Uh, oh. the president’s Trump hotel on Central Park West is in big trouble as is much of the travel and hospitality business. The hotel must be 70 percent full at $600 per night to even break even. Beginning in November, it has been only 16 percent full. As much as Donald Trump tries to wish away the coronavirus and throw the empty catchphrases, his hotel is simply crashing due to the pandemic.
The Trump luxury hotel’s executives were depressed about the hotel’s financial health. After 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, they told investors that the hotel’s business heads down in direct proportion to the number of cases increasing. At this point in time, the virus is breaking all of its previous grim records, hitting over 3,000 deaths per day which would be another 123,000 before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. And that is only if the 3,000 number remains fixed, which is unlikely.
The hotel’s general manager (GM) Matthew Vandegrift said on a conference call with investors who own individual rooms, according to The Washington Post:
‘While we were seeing encouraging signs of growth and recovery, that momentum tempered down towards the end of October, with rising covid cases nationwide. The momentum we were experiencing has slowed as of late November.’
The high-end restaurant in the Trump hotel has to abide by New York City’s lockdown restrictions. Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten said that Trump’s company cut his rent by 25 percent. During the first lockdown, he had to lay off 216 employees. Now the city will be looking at another lockdown as the number of cases surge again.
Vongerichten said:
‘We have no idea [what to expect].’
The Trump Organization receives its income from hotel management, but it does not own the building. Long ago, it sold off individual rooms to investors. They do not anticipate a profit this year, and will possibly have to invest more money just to keep the hotel running.
An executive showed losses of nine million for the whole hotel broken out by various categories of the rooms. Next year does not look any better. The executive indicated they anticipate losing up to 7.5 million dollars.
On the conference call, one investor asked:
‘Besides the money we unit owners have been losing in 2020, do we still have to wire more money?’
Douglas Russell chairs the building board. Donald Trump Jr. is also on the board. Russell said:
‘You’re certainly going to have to wire more money for 2021.’
The previous one million dollar hotel management fee may fall “substantially in 2020.”
Although Donald Trump handed off his business to his two sons, Don Trump Jr. and Eric. Most people who know the president do not believe he has been a disinterested bystander. If he chooses to head his company again, which appears quite likely, then the pandemic will be a substantial worry to him if it is not already.
The business sector that Trump has been counting on maybe lose hundreds more jobs to the pandemic. It could also mean Trump shuts down his Vancouver, B.C. hotel indefinitely. At this point, the Trump hotel executives on the conference call said they had temporarily laid off around 80 employees since the start of the pandemic.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
