LAST LOST NIGHT AT A RESIDENCE HOTEL

He lived in a two-story, gated mansion on Russian Hill, the son of a
famous blues musician and an antiques dealer.

He died with 92 cents in his pocket in Room 209 of the Hotel Royan, a
$29-a-night hotel for down-and-outs in the Mission District.

For Oscar Scaggs, heroin was the road that connected these two
worlds.

Family and friends of Boz Scaggs' 21-year-old son thought he was on
the road to recovery, scared straight from the overdose death 15
months ago of his lifelong pal, Nicholas Traina, the 19-year-old son
of romance novelist Danielle Steel.

But even as those who knew and loved him rejoiced in how well he was
doing with his rehab, it is clear Scaggs was not free of the addiction
that would claim his life.

In recent weeks, said hotel manager Barry Bhakta, 53, Scaggs often
came calling at the Hotel Royan, a single-room occupancy hotel at 15th
and Valencia streets that, like most of its residents, has seen better
days.

Built in 1928, the hotel used to house minor-league baseball players
who competed at nearby Seals Stadium, home of the Triple-A Seals. But
the team and stadium have both been gone nearly 40 years.

Today, about 100 people live in the hotel, said Bhakta, some for days,
others for years. Most of the occupants are singles or couples,
although a few children also call the place home.

Drug users and dealers, prostitutes, the homeless, the unemployed and
the barely-making-it live there, said Ruth Rodriguez, 47, who's lived
at Hotel Royan for four years.

Rodriguez, a heroin addict, buys her stash from a neighbor down the
hall from her in the hotel, she said. Overdoses at the hotel are
common, she said. At least two people have committed suicide there
since she moved in, she said, including one man who jumped from a
top-floor window of the five-story building.

"Nightly, somebody must call 911," said a fellow resident who gave her
name only as Debbie.

Still, news that the hotel's latest overdose victim was the son of a
famous musician shocked the women. What was a rich boy doing there,
they wondered.

About 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 30, Scaggs came to visit Thomas Anthony
Montalbano, 53, also known as Thomas A. Cole, according to police.
Bhakta said while he was on duty at the front desk in recent weeks,
Scaggs had been by to visit Montalbano several times. Scaggs would
drop in at various times of the day or night, and stay for about a
half-hour, he said.

Montalbano told police he last saw Scaggs alive in his room, No. 209,
sometime before 10 p.m. When he returned to the room nearly seven
hours later, he found Scaggs sprawled on his double bed, not breathing.

Montalbano told police he then carried Scaggs to the hotel's shower
room 30 feet down the hall and called 911.

But another resident, Luis Gueto Matos, 46, told police that the hotel
clerk called his room and asked him to check on a report from yet
another resident that a body was being dragged down the hall. Matos
went to the bathroom, he told police, found Scaggs, and started
performing CPR.

It was too late.

Police found Scaggs already dead on the tile bathroom floor when they
arrived after 5 a.m. Nearby was a porcelain tub with a blue plastic
shower curtain.

Montalbano didn't want to talk about what happened, but denied Monday
night that he provided Scaggs with the heroin. No arrests have been
made pending a police investigation.

"I didn't have nothing to do with it," he told The Examiner. "He
always came with the drugs.

"I'm feeling pretty bad," he said.

Residents doubted if Scaggs' death would have any effect on life in
the hotel.

On the door of the hotel lobby is a sign forbidding overnight guests.
There is also a sign: "Drug Problem? Call Narcotics Anonymous."

It was there when Scaggs arrived that night.

Eric McCormick of The Examiner staff contributed to this
report.