[ad_1]
It was once like a second White House for the Maga crowd. Now he is in danger of becoming a white elephant.
Struck first by the coronavirus pandemic, then by the electoral defeat of its owner, the Trump International Hotel in Washington is reeling from a huge loss of revenue and prestige. For critics of the former US president, this is welcome proof of how quickly the city is moving without him.
“It used to be the hub of Trump World, but I can’t imagine who’s going there now,” said Sally Quinn, a local author and journalist. “We don’t even have tourists in Washington yet. I can’t imagine most people staying there when they come. I don’t know anyone who is going there or who has been there.
The hotel opened amid protests in the historic Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue, between the White House and the U.S. Capitol, in September 2016 as Trump campaigned for the presidency.
For four years, its opulent lobby filled with diplomats, lobbyists and members of the Trump family. It was one of the few places in the US capital where “Make America great again” hats were plentiful. But one recent afternoon it looked more like the haunted hotel from Stanley Kubrick’s movie The Shining.
Steel barriers surrounded the magnificent facade with its five American flags and the statue of the first postmaster Benjamin Franklin. A porter in the black dress explained that due to coronavirus restrictions, only people invited by guests are allowed to enter. When the Guardian called the front desk, a man who identified himself as the manager said, “I’d rather not comment. Thank you for your call, ”then hung up.
The Washington hotel only made $ 15.1 million in revenue last year, down more than 60% from the previous year. Then came the electoral loss and the impeachment of Trump for instigating a deadly insurgency a short distance from the U.S. Capitol on January 6, inflicting enormous damage to reputation.
On January 20, Trump boarded the Marine One helicopter to start a new post-presidential life at his luxurious Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, robbing the hotel of one of its biggest draws. A week later, The New York Times reported that the lobby was largely vacant, with waiters and staff outnumbering customers.
There was little mourning in Washington itself, where Joe Biden won 92% of the vote against 5% for Trump. Beyond official duties, the 45th president has rarely been seen in the city, rarely visiting museums or theaters and only dining in the Trump Hotel itself.
Last month, the Washingtonian reported that Table 72 in a round stall at the hotel’s steakhouse was perpetually reserved for the president in case he decided to go on the spur of the moment. The magazine also said it had obtained a “standard operating procedure” document that staff were to follow whenever Trump arrived.
“As soon as Trump was seated, the waiter was to ‘discretely present’ a mini bottle of Purell hand sanitizer. (This applied long before Covid, mind you.), ”He reported. “Then indicate the dialogue: ‘Good (time of day) Mr. President. Do you want your diet coke with or without ice? the waiter was instructed to recite.
“A polished tray with chilled bottles and highball glasses was already prepared for either response. The instructions for pouring the soda were detailed in a process of no less than seven steps – and illustrated with four photo exhibitions. The brew was to be opened in front of the germophobic commander-in-chief, “never before.”
“The waiter had to hold a long neck bottle opener by the lower third of the handle in one hand and Diet Coke, also by the lower third, in the other. Once poured, the drink was to be placed to the right of the president. “Repeat until POTUS leaves.” “
Trump always ate the same meal: shrimp cocktail, well-cooked steak and fries, sometimes with apple pie or chocolate cake for dessert, according to the Washingtonian. “The manual instructed the waiter to open mini glass bottles of Heinz ketchup in front of Trump, making sure he could hear the seal make the ‘pop’ sound.”
A platter of crisps, chocolates, granola bars, Tic Tac, gelatin bears, Oreos, chocolate covered raisins and other snacks had to be on hand. The magazine added that Trump once asked why his table mate got a steak bigger than him, while First Lady Melania Trump returned a Dover sole because she was dressed in parsley and chives .
The hotel and its steakhouse have witnessed a cavalcade of Maga stars, from lawyer Rudy Giuliani to White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, from Florida congressman Matt Gaetz to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and his wife, British actor Louise Linton, even lived there for a while.
Members of the Trump family also featured prominently, a raffle for fans looking for selfies, and guests could indulge in “The Spa by Ivanka Trump,” including a “Salt Room”. Himalayas “and a” fitness center with the latest Technogym equipment “- but temporarily closed due to Covid-19. The bar was a place to sit and watch multiple TV screens showing sports or Fox News.
It was, in fact, a Trump embassy in this otherwise liberal city. Quinn observed, “He never went anywhere except the Trump Hotel and most of his people didn’t, so it was like an occupying army. You didn’t see them and everyone kind of told their life story, but there was this horrible black cloud over our heads.“
In 2019, Trump reportedly tried to sell the hotel for around $ 500 million, but those plans are now on hold. The hotel measures nine floors and has 263 rooms. A casual look at its website shows rooms available starting at $ 476 a night, suites starting at $ 1,122 a night, and signature suites starting at $ 1,316 a night.
Kevin Chaffee, editor of Washington Life magazine, said: “The Trump hotel has been in trouble for some time and without it being there people don’t need to curry favor in it. remaining. Some embassies have organized their events there and they don’t need to do it now.
He added: “The bar was like the mess of the White House, but these people have no reason to meet and try to find out what’s going on there anymore because the man is gone. So it must be like a ghost town.
The Trumps have left little other trace in Washington. The former president’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, left a mansion they had rented in the Kalorama neighborhood while working as senior advisers at the White House.
The couple have since moved into a luxury condominium in Miami, Florida. Their old home is listed by realtors as still available for rent for $ 18,000 per month. It has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, spans 5,016 square feet and is a stone’s throw from the home of Barack and Michelle Obama.
Jack Shrestha, owner of Kalorama Guest House, which is one mile away, said: “The people in my neighborhood where I live are over 90% Democrats, so they’re happy Trump is gone. But I am a business owner. I’m not taking sides. To me, it doesn’t even matter.
“Ivanka’s son went to the school my daughter attended, a Jewish school in Cleveland Park. So I saw her drop the child there. We didn’t say much because they told us not to talk to him and take pictures or whatever.
Washington is dotted with memorials, monuments and statues of past presidents. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are already making themselves visible. For now, however, Trump’s hotel guarantees that his name remains written in gold letters on Pennsylvania Avenue, arguably America’s most famous street.
Quinn commented: “I suspect that whoever buys it will take off all the gilding and trim and turn it into something else that really doesn’t look like Trump.”
[ad_2]
Source link