I am a resident of the Beltsville/Calverton, Maryland 20705 for the past 22 years. I regularly would go over to the Ramada Inn which is located in the Calverton Shopping Center located off of Powdermill Road and Beltsville Drive.

For the past, I guess, almost 10 years now, I think, it has been changed to the Fairfield Inn. It is a nice place, and I often go there, talk with the employees I know, have coffee and watch t.v. in their lounging area. Sometimes, I get coffee or tea and take it out the door with me, when I am heading off to work or on my way home, which is usually a seven block walk. I am 54, and sometime I need a break off my legs before I go home, so when I get off the bus, I stop by the Fairfield Inn. I call it my second home. I help a lot of the desk clerks with information the guests may need about the area outside of the hotel such as stores or restaurants, or how to get to public transportation sites. I have even, twice, provided the hotel with a manual that I made up with information that they can readily use to help their guests with any information that they need. I provided maps, yellow and white page information about restaurants and stores, and directions to different locations. I did this because this is the type of person I am. No one else would have ever done this for the hotel, and that I know for sure. I am a very friendly individual and am not shy about talking to anyone. I try to be nice to people and I try not to cause trouble. Apparently now, as of January, 2007, I guess I hit the unwelcomed mat by an employee who works behind the front desks. I was off to work, and had my boss stop at the Fairfield Inn to get us some coffee before we headed out of the city. We usually do this whenever he came into Maryland and picked me up. The employees are forever changing at the Fairfield Inn, so I guess each time you deal with new staff members, you will have to accept new rules.

I don't know if the employee is a manager or not, but she approached me as I was leaving, and told me not to take anymore coffee from the hotel, that it is for their guests. I responded, nicely, ok, and left with my two cups of coffee in hand. It wasn't until I was in the car, that I started to feel bad about her approach. She is new to the Fairfield Inn, trying to gain brownie points and sticking her nose in positions that don't really concern her. They have management people for their front desk, their lounge/catering area, and cleaning areas. I know the manager of the lounge area and he has never stopped me from getting coffee before. I have never been approached in the past 22 years until now that I was not able to get coffee and sit down and watch what was on their t.v. set. They have meetings at the Fairfield Inn, and they have engagements there for church and other events all the time. The people that attend these engagements aren't paying the hotel for their use of it, yet they get coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or whatever, and no one stops them and said that these items are for the guests of the hotel. Where is my activity really different? Does she have the right to tell me that I can't have a cup of coffee there when I go there, which is usually like 3 or 4 times a week. There is not much to do in Calverton, when you are on foot, so the Fairfield Inn is a nice, quiet place, that I felt real comfortable visiting. If you have any input on this, please let me have that. Sincerely, A. C. Smith