GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Kaci Elder and her husband Ryan Forsythe, both teachers in the Illinois Valley, loaded up their young son and went to Grants Pass for an adventure recently.

They live in the woods outside O'Brien, 38 miles away, and occasionally visit Grants Pass, often booking a room online.

But for the first time, a local hotel told them they weren't welcome — but only after seeing their address.

"It was an odd feeling. It felt a little bit like a shaming," said Elder, who teaches at the Takilma Dome School. "Like we were being judged based on where we lived."

She likened it to discrimination.

Elder's account of the incident, published in a letter to the editor in the Daily Courier on April 25, lit up local social media and even drew several letters from Courier readers expressing sympathy.

"I am so tired of the discrimination and disparaging comments from Grants Pass residents and businesses about their neighbours south of Hayes Hill," a Cave Junction woman wrote.

As it turns out, some local hotels and motels do in fact refuse to accept bookings from local residents. They cite problems with partying, vandalism, drug use and more.

Doug Bradley, general manager at the Holiday Inn Express and chair of the local hoteliers organization, said he wasn't certain how many local hotels had the policy, but it's out there.

"Yes, locals are a red flag," Bradley said. "This is not just Grants Pass; this is relatively common in the industry. Some people want to rent a hotel room just to party."

Bradley said his hotel doesn't care where clients live, but they have to have a credit card to cover any potential damages. The room can be paid for in cash, but cash alone upfront won't do it.

By requiring the credit card, some potential troublemakers are weeded out.

"We have policies in place that protect us from a large percentage of what we would consider guests that would be problematic," he said. "It's common for local people in general to bring situations into hotels that are undesirable. We're responsible for the safety of our guests and employees."

The Shilo Inn where Elder's family was turned away recently put in the no-locals policy when ownership changed, according to an employee at the front desk. She didn't know how often the policy has come into play.

"The new owners don't want us renting to locals," she said.

After getting the boot from Shilo Inn, Elder spent 15 minutes on the phone with hotels.com clearing up the bill — "a little bit of insult to injury," Elder said — before going to the nearby Travelodge.

"This experience has cast a shadow over our relationship to Grants Pass," she wrote in her letter to the editor. "How friendly is a city who rejects its own neighbours?"

Bradley said it's a tough choice for hotels.

"The reasons these hotels have these policies is because of things they've experienced."

One local hotel went the other direction recently. The LaQuinta Inn previously asked for a $250 deposit from anyone inside a 40-mile radius, said Hydisia Bird, the front office manager. The company changed the policy two weeks ago and no longer requires the deposit, she said. It still requires a credit card to back up any potential problems, just like Holiday Inn Express.

"When it comes to local guests, there is no difference to us," Bird said.

She said some of her staff thinks the $250 deposit should still be in place.

"There were many occasions where getting the $250 saved us a lot of expense," she said. "Smoking in the rooms for sure, items being stolen, holes in walls, burned holes in bedding."

Colene Martin, CEO of Grants Pass Visitors Center and Chamber of Commerce, said she supports the hotels setting their own policies.

"I respect hotels doing this, to keep tourism at its best," Martin said. "We need to have the rooms looking the best."

She also thought an exception could have been made for Kaci Elder's family, or for families affected by other circumstances such as flooding or fire.

Sometimes motels are the only option for people displaced by foreclosure or other circumstances.

"The rules are made for a reason, but there needs to be a grey area," Martin said.

Attorney Chris Cauble of Grants Pass said he believes the hotels are within their rights in this case.

"There really is no discrimination based on public accommodation laws here," Cauble said in an email. "If they were refusing to allow people from predominantly African American or Hispanic areas, then there could be a legal issue."

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Information from: Daily Courier, http://www.thedailycourier.com

News from © The Associated Press, 2018