A Marine and his newlywed bride were denied their planned honeymoon night's stay at the Padre Hotel in Bakersfield, Calif., because of a technicality: they were under age 21, reported. The 18-year-old newlyweds, Jason and Hillary Martin, were disappointed to have their wedding night plans foiled.
According to The Times Jason had recently completed boot camp, and the couple had carefully planned their wedding around his 10-day leave before combat training commenced. When the couple attempted to check in to their room after their wedding, they were greeted with the news that they were being denied a room because of the posh hotel's strict age policy.
Despite the fact that Hillary arrived in her wedding dress and that Jason arrived in his Marine uniform, the two were denied the room. Awful Marketing stated that Hillary's mother, a person over the age of 21, had booked the room, but that did not matter to the hotel.
The Padre Hotel's policy stated that nobody under the age of 21 would be allowed to check into a room. The policy was put in place as a measure to prevent underage partying on the hotel grounds, and the front desk staff were under the impression that no exceptions should be made.
Many other hotels across the United States have similar policies. However, there is typically a little wiggle room in such a policy.
On the Awful Marketing website many commented that the hotel should have made an exception for a Marine and his bride.
In the aftermath of the incident, Padre Hotel co-owner Brett Miller apologized to young bride Hillary, telling The Los Angeles Times that it should never have happened. He also treated the couple to dinner and a free night's stay at the Padre Hotel as a further way of apologizing.