Marine & His Bride Turned Away from Hotel on Honeymoon

[Requiem]

Despite everything, it seems the young couple took it all in stride.

No room at the inn for too-young Bakersfield honeymooners: Marine Jason Martin and his bride, Hillary, both 18, were turned away from the posh Padre Hotel because the hotel requires guests to be at least 21.

By Mike Anton, Los Angeles Times
November 20, 2010

It was to be the perfect end to a perfect day. Hillary and Jason Martin had just gotten married. They arrived at Bakersfield's swank Padre Hotel — the bride in her wedding dress, the groom in Marine Corps dress blues.

They were 18 and in love.

They were 18 and out of luck.

The two were old enough to marry. Jason Martin, on leave after completing boot camp, was old enough to join the Marines. The Padre Hotel's age policy, however, required them to be at least 21 to get a room.

"I was so upset," Hillary Martin said. "I just broke down. I thought, 'Here I am looking for a place to stay on my honeymoon.'"

The couple dated all through their years at Bakersfield's Foothill High School, where Jason was a standout on the baseball team. They had talked of getting married. But someday became now with the birth of twin sons 9 months ago and Jason's enlistment. He proposed to Hillary just before leaving for boot camp for three months earlier this year.

The idea was to get hitched during Jason's 10-day leave before he headed off to combat training.

"I planned it all myself," Hillary said. "We couldn't afford to go out of town or anything."

They were young and broke, and so Hillary's mother offered to spring for their honeymoon night at the Padre, a newly renovated Bakersfield landmark where the "Oil Baron Suite" will set you back $649 on Saturday night.

The couple's Nov. 12 incident at the hotel found its way to the local media thanks to an angry cousin of Hillary's. The hotel's manager explained to a television reporter that employees were simply following a longstanding policy to which no exceptions are made.

And just like that, the hotel found itself with a sticky public relations problem.

"This is an outrage!" a reader posted on the Bakersfield Californian's website. "If a person can sign up to fight and possibly die for his country then he should be able to stay at any hotel he wants to."

On Thursday, Brett Miller, a co-owner of the Padre Hotel, apologized to Hillary Martin.

"He was very sincere," she said.

Miller explained that the hotel's policy is intended to prevent underage drinking and partying. He offered the Martins a room and dinner — on him.

"An exception should have been made. If you show up in a military uniform and a wedding gown — sure, we'll give you a room," Miller said in an interview. "When I found out all the facts, I was sick to my stomach. This should have never happened."

While the Martins will never get their perfect wedding night back, they will at least have a story to tell their grandchildren.

After leaving the Padre Hotel, they drove to a gas station and got some chips and soda; their reception had been such a whirlwind, the couple hadn't eaten and they were starving. Then they drove around Bakersfield for a bit, munching on the chips and looking for a room for their wedding night. Well past midnight, they settled in at a Doubletree hotel.

"They had a military discount," Hillary said. "They were very sweet. We even got a free breakfast."

Source.

[rdret1]

It is an unfortunate incident but understandable. It never made any sense to me when the legal drinking age was raised to 21. It had been 18 for years. All of a sudden, you can vote for our elected officials, you can serve your nation in her military forces; but you can't drink alcohol. You apparently can't stay in a swanky hotel either.

[chance]

That's really ashame,
I pray that they have a very very long loving and happy life together.

[Richard]

It never made any sense to me when the legal drinking age was raised to 21. It had been 18 for years. All of a sudden, you can vote for our elected officials, you can serve your nation in her military forces; but you can't drink alcohol.

It was never lowered in CA and military personnel could always drink on post (beer, not hard liquor) at 18 even when the off-post law remained 21.

Additionally, brain research and the effects of alcohol on the development of the immature brain (and the human brain is still physiologically quite immature at 18) have since proven the wisdom of having the legal age for drinking alcohol set at 21 - and actually somewhere between 23 and 27 would be even better. Now...as to whether this law is obeyed or not is another matter...

And as far as the inn in the story goes, from a high school principal's point-of-view, I can empathize somewhat with their policy as the problem with teens getting hotel rooms for post-Prom and post-Graduation parties is a pretty big problem nationally - and often it is the parents making the arrangements for the rooms. However, it sounds to me as if the hotel is cognizant of the idea that 'most' rules like this one should have reasonable exceptions for someone like the case of this young couple.

Richard