Police: Myrtle Beach hotel known as ‘hotbed for crime’ shut down

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The next time you go to Myrtle Beach, your family will be a little safer -- Police just shut down a hotel they say was a hotbed for crime in the area, according to our news partners WPDE.

People boarded up the Rosen Sea Hotel on Ocean Boulevard Friday after police said employees and management there would knowingly rent rooms to drug dealers and prostitutes, even accepting stolen items in exchange for rent.

Officials said employees even carried people who overdosed to nearby properties in order to keep police away.

A temporary injunction was granted to close down the motel to “prevent further illegal activity from occurring,” according to police.

“Hopefully other motels that are similarly situated would say ‘Look, I don’t want my hotel closed down so I’m going to do whatever I can do to keep from having this same sort of situation,’” Horry County Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said.

According to court documents, police were able to get affidavits from several people like former hotel workers, people who bought and sold drugs at the hotel, the victim of sexual assault by a hotel employee and those who lost a loved one to an overdose there.

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