To whom this may concern,
My name is Renee Miles. I hate to have to write this letter. I had a horrible experience early on or around November 7, 2025 at the Sheraton Marriott Hotel downtown Memphis, TN. It was extremely shocking because up to this point I have always had a great experience with Marriott hotels. I am a titanium member and I have always loved staying in the Marriott for your service and care of the customers. However, this particular stay quickly turned into a nightmare. I received a call from the front desk manager by the name of Ming stating that I would be charged a service fee, because she received notice from a drug detector device in my room that I had been smoking weed. I was appalled and taken aback because first of all I have never smoked anything in all of my life, second of all, I was there with my religious denomination for our 118th HOLY Convocation. I am a leader, credential holder and speaker within my religious denomination. The Church of God in Christ organization is totally against drugs and alcohol of any kind. I explained this to Ming and she refused to accept what I said, telling me that she has to go by what her machine that is in the room says. I went on to explain to her that I was a titanium member, and she continued to tell me that my status has nothing to do with me smoking in the room, and hung up on me. There was a small smoke detector toward the front door of my room on the lower part of the wall. After Ming hung up on me, I immediately phoned the corporate offices and after speaking with corporate operations, I was told that the detector could have picked up the smoke from the hallway, or surrounding rooms since it was so close to the front door because nicotine or weed smells travel. I was told that I should not have been accused of that especially as a titanium member. I then went down to the front desk to speak to Ming after calling her back several times and being unable to reach her. I let her know who I was and she proceeded to ask me to wait and began checking in several people, many who had come in after me. Finally she came from behind the desk and began to tell me (the lobby was full of delegates to our convention) that I had to have been smoking weed in the room because the machine picked it up, and there was nothing she could do, that the charge would show up on my bill upon check out. As she continued to insist that I was smoking weed, the lobby got extremely quiet and many of our delegates began to tell Ming that I was a leader in our organization, and there was no way that could be. By this time I had begun to cry because of the embarrassment, there was at least 60 people in the lobby area. Finally Ming told me that she would send her head of security to the room to check it out. The head of security came to my room and verified and confirmed that there were no signs of any smoke of any kind in my room. I called Ming back and she said she still had to charge me the $250. At this point many of our delegates were trying to comfort me as the tears rolled profusely down my face. I was told by one of the desk clerks (secretly) that the General Manager was in and she would let her know I was out there and explain the situation. About 15 minutes later, Jessica came out from the back office, listened to my complaint and then offered me breakfast during the duration of my stay. I felt like that was a slap in the face. I was embarrassed and humiliated, my character was defamed in front of my national church leaders organization, as well as me being a titanium member of Marriott hotels, where I stay over 75 days per year. I had never been accused of anything like that so to only be offered breakfast I felt was disrespectful. The worst part was, for the rest of the week I found myself explaining what happened to me to various people because the news traveled across our convention. Had I not been trusted by those in leadership, this could have ruined my career and reputation. I spoke with your corporate offices again and was encouraged to write a letter.
