A South Charleston woman forced to live in a hotel after a fire consumed her home met Vice President Joe Biden after he made an unannounced overnight stay here Tuesday.

Biden was in Springfield to surprise supporters at the Obama For America office on Bechtle Avenue after a campaign rally in Dayton with President Barack Obama.

Biden stopped by the Hampton Inn, 101 W. Leffel Lane, before he went to the campaign office, and that’s where he met Minnie Bethel’s 13-year-old granddaughter Tanae Dixon in the hotel lobby.

“She turns around and says, ‘Nana, come here. He wants to meet you,’ ” said Bethel, who has been staying at the hotel with her husband Doyle since the Sept. 19 fire on Newlove Road. “He was very polite. Very kind. He seemed concerned about my situation.”

Bethel said she talked to Biden about the fire.

“He was so caring,” she said. Officials traveling with Biden took down her contact information at Biden’s request, she said.

“It’s been a joy to have you in office, sir,” Bethel said, recalling what she told Biden, who hugged her during their conversation and at one point offered her some candy orange slices.

Doyle Bethel missed the vice president’s visit and was surprised to hear that his family met Biden.

“He said, ‘The U.S. vice president at the Hampton Inn?’ ” Minnie Bethel said, recalling what her husband said when he got the news.

“We were told we couldn’t go on the third floor. They cleared out two rooms and put in only tables and chairs,” Minnie Bethel said of what hotel staff told those staying at the hotel, which offers rooms for nearly $100 a night. She said Biden’s entourage also turned the hotel’s conference room into a press conference area.

The Bethels’ daughter, Shawnette Walker, 40 of Springfield, said Biden told jokes and talked for a while before autographing her 2012 Obama hat.

“He didn’t make me feel like he was the vice president. He made me feel more like he was the principal of my daughter’s school. He was just laid- back, easy-going. I wasn’t expecting that,” Walker said. “I thought he was going to shake my hand and run off. No, he stood there and talked.”

Walker said her autographed hat is now in her China hutch and will no longer be touched.

“I am just appreciative that he stopped in Springfield,” Walker said.

Biden also visited locally-owned Catanzaro’s Pizza & Subs to pick up pizzas that he delivered to the local campaign office. While he was there, he greeted owner Joe Catanzaro and his 9-year-old grandson Nicholas.

“Regardless of politics, it’s amazing the charm and personality these people bring,” owner Joe Catanzaro said. “We are really blessed.”

Biden surprised between 80 to 100 supporters at the campaign office, many of whom screamed and cried as he carried pizzas into the room.

When Biden emerged from his hotel room Wednesday morning, Minnie Bethel said he took pictures and signed autographs with hotel staff and others.

The mood turned comical when Biden asked those around him, “Did anyone else have a problem with the shower head?”