Residents have branded Hamilton's Canadian Hotel a "rat hole'' after complaining about disgusting bathrooms and a management that doesn't care.

One tenant claimed the Reid Street establishment offers substandard living conditions among drug users but management had recently upped the rent.

Reid Street `rat hole' nothing but `one big crackhouse', says resident Speaking on the condition of anonymity he said: "The bathrooms are pathetic.

"In the downstairs bathroom the whole ceiling is exposed, there's PVC pipes, I am not sure if the wires are live.'' "Some of the taps have no handle, there are buckets under the sink to catch the water. It's disgusting.

"I have seen times when there are 20 people all trying to use one bathroom before they go to work because the ones on the other floors aren't working.

"I went to the bathroom once and there's a guy in there smoking crack.

"I have friends who won't even come to visit me it's so bad.'' And he complained of heavy handed management intent only on getting rent.

"If you have fallen behind with your rent they lock your door and don't allow you to get your belongings.

"How can you go to work if you can't get your stuff? Surely that's against the law?'' He said the hotel had doubled rents for those with regular overnight stayers.

He said: "You are talking about $240 a week -- that's $960 a month if you are sharing.'' He said the health department had paid a visit last year but management had not shown them the bad areas.

"The Government pay the rent for a lot of the guys. It should be more tightly regulated.'' "The carpet stinks, the place needs to be painted. The sewage packs up every week.

"But every Friday the management are there to collect their rent. It's a rat hole. The average person staying there is not that bright but why should people have to live in substandard conditions? It's wrong.'' Another resident told The Royal Gazette : "It's nothing but one big crack house. Every drug dealer knows about this place.

"They just lock the gate. If there was a fire people would just die here.

There's no way to get out.

"(Landlord) Mr. Powell is just concerned about his money.'' He complained of cockroach and ticks infesting some areas and he said some people got shocks when using the showers because of faulty wiring.

Landlord Thomas Powell said that particular problem had not been brought to his attention and he could not confirm that the hotel was now charging for people to share rooms.

He said: "We run accommodation for single occupancy, it's not equipped for shared.'' "I would have to talk to the manager about that to clarify exactly what's happening there.'' He said he was concerned about fire risks and had made sure there were fire exits.

Asked about the poor state of the bathrooms he said: "The construction industry is flat out. It's difficult to get the people to fix things. But there are many facilities, it's not like they don't have toilet facilities.'' He said as soon as new sinks were put in tenants ripped them off, and that outsiders also caused damage when coming in off the street. Fighting men had cracked a pipe which flooded three floors.

"We are not taking advantage of anyone -- we are trying to carry out the repairs -- it's an ongoing process.

"We provide a service for the community -- we are the only one on the Island doing this. Call social services -- see how many rooms they can put a finger on.'' Asked if it was the policy to lock rooms if tenants weren't paying Mr. Powell said: "I will have to speak to the manager.'' "We did have a sewage problem but it's been rectified.'' He said problems occurred when tenants tried to flush chicken bones and kitchen utensils.

"Tenants themselves abuse the facilities. We could put a maintenance crew there 24 hours a day -- but that's totally uneconomical.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome said tomorrow his Government would be introducing The Public Health Amendment Act which would allow inspectors to ensure minimum standards in rooming and boarding houses such as the Canadian Hotel.

Currently such establishments come under the Department of Tourism.