was told by officers that it did not obtain some kind of a fire department permit.

“[Officials] knew all day we were going to have this open house and they let it happen,” he said. “It’s political.”

The hotel is owned by Sebastian Rucci, who has been engaged in a struggle with township officials to get a liquor license. A hearing on the license application will be Thursday.

Rucci operated the Go Go Girls club on the property five years ago, which was raided in an investigation into alleged drug sales.