Saying he wanted to correct a bad impression of the city, the general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn in Detroit has come through for a couple of Lions fans who wanted to spend a night downtown during the NFL draft in April.

According to John Miller, a Toledo businessman, his wife, Jani Miller, made reservations in December for a room at the Detroit Club for $350 a night, plus taxes. Their reservation, guaranteed with a credit card, was later canceled, and they were offered another room at going rates — $1,100 as of this week.

Larry Brown, manager of the Hilton Garden Inn, learned of their plight from the Detroit Free Press and offered the Millers a room at the rate they were initially promised. The couple wanted to stay downtown to be in walking distance to the draft, April 25-27.

"Thank you so much for connecting the Millers and our hotel," Brown told the Free Press in an email Friday. "I just hung up with Mrs. Miller and we have a reservation booked for them at the Hilton Garden Inn downtown Detroit. I am so happy we could be of service and correct a very bad impression."

He went on to say the City of Detroit welcomes all travelers and "we are super excited to welcome the Draft. Doing the right thing and providing great service should always be the baseline expectation."

In an interview, Brown said the hotel had no openings for the night of the Millers' stay, but guests do cancel and "I'm happy to make sure they are taken care of."

The Millers, who have their own travel agency, Central Travel, with four locations in the Toledo area, are big Lions fans.

John Miller has been rooting for the team since 1957 and has had season tickets since 1980.

Jennifer Thomason, assistant general manager at the Detroit Club, said she is not sure how the mix-up happened, but said that as a club, members are given priority.

"I feel bad about the situation." she said late Thursday.

John Miller said they were also offered a free, two-night stay at St. John's Resort in Plymouth, but declined because they wanted to be close to the draft goings-on. He said they will spend a couple of days at the resort this summer, on their own dime, to check out its golf course for their travel agency clients.

NFL draft

The NFL draft is free, so be wary of anyone selling tickets. Activities are planned for Hart Plaza, Campus Martius Park and Spirit Plaza, outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center.

More than 300,000 fans attended last year's NFL draft in Kansas City. Visit Detroit, the local convention and visitors bureau, said the Detroit draft could attract even more fans, given its proximity to a half-dozen cities with NFL teams.

Contact Jennifer Dixon: jbdixon@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: NFL draft fans find room at Hilton Garden Inn in Detroit