I agree.............about the cost for a local.........but after he had showed class at a nice hotel and he proved to be a gentleman ..I of course, would then encourage him to visit at my place in the future, to save him costs. Often he provides a tip but it is not expected as he too, usually wants security.
You can usually get good rates on 4 star hotels through services such as hotel.ca or hotwire.com
It is just for the first time meeting there is a certain amount of nervousness for both parties and I find the more security the easier it is to enter the room. It also means that the party in the hotel has also had to use his proper name which stops, in most cases, the idiots out there.