HILTON CORRECTIONAL HOTEL

By Pamela Putz

The Unconventional Gazette / August 14, 2013

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Christopher J. Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer of Hilton Worldwide, today announced a historic agreement with the Florida Department of Corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to construct the first Hilton Correctional Hotel 20 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale in Coral Springs.

Present during the announcement were Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Mike Crews, Attorney General Eric Holder, Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Charles E. Samuels, Jr., Coral Springs Mayor Vincent Boccard, Coral Springs City Manager Erdal Donmez and Hilton Worldwide President of Development Ian R. Carter.

Taking a page out of California’s Seal Beach Detention Center, Nassetta announced that the Florida Hilton Correctional Hotel will be the first of several ‘pay-to-stay’ private luxury prisons to be built and operated by the hotel chain, with each to house 500 inmates.

Only low-risk inmates with no history of violence will be eligible for confinement in the correctional hotel. Each inmate will be charged from $250 to $450 per day, depending on the size and style of room they are staying in. Each room will have private bath facilities, a 52” flat-screen LED TV, Wi-Fi hookup and telephone service. Rooms will be cleaned and beds will be made up daily by Hilton staff. Alcoholic beverages will not be allowed. Cellphones will also be prohibited.

In addition to paying for their accommodations, the inmates will have to pay for their choice of gourmet meals served at the hotel's upscale restaurant. They will also be charged for cable or satellite TV and for Wi-Fi usage.

Like many other prisons, the Hilton Correctional Hotel will be surrounded by a double perimeter fence topped by razor wire for securitypurposes. It will have an Olympic-size swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course and tennis courts. The commissary will be stocked with luxury items, including Rolex, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin watches, Armani suits and Polo Ralph Lauren shirts.

In addition to the hotel staff, correctional officers trained by the Florida Department of Corrections, but employed by Hilton, will provide security for the luxury penal institution.

Gov. Scott said the hotel will be a win-win for the state and federal governments, as well as for Hilton. The state and the feds will not have to pay Hilton anything for housing their prisoners. Instead they will receive a cut of what Hilton charges them. For each Florida inmate, the state will receive one-third of what each inmate pays. The federal government will also receive one-third of what each of its inmates is charged.

Hilton’s Carter said Florida was chosen as the first site of the new concept because of “all the rich Jews, wealthy Cubans and transplanted northerners residing in the state.” He said the next correctional hotel would be built in California, negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown already well under way.

Bernard Madoff, Raj Rajaratnam, Dennis Kozlowski, John Rigas, Bernard “Bernie” Ebbers and Jeff Skilling are some of the wealthy federal prison inmates who are expected to apply for transfer to the Hilton’s Florida Correctional Hotel.

There was immediate reaction from minority civil rights leaders. NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous said that the NAACP will file a federal lawsuit against the planned facility because it discriminates against African-Americans and other minorities who cannot afford to pay for luxury prison accommodations. Al Shapton said, “This is another example of how our racist justice system favors rich Jews to the detriment of poor African-Americans. No justice, no peace!”

With his son having been sentenced to a 30-month federal prison term just two hours before the Hilton announcement, Jesse Jackson said, “I hope to have my son Jesse Jr. transferred to the Hilton Correctional Hotel just as soon as it opens.”