Clermont Hotel condemned by county (BTW, it has new owners)
December 16, 2009 at 7:23 pm by Scott Henry in News
The Clermont Hotel — unfit for human consumption? Hell, I could’ve told ‘em that.
The AJC reports that Fulton County health inspectors have ordered the landmark hotel shut down by the end of the month because, well, it’s nasty and gross:
“There are several issues that would have to be addressed,” said Kevin Jones, a manager with the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness. Dirty linen, old bedding and bed bug stains were among them, he said. Inspectors also found mold growing on the walls, black water spilling from faucets and broken toilet fixtures.
Shocking, yes? Not to this reporter, who spent a week there a few years back and lived to write a cover story about it.
Surprisingly, the part that most readers seem to remember from the story was this passage:
That night, I throw caution to the wind and decide not to bother using the sheets I brought from home. As I fall asleep to the whoops of lounge-goers making their way down the side staircase and the muted sound of TVs down the hall, I’m convinced that I can feel every individual spring in the mattress.
Over the next day, a small tenderness in my right cheek grows into a grotesque swelling so that I resemble a bad summer-stock version of Quasimodo.
I’m forced to check out early and seek immediate medical attention, putting my undercover activities on hold until I complete a course of powerful antibiotics. Although the cause of my raging facial infection is never pinpointed, I vow to use both sheets and cootie-resistant pillow cases when I’m able to return to unlock the secrets of the Clermont.
Ah, I guess some things never change. As for the fabled Clermont Lounge, it can continue with business as usual for the time being, as the AJC notes in its headline, “Clermont hotel shut down, strippers unaffected.”
And we also learned from the AJC story that the long-threatened foreclosure on the Clermont finally went through. The hotel is now in the hands of Fairway Capital, a New York-based investment firm, which says it has no plans to monkey with the downstairs lounge.
That’s good news because we can’t picture Blondie standing in line to collect unemployment.
December 16th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I had a slumber party there as well, Scott. My guest were wise enough to B.Y.O.Powerful Drugs.
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/cribnotes/2009/08/04/dangerous-moves-all-bad-things-must-come-to-an-end/#more-9607
December 16th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I bet the Ritz-Carlton felt threatened and put out these rumors Then the RC got their “friends” to pull some enforcement baloney to cause trouble for their competitor.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Now let’s get the Ponce de Leon Hotel too. That’s even nastier not only than the Clermont Hotel but also the riffraff living in those places…
December 17th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Update from the O4W Yahoo Group…
—-
Posted by: “Jay Tribby” jtribby@hotmail.com tribby_jay
Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:31 pm (PST)
At the request of the Poncey-Highland Neighborhood Association, Kwanza requested a one-month extension to Fulton County’s notice of closure. Earlier today, Fulton County Commissioner Nancy Boxill’s office told us that the 38 residents of the Clermont Hotel will have until Jan 31, 2010, to vacate and find new residences.
We’ll keep everyone posted. Poncey-Hi folks are understandably nervous about the Hotel being, essentially, abandoned and boarded up.
Jay.
Jay Tribby, PhD
Chief of Staff to Kwanza Hall
Atlanta City Council District 2
khall@atlantaga. gov
404 330 6038
December 19th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Disturbing blanket statement Ponce Maven made calling the people living at the Clermont “riff-raff”. I know someone who is low income living there who is a wonderful person. Judge not.