City’s heart not with Queen

Steve Sebelius

Thursday, March 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Complaints about drugs, prostitution, health and fire code violations and even a drive-by murder have prompted the City Council to hold a hearing to decide whether to yank the business license of a troubled downtown hotel.

The council voted 4-0 with Mayor Jan Laverty Jones absent to hold a special meeting April 1 to consider revoking the business license of the Queen of Hearts hotel, owned by Ann Meyers.

"This is a blight in our area," said Councilman Michael McDonald, who represents parts of downtown Las Vegas.

The blight includes a December 1995 homicide, in which assailants fired into the 19 E. Lewis Ave. hotel's lobby, killing one person. Homicide investigators said at the time the shooting was probably drug-related.

McDonald, who wanted to hold the hearing sooner, said the hotel's problems were causing problems for downtown.

"They're closing their eyes to all this illegal activity. And if they're not for the community, they're against the community," he said. "If I have one cancer in that area, it brings the whole area down."

But Meyers defended her hotel, which she said she is trying to sell.

"I think there were a few problems, but they area mostly past-tense," Meyers said. "I don't see any suspicious activity at all. I think it's been taken care of."

Meyers said she refuses to rent any of the 100 rooms to people she suspects are involved in drugs or prostitution, and as a result her gross revenues have dropped by two-thirds. Rooms rent for $129 a week, but longtime customers get a $99 weekly rate, she said.

She said Metro Police officers visit the hotel every night, sometimes frisking customers.

Meyers said her health and fire code problems have been taken care of, but Deputy City Attorney Larry Bettis said the hotel had an unsatisfactory health inspection in January.

Meyers -- who also owns the Nevada hotel -- said she would appear at the April 1 hearing to defend her license.

"I am shocked that this came in front of the City Council, especially since I was not notified in advance," she said.