Huntsville hotel sues over ‘amplified music at deafening volumes’

Huntsville hotel sues over ‘amplified music at deafening volumes’

A hotel in Huntsville’s MidCity District has filed a lawsuit against its neighboring tenant, complaining that late-night live music and profanity is disturbing its customers.

Madison Square Hotel, which operates the Holiday Inn on University Drive at MidCity, alleged in the lawsuit that music at The Camp, an open-air event facility, “plays amplified music at deafening volumes. In fact, The Camp generates music and other noises so loud that it causes the Holiday Inn’s windows to rattle and vibrate.”

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The hotel and The Camp are located adjacent to each other at MidCity and the lawsuit said there is less than 100 yards between them. The only boundary between the hotel building and the walled-off perimeter of The Camp is part of a parking lot.

“The Camp routinely plays live music after 11:00 p.m. and, on occasion, even past midnight,” the lawsuit said. “Unsurprisingly, the loud and obnoxious music generates voluminous and repeated complaints from Holiday Inn customers.”

The lawsuit then listed 13 complaints about the noise it said were lodged by hotel customers in 2022 with some saying they would find another place to stay in the future.

The lawsuit also said that the hotel’s general manager raised the issue to the city of Huntsville. Police investigated the complaints and assessed fines to The Camp because of violating the city’s noise ordinance, the lawsuit said.

The hotel, in the lawsuit, also said that customers at The Camp routinely park in the hotel parking lot and that the hotel installed a security fence and hired security guards to stop it.

Defendants in the lawsuit are RCP Companies, Mid-City Owner and Octo Hospitality. RCP Companies, developers of MidCity, did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit said Octo Hospitality, which shares the same Huntsville address as RCP Companies, manages operations of The Camp.

No attorneys are listed yet in the court file for the defendants. Huntsville attorney William Lunsford is representing the hotel.

MidCity District is a sprawling mixed-use development that replaced Madison Square Mall. It is home to hundreds of apartment units as well as popular destinations such as Topgolf, Trader Joe’s and Dave & Buster’s as well as the Orion Amphitheater. The Holiday Inn is a survivor from the Madison Square Mall days and has continued operations as the development around it has changed.

The lawsuit said that it has not had any complaints from customers about noise at Topgolf or the amphitheater, though those venues are further away from the hotel.

The hotel is also located in a city-designated “arts & entertainment district” that operates until 11 p.m. nightly. The entertainment district facilitates outdoor activities, such as at The Camp, by allowing patrons to take alcoholic beverages outdoors within the confines of the district. The lawsuit said The Camp often plays live music after the 11 p.m. close of the arts & entertainment district. One of the hotel customer complaints specified that it was 12:21 a.m. and it was “ridiculously loud” while another said there was “loud music until 1 a.m.”

The hotel’s general manager has attempted to work out the late-night noise issues with The Camp but they were not successful, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit, in addition to seeking damages, also asks for a permanent injunction on the late-night music.