Some call pricey New Year's Eve party in uptown a ‘disaster'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thousands of people paid more than $100 each to go to a New Year's Eve event in uptown Charlotte.

Marcus McGovern had heard good things about the Southern Skyline Grand Ball at Le Meridien Hotel in the past and spent $130 for a ticket.

But he said when he got to Le Meridien, there was a long line outside the door with attendees waiting in the cold to get through security. McGovern said it took him more than an hour.

"There was one point of entry, which formed a bottleneck," McGovern said. "It was freezing outside."

By the time he got in, McGovern said he missed out on most of the food.

"It was a disaster. It was a disaster," he said.

Others posted similar complaints on social media.

The organizer, Atlas Events, said the event had more than 4,000 people. The owner, Logan Berry, said he never had that many people before and never used that level of security before.

Security officers used wands and bag checks for the first time which took more time. Berry admits it was tight and that people have a legitimate gripe.

Berry said he suggested speeding things up by only doing random checks, but security convinced him that wouldn't be responsible.

"All it takes is for one person to walk into this event with a gun that happens to be one of the ones not wanded and then people lose their life," Berry told Action 9's Jason Stoogenke.

Berry agreed that once inside, some areas were so packed, it was "uncomfortable.” But, he also said, there were areas that were empty and saw that as more of a "flow" problem.

The hotel echoed his comments about security and for good reason. Back in 2014, when Le Meridien was the Blake Hotel, two people were shot at a party during the CIAA tournament.

A spokesperson told Stoogenke the "priority was to make everyone safe" at the Southern Skyline event. She said the event used off-duty Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers and private guards.  She acknowledged having attendees submit to wand swips and bag checks took more time and that the cold weather didn't help.

As far as food running out, she said food was only supposed to be served until 11 p.m. She said it didn't run out.

Berry went into more detail, saying some of the advertising materials promised "unlimited" food, which was intended to mean all-you-can-eat, not that food would be served all night. He said the event "wasted" a lot of food in the past and made it clear on other marketing materials that the food cut-off this year would be 11 p.m. However, he agreed with disgruntled customers that the word "unlimited" may have been misleading and called that word choice a "mistake."

An artist who worked the event seemed sympathetic to both sides. He told Stoogenke he noticed long lines to get inside, but said, once people got in, many seemed to be having the "time of their life."

It was the event's fifth year overall and fourth in Charlotte. Le Meridien plans to host it again next year, saying Berry was a "great organizer to work with."

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Berry said next year, he'll sell about 500 fewer tickets, set up traffic flow differently (especially when it comes to the security checkpoint) and use metal detectors instead of wands.

Some customers want refunds, but the hotel and Atlas are not giving any.

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