David Irving comments: MOTEL-owner Mr. Sumant Patel quoted a price of $210 per week for a room in his luxurious flea-bag, then upped it to $105 per night in the wake of Hurricane Charlie.    This is just one motel; gouging complaints are now popping up all over the place.    I post this item with trepidation, because readers have suggested I have picked unfairly on Asian motel-owners doing business in the United States in a recent Action Report. Wednesday, August 18, 2004 Area Motel Accused of Price Gouging By Heather Sorentrue WCJB TV 20 News A LOCAL motel owner is accused of price gouging as Hurricane Charley threatened Florida's coast. A couple says they were staying at the Ramada Limited in Alachua [Florida] until the day Hurricane Charley hit, when suddenly they were asked to leave. Last Friday, the day Charley struck every room at the Ramada Limited was full. Karyn Hamel and her husband had been staying in a room there for three weeks and had no plans to leave. "We were here in town doing business on a weekly rate. And, all of the sudden, the day before the hurricane we were told to get out that we no longer have a weekly rate," says Karyn Hamel. Their rate was $210 a week. But, Karyn's husband says as the storm approached, he was told they would have to cough up $105 a night to stay, an offer they refused. "I didn't know what the situation was going to be or where we were going to stay. I thought we'd end up sleeping in our truck with our two animals. So it was a little scary," says Hamel. Motel owner Sumant Patel says the rates he has filed with the state allow him to charge up to $120 for a single room and $140 for a double room. But, he says during the storm he never charged anyone over $100. Patel says prices vary depending on when people make their reservations and how many people are in a room. "They came ahead of time. Sometimes they booked a month ago. Sometimes they booked the reservations 15 days ago, 2 months ago. And, whatever the quote to the Ramada Corporate office, that's what we have to honor that rate. That's why we have different rates," says Sumant Patel. Patel argues Karyn Hamel and her husband never paid for their third week, and that is why they were told to check out. Hamel says that's a lie. The Attorney General's Office says they are investigating price gouging complaints against the Ramada Limited in Alachua.     William Sterling Jr wants Mr Irving to suppress opinions about ethnic groups Action Report No. 26 BBC reported that 60% of the motels in the US are now owned by one Indian "family", the Patels

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