Search

×

Exactly who is going to dare enter Room 301?

Kimpton’s ‘social experiment’: It’s not a crazy question, especially because the teaser video for the room, which exists for a limited time at Hollywood’s Kimpton Everly Hotel, shows guests interacting with previous and future guests via an iPad, a guest book, and an instant photo camera. So of course, aside from the legality questions around guests who don’t know one another sharing information, this also just kind of sounds like, well, you know, work, versus a relaxing stay in a California hotel. We’ll see how the “experiment” goes. —Chloe Riley

A still from the Room 301 teaser video.
A still from the Room 301 teaser video.

Stand up for your rights: In an era of increasing discord between left and right leaning citizens, The Standard brand is putting its name behind immigration rights. The progressive and chic hotel group just launched “Chefs Stand Up,” a dinner series that will benefit the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Immigrants’ Rights Project because, as The Standard puts it, “We’re one diverse, eccentric family, and families stand up for each other.” The group has invited a wide array of chefs to create one-time-only dinners and artworks inspired by the immigrant communities that support the hospitality industry. A portion of proceeds from all nine dinners will go to the ACLU project. —Jeff Weinstein

 


Making good? MGM Resorts, after prompting an epic backlash from surviving victims of the 2017 mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas by announcing that it was suing all of them (read more about that here), is taking a step to fix its image – and simplify the legal process. The owner of Mandalay Bay, where Stephen Paddock opened fire on the nearby crowd, is offering to make a US$500 charitable donation for each defendant who agrees to waive being served with its lawsuit. “This is not only standard practice, it also allows us the opportunity to take the money that would be spent on personal service and use it to support community organizations working to benefit the victims of the tragedy,” a company representative told NPR. More than 1,900 people are named as defendants in the suit. —Barbara Bohn

 


A union concession in Toronto: A union negotiation in the city included an interesting concession from the operators of a Marriott hotel there. Unifor Local 7575 said its members at the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville have ratify a contract that includes protections for room attendants from losing hours as a result of environmental programs that allow guest to decline housekeeping services. Eventually, the union said, all financial incentives for guests to decline housekeeping services will be phased out. The union estimates the new language will save as many as 28 shifts per week. In a busy season of union negotiations that have stalled in Chicago and are tenuous in Boston and Hawaii, chalk one up for workers. —J.W.

 


Why the Queens boom could come to an end: According to an analysis by New York-based The Real Deal, August saw new building permits issued for six Queens hotel projects totaling 1,263 dwelling units, the highest numbers on record for any one borough in any one month. Queens has historically been the city’s second largest hotel market after Manhattan, thanks to two major airports, but that might continue to be the case due to a potential zoning amendment that could potentially slow development.  

  


‘An anthem of resistance’: A movie chronicling the 2008 attack on the Taj Mahal Mumbai in which more than 160 people were killed and hundreds wounded received a standing ovation during it premier last week at the famed Toronto Film Festival. The cast and filmmakers said they believe it is getting such positive attention because of the human portrayal not only of the victims but also the perpetrators, Pakistan-based Islamist militants. Most of the film is told from the point of view of those trapped in the hotel, and also from that of the gunmen, writes Reuters. “You had a whole lot of people from different backgrounds, racial, ethnic, from different socioeconomic groups who came together in the face of real adversity to survive,” Australian director Anthony Maras told a news conference on Saturday. “As Dev (Patel, lead actor in the film) said yesterday, ‘it’s an anthem of resistance.’” —J.W.

Comment