WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden stuck taxpayers with a hotel bill of more than $1 million from London and Paris on a diplomatic trip through Europe last month, documents made public yesterday revealed.
The Obama administration paid $459,388 for Biden and his enormous entourage to stay at the Hyatt Regency London Churchill Hotel during the vice president’s European visit, according to a federal notice of the contract award.
The pricey digs in London were topped only by the whopping tab for Biden’s stay at the InterContinental Paris Le Grand, which totaled $585,000, documents showed.
Biden racked up the eye-popping bills when he and his wife, Jill, met heads of state in Germany, France and the United Kingdom on his first trek abroad after President Obama’s re-election.
In London, the documents showed, Biden’s traveling party booked 136 rooms at the Churchill for a total of 893 room nights.
That’s more than $514 per night.
“I would never expect the president’s or vice president’s travel would be cheap . . . but it seems excessive,” said Steve Ellis, of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Biden and his wife stayed just a single night in both London and Paris, but his advance Secret Service detail and other staff typically stay additional nights.
Neither the vice president’s office nor the State Department responded to The Post’s questions about who accompanied Biden and why the hotel stays cost so much.
Written By: S.A. Miller
Original Publication URL: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/bidens_european_diplo_tour_nails_SYR6Ld2Uebih1BzMEjKTfO
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