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When the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, Canada was placed in receivership (essentially, following a bankruptcy) in the summer of 2017, the investment group that l & 39; bought began by chipping the giant gold letters identifying it with the brand of the current manufacturer. The president of the United States.
When it reopened as the St. Regis Hotel at the end of 2018, the building had undergone a complete transformation of the brand – from an American excess to a celebration of Canada – if she was not as complete as her guests could have hoped.
Although Trump never owned, the distinctive marks of his brand – gaudy and opulent, to the point of being excessive – subsist after the change. Peeling Spots is installed in a stylish office and everything looks tired in the rooms. But the hotel does not have the intention to update them.
This renovation marks the first St. Regis to open after the merger between Marriott and Starwood in 2016. In addition, it has never closed during the transition, from the Trump brand to a hotel. without a mark called The Adelaide, then at the current St. Regis form. – keeping all the staff in the process. "It was like changing the tires of a car, but it moves and we also make a Bentley," said Alex Marconi, marketing director of the hotel. In fact, the hotel was sold on November 28, 2018, the night of change, so the staff had to wait before pbading all warranties in the rooms until the customers left.
Workers remove letters from the "TRUMP" sign at the top of the hotel and Trump International Tower, after the new owner of the project, JCF Capital ULC, reached an agreement in June with Trump Hotels for the acquisition of its management contracts in downtown Toronto, Ontario, July 18, 2017
Chris Helgren – Reuters
It's far from the scene at the end of the Trump days. The building had encountered legal problems with investors who believed themselves to be misled, drawing protests against Trump's policy and the treatment of women, and even proposed removing the name of the building earlier by a politician who thought that Trump's rhetoric meant that his name had no place. on the Toronto skyline.
The only thing more offensive than the exterior of the older version of the hotel was the interior, where the name of the restaurant at the top of the skyline of Canada's largest city was called America. "The food is fantastic", we read in the title of the 2014 edition of the spot. Globe and Mail. "But you should not eat here, ever."
Marconi says that he thinks every Torontonian has read the criticism that describes the "sticky, new money" customer behavior ("if you build it, goose bumps will come"), the degrading uniforms of female staff and An excessively horrible service that was "as if no one had ever worked in a real restaurant before." As night fell, it turned into a nightclub, and the "America Girls" added blonde wigs to their skimpy outfits.
I met Marconi at the remodeled version of the 31st floor restaurant, which is now Louis Louix, with a much more professional mentality among the waiters, all of whom were wearing a much more reasonable amount of clothing. The restaurant, like many of the St. Regis brand's experience, blends clbadic luxury with local touches. On the theme of the history of Canadian whiskey, the ceiling features a mural fresco by a local artist called "Bouquet of Whiskey," while the menus include local oysters, the Nova Scotia Caviar and a signature, Bloody Mary , called the Red 140, so named languages spoken in Toronto and made with a mixture of spices representative of many of these cultures.
The lobby of the St. Regis Toronto Hotel.
Courtesy of St. Regis / Marriott
The St. Regis, although part of an American hotel chain, manages to imbue the building with a surprising amount of local flavors. This 65-storey hotel has 258 rooms and a cafe / bar in the lobby that serves tea afternoon afternoons on weekends. The tea itself – including the hotel's signature blend – comes from Sloane Fine Tea Merchants, a Toronto-based, immigrant-owned, women's business. The hotel is located in the heart of Toronto's bustling city center and, at every turn, seeks to integrate with the city and elevate the locals, as opposed to its accursed predecessor.
The St. Regis has invaded Toronto to create a "new era of glamor," says Marconi. This included seeing how the iconic luxury brand could be performed in the community. "As Canadians, it is important to inspire, to honor our citizens, and important for us to honor the land on which we live," said Marconi. "We can not lose that."
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