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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Travel
Travel Desk

Man spends $200,000 posting offensive messages on the side of Hilton hotel in Las Vegas

The Associated Press

A party-loving “trust fund baby” from Australia spent $200,000 in order to project offensive messages on the side of a Hilton hotel in Las Vegas.

The man, identified as Ben, had reportedly demanded that the Wynn nightclub open an hour early to accommodate him and his friends, but the request was denied by the manager, Niko, reports View From the Wing, as the club needs advance notice to do this.

Ben allegedly proceeded to “threaten” the manager and was barred from Wynn Las Vegas, while law enforcement was contacted.

Rather than backing down, the frustrated partyer shared a number of xenophobic posts on social media, including one calling Niko a “broke ass immigrant”.

He then crossed over the road to the Zouk club at Resorts World, from which high-spending guests can project messages on the side of the Hilton.

He allegedly spent $200,000 at the club, which then allowed him to submit messages trolling the manager of the Wynn, which were shown in giant letters on the building.

One read “Ben’s House”; the other directly targeted the staff member he’d had an altercation with, saying: “Food stamps for Niko”.

Resorts World said staff at the Zouk had been unaware of Ben’s vendetta.

“The LED sign on the West Tower was activated on Saturday night with a graphic requested by a nightlife patron,” the company said in a statement shared with View From the Wing.

“The team members who approved it were not aware of the background behind the request. Regardless, this was a mistake, and the messaging displayed does not reflect Resorts World Las Vegas’s values, and we regret that our LED screen was misused in this manner.

“Our leadership is handling this internally to ensure the assets displayed on the LED screens are in full alignment with the brand and our values.”

It’s not the first time a disgruntled customer has made their feelings known in an unusual way.

Earlier this month, an unnamed man from the US state of Montana attempted to check into a hotel but was refused due to issues with his ID.

To make matters worse, the hotel – which has not been named – said they wouldn’t offer a refund for the pre-paid room.

The snubbed guest went to a local supermarket the next day and “purchased a large poster board and a Sharpie Marker”, writing on the board a question around whether the hotel had bedbugs. The man stood on the pavement near the hotel, beside a six-lane road, holding up the sign.

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