To see how many folks would defriend me on Facebook, I decided to stay at the Trump Hotel (#1 ranked on TripAdvisor) during a recent business trip to D.C.
The hotel is located in one of the most impressive buildings in Washington, D.C., the 1899 Old Post Office. This became derelict by the 1970s and a 1983 revival attempt failed to turn it into a viable shopping mall. Trump leased it in 2013, fixed it up, and opened it as a hotel just in time for the 2016 coup d’etat (in which the rightful heiress to the U.S. throne failed to obtain it).
The ornate Trump style for which even he has mocked himself (see this 2004 episode of Saturday Night Live: “This place looks like the Liberace Museum”; “Who did your decorating? Saddam Hussein?”) works pretty well in an ornate Victorian-era building. Bring on the gold leaf!
Basic rooms are about $400/night (roughly 20 percent cheaper than comparably luxurious hotels). A pet is $50 extra. The bathroom featured enough marble to entomb a Communist leader (Bernie Sanders will eventually have his mausoleum here?).
A shaving kit was provided quickly and graciously by the front desk. The included razor was a three-blade Gillette, thus linking the Trump brand to a fight against toxic masculinity and to a celebration of transgenderism. Performance was truly terrible compared to anything made by Dorco.
The gym was huge (by hotel standards), with a full selection of weights, cardio, and other equipment. It was usually empty. Sadly, the gym restroom was not marked “all gender”:
Food in the hotel is served in the main glassed-over courtyard room. Breakfast is great, at typically high luxury hotel prices. The evening steakhouse is superb, with waitstaff who are obviously quite serious about cuisine. The Trump Organization does seem to have a knack for hiring great people. Everyone in the hotel is welcoming.
One nit: The courtyard, and therefore restaurants, is suffused with a soft techno-style thumping music. This might make sense at a W Hotel (which I can’t stand!) or in Miami, but Mozart string quartets would make a lot more sense given the decor.
My Facebook friends were outraged as predicted. A national bank “community relations” executive told me that the Trump hotels were her favorite and she would always try to get a room in a Trump property for any business trip to a city where the empires. She is even more passionate about her love for Obama and Hillary, however, and stopped patronizing Trump hotels in 2016.
A DC-based lawyer with whom I work said that he was a regular drinks/dining customer at the Trump D.C. hotel, but has shied away since Trump won the election.
Given that the intensity of Trump hatred among Democrats is much stronger than the intensity of Trump love among Republicans, I wonder if the narrative that Trump hotels are getting a boost in business from his presidency is false. Maybe there are some folks who think it is fun to be a Trump customer and perhaps there are some foreigners who think that Trump will do their bidding if they are regular guests. But these have to be outweighed by those who want to demonstrate their virtue by never setting foot in a Trump-named enterprise again.
(A friend at a local Harvard Club event was listening to a talk about negotiating difficult deals. The speaker said that one had to find something to “appreciate” about the person on the other side. Once that bond had been made it might be possible to make progress. As an example, then, he asked a woman in the audience “What can you appreciate about Donald Trump?” She answered immediately, and in a huff: “Nothing.” It doesn’t seem as though she will be a customer of Trump D.C. any time soon!)
Democrats have not explained how the influence would work. I would have loved it if the room had included a doorknob hang tag with the guest’s desired change to federal regulations (my pick: FAR 135.160!).
Some more views….
Related:
- https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2016/09/28/presidential-debate-thoughts-did-trump-miss-some-simple-answers/ (my previous stay in a Trump hotel coincided with the first Presidential debate of 2016)
Given that the intensity of Trump hatred among Democrats is much stronger than the intensity of Trump love among Republicans
This is not a reasonable statement given the millions wearing those red hats.
How are “millions wearing those red hats” when https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-trump-maga-hat-factory-california-make-america-great-again-2018-8 says “According to the campaign, hundreds of thousands of the hats have been sold since Trump began his first presidential run.”
Are people (haters and Deplorables!) taking turns wearing each hat? Or are there a ton of knockoff MAGA hats being sold and worn?
There are many of us who love Trump..we are not high shool educated athletes, disillusioned holywood types, late night talk.show hosts or millienial attic dwellers. Our jobs don’t entail microphones in our faces. We have better manners and are busy serving communities, working and actually rasing our children. See you in 2020
“Democrats have not explained how the influence would work.”
Do you really require an explanation on how bribery works?
I do require an explanation! I paid what the Democrats say was a bribe and, so far, all that I received in exchange was lodging for two nights, breakfast, and dinner.
Sad attempt at trolling to be honest. Start with booking hundreds of rooms for conventions might get you in the door. Better yet, help arrange a light deal for a pedophile human trafficking friend you have in common.
10-15: If you’re confident that booking hundreds of rooms lets me pick a Supreme Court justice or set tariffs on billions of imports, why doesn’t booking one room entitle me to a small change in a federal regulation?
The Democrats suing Trump have not only figured out that the hotel is a bribery mechanism, but that the mechanism is highly nonlinear?
Of course, it’s nonlinear. A million dollar donation to a campaign can get you a meeting with the president. A hundred dollar donation won’t eve get you a meeting with a low-level FAA official.
Do I understand correctly that the only difference between Trump and the DNC is the amount you are expected to pay in bribes? Please, please tell me who’s cheaper. I need to decide who to vote for before I get deported.
This is a great example of the bad faith arguments that you make – “I stayed at a Trump Hotel and no one asked me for policy changes, therefore corruption does not exist within the Trump Organisation” Brilliant.
Do you think all the current lawsuits against the Trump Organisation are without merit? It’s astounding all these Republican appointed judges don’t simply toss them out then!
For your next hotel review about a nice flight down to Charlottesville, to visit and taste wines at the Trump Winery. They have a nice sparkling wine, although I think the Jefferson Winery a couple miles away has the better rose.
I love your thought about requesting a FAR change.
So how many people de-friended you???
What was that coupon again? Was it TRUMP-PUTIN-2020? ’cause -2016 has probably expired.
Do you know by any chance if the -2024 series is in the works?
Still no Trump+Pence signs. Any nominations from the gallery?