Owner of Kelowna escort service fighting to get short-term rental licence back

The City of Kelowna pulled a short-term rental license after it discovered an escort service was using it for business.

Haven House is a business that provides “adult services” including “a body rub studio and social escort service.” Right next to the business there’s a short-term rental apartment and both are operated by the same person, Paige Smith.

The city issued Smith the short-term rental license under the condition that the apartment wasn’t used for the Haven House business, they had to be kept separate.

When police escorted inspectors into the short-term rental they found reasons to believe that the unit was being used for escort and body rub services.

“Observations included a bedroom equipped as a client room, the living room set up as a party room, staff instructions for cleaning and taking payment along with receipt books, and bags of supplies including price lists, alcohol, and sexual safety and novelty products,” the report to city council reads.

The license was approved in September, then revoked less than a month later, but Smith applied to the city to reconsider in January.

“No commercial transactions were cited during the inspection, and no services were observed
taking place within the apartment,” Smith wrote to the city. “However, observations made within the apartment appear to have informed the conclusion that the apartment was operating as an extension of the commercial business.”

Smith acknowledged how things seen by inspectors in the apartment may have caused a “misunderstanding”.

She said that the unit was only used for “visiting individuals” but a partially redacted and anonymized statement to council said the apartment was for travelling employees.

Haven House has six escorts listed on its site as “travel”.

The property owner for both the commercial space, 503 Sutherland Avenue, and the residential rental unit, 515 Sutherland Avenue, said that Smith has been a good tenant with no complaints from neighbours.

“I am often around for maintenance and cleaning and have never once seen a client walk in through those accommodations. To my knowledge, Paige does not allow any staff to have any visitors during their stay,” they wrote in an anonymous statement.

Council is set to consider her request to overturn the decision to take away her short-term rental license at a meeting, Monday, March 16.