On that financial statement of RH that they show on the superseding RH bail document, it shows they went from one hotel to another when he arrived at Atlantic City in 2007. Now, ??? why would you do that? Yes, I know people do it. But it genuinely is a nightmare most people would try hard to avoid, especially with four people traveling. Why?? Why would you make four people do that? What was the difference on these hotels??
I've got no idea, but I do see there are some differences in internet available at these two hotels currently. So there's also a Massapequa Park Circuit City purchase soon after RH arrives back in Massapequa, that's the first purchase that appears on the statement following the trip. Maybe there is something to this, that does stand out a bit. So I dug into the records to the extent I could find them for internet at hotels in this time frame, and reviews particular to each hotel for this time frame. Found source: Research Proceedings of the Las Vegas International Hospitality Summit, June 2007 WiFi AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY AS STATED ON HOTEL WEBSITES: "Many travelers have begun to expect that they will be able to at least have access to their email while they are away. As a result, hotels have begun to provide guests with access to wireless networks while the guest is staying at their property" More: "Of the hotel websites that advertised Internet services, 65.7% of them specified that the Internet access was available wirelessly. Of that 65.7%, 39.1% of the websites stated that wireless Internet was available in either the guest rooms, public spaces (20.7%) or throughout the entire property (15.5%)."
"The findings of this study show that a vast majority of hotels in the United States use their websites in order to promote the availability of Internet access within their property. However, the number of hotels using their websites to market wireless Internet access is considerably lower."
So RH's first hotel did have wifi in rooms, and I saw one reviewer noting you could connect, no passcode or anything and use a wireless card. (There's dispute on this, but let's assume that was the case.) This sounds like something RH might like, considering his circumstances. That would seem to justify him wanting to stay at the first hotel if that were the case. But I also see complaints about the internet there, however, I don't know to put much credence in this because hotel internet is generally always being criticized. I also see numerous reviews saying this was "extra" cost for first hotel at this time, but again, these are reviewers, anyone can get on and say anything. However, "extra cost" means smaller pool of users, and I would think potentially more of a chance of a trail or increased risk of monitoring, and I definitely don't think he'd want that. This first hotel was built in 1986. They did have a business center and I know at least the current policy is 15 minute limit.
The second hotel was built in 1982 but I'm seeing this in Frommers: "After an incredible $75 million transformation, the 32-story high-rise luxury condominium tower opened its doors to excited guests on March 15, 2005." It has an actual "cyber center," (at least current policy: 30 min limit if someone's waiting) This computer lab/cyber center was there around the 2007 timeframe, and praised for having printers at a time when this would have been a rarity. Obviously more secure connections at these business/cyber centers with ethernet, the reviewer noted you could go ahead and print boarding passes, what have you, because of the printers. So this place got some high marks from business travelers for the internet, despite that in the target timeframe, you could only access wifi from one certain floor (think 6th?) and lobby.
Whatever about the wifi, I would guess RH would really want an ethernet connection in his room if he could get one. Sources suggest ethernet connections were in a lot, lot of hotel rooms, and still are, predating wireless connections. But this is going to be very particular to the hotel, you’d have to call and ask back in 2007, can I get ethernet in my room? I do know that one 2nd hotel reviewer said there was some pc multimedia player you could hook up to your computer available, and that's back in 2005. A lot of times these ethernet ports are in the TV, I'm wondering if that was the case at the second hotel. All in all, maybe this was a factor for the hotel change, but it's impossible to know in my opinion without knowing if either of these hotels provided ethernet in the actual rooms. The pc multiplayer in the room makes me wonder for the second hotel if he could get ethernet there.
Did he drive there or fly? Didn't see anything on the statement about a flight. If he drove, first hotel was noted by reviewer as having small parking spaces.
Would love to know why they switched hotels. It had to have some purpose other than screaming to LE over a decade later, "Look! RH is all by himself at home!" Maybe there's no sinister reason behind it, but I wonder about the quick trip out to Circuit City soon after he returned, where he spent like $165, that's $250 adjusted for inflation today.