To the Editor:

This week we had our annual Cinco de Mayo celebration at Hotel Grande. Hundreds of people came out to have a nice dinner and a good time. We’re glad that everyone came, except one. He didn't come to be with friends and family, or even to pick up a quick bite. He came because he thought our bathroom was the perfect place to have a private party.

Around nine o'clock at night we started getting complaints that someone was in our bathroom for far too long. After many complaints, we knew something was wrong and had the door unlocked.

Inside we found a man in the midst of an overdose, and quickly called 911. Thanks to the paramedics who rushed over he didn't die right there and thanks to the doctors in the emergency room he didn't die that night.

This man saw a crowded restaurant and figured it was a place where he could get high without being noticed. He locked himself in our bathroom and, using drugs he brought in from outside, nearly killed himself. Of all the joints, in all the towns, in all the world, he came into ours.

We aren't publishing this to shame the man. He obviously has a problem, and we hope he gets treatment. But the rumors we've had to correct since last Tuesday are horrifying. We poured our heart and soul into the Hotel Grande for nearly a quarter century. And the community’s trust is one of the things we've worked hardest to earn and maintain over the years.

So we’re just setting the record straight. At the end of one of our busiest nights of the year we discovered that a man had overdosed in our bathroom. We called the police and got him help. He didn't eat with us. He didn't drink with us. And he didn't die.

Craig and Sandra Alford

Owners of Hotel Grande in Norfolk