News

Hotels taking a pass on pizza handbills

August 10, 2003

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Hotel operators and legislators are pushing for laws that would curtail pizza operators from indiscriminately leaving handbills under hotel room doors.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that hotel guests in Orange and Osceola counties have complained to management of poor quality food, orders that never arrive and incidents of credit card theft.

Police investigating the complaints said some people delivering the advertisements are using the papers as a ruse to scout for burglary and robbery targets. Reports of scuffles and threats against guests and hotel staff members have been made.

"You have people on your property, in your hotel, in your hallways, who could be looking for an opportunity to take advantage of guests or the hotel," said Duane Winjum, general manager of the Quality Suites Maingate near Walt Disney World. "It's a real problem."

Police said some of the pizza parlors are run by entrepreneurs hoping to make a quick buck in a poor economy by selling heated-up, warehouse-club-brand frozen pizzas, the newspaper reported. At least one operation was shut down for lacking proper permits and there are concerns about health and other code violations.

The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association is lobbying for legislation that would bolster trespassing laws, making business owners as well as those delivering the handbills accountable.

A bill that would have done that passed the state House but died in the Senate this year, the newspaper reported. The association is gearing up for a second attempt at passing the law next year and is encouraging members to crack down on trespassers as much as possible in the meantime