Spencer Pratt says Hotel Bel-Air stay was the more affordable security option

Spencer Pratt says his controversial stay at the Hotel Bel-Air during his Los Angeles mayoral campaign was driven by safety concerns—and, despite its high nightly rate, he argues it cost less than staying elsewhere with a security team.

The 43-year-old reality TV personality drew criticism in May after reports said he had been staying at the luxury hotel while a campaign ad gave the impression he was living in an Airstream trailer at his home, which was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades fire. Pratt disputed reports that he had spent more than a month at the hotel, saying he stayed there no more than six days in the previous month.

In a lengthy post on X on Tuesday, Pratt said people assumed he was spending campaign money extravagantly. He said the hotel cost about $1,200 a night, but that other accommodation would have required him to pay for additional rooms for security staff.

Pratt had previously said the Airstream site had become unsafe and that the hotel’s armed security made it his only option. He said supporters of his opponents, Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman, had become increasingly hostile after his performance in a May debate and strong poll numbers.

In his latest post, Pratt said he received numerous death threats during the campaign and hired full-time security. He claimed that people broke into his property in the Palisades and left notes containing white powder on the Airstream.

He also said a man who was trying to find him charged at his young son while the boy was boogie-boarding. Pratt has two sons, Gunner, 8, and Ryker, 3, with his wife, Heidi Montag.

Pratt said he hired a separate security detail for his family while he was away campaigning. His security team, he wrote, considered the exposed hillside property a serious risk because it was surrounded by higher ground and could be approached from the nearby state park.

“I wasn’t allowed to stay on that property, even if I wanted to,” Pratt wrote, explaining why he chose the Hotel Bel-Air.

He described the hotel as unusually secure, citing its perimeter wall, single entrance and layout of secluded bungalows. Pratt said that if he had stayed at another hotel, he would have needed to rent three rooms for his security team, adding about $3,000 per night to the cost. By his calculation, he said, staying at the Bel-Air was cheaper—even than staying at a Motel 6.

Pratt, who ran as a Republican and lost in the June primary, argued that the expense of protection put his campaign at a disadvantage. He said the security costs consumed a substantial share of the campaign’s fundraising, while recalling that Raman attended a debate-preparation event without visible security and he arrived with several armed officers.

Although his campaign is over, Pratt said he still receives death threats and deals with trespassers at his property. He added that he can no longer afford the level of protection he had during the race.