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When the US President comes to your hotel ...

When the US President comes to your hotel ...

Old Sep 2, 2006, 12:50 pm
  #1  
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When the US President comes to your hotel ...

... you let him stay in the $4,600 per night Presidential Suite -- and the Secret Service in the floors above and below. Oh, and you replace the windows with bulletproof glass, and add sixty phone lines.

Photos: http://extras.sltrib.com/tribphoto/g...2&sort=Gallery

Article:
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4279089
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Old Sep 2, 2006, 1:21 pm
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Why would they want land lines coming through a hotel PBX?

And why else would one want to have a presidential suite?
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Old Sep 2, 2006, 3:31 pm
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In major cities I often find there is one hotel better for hosting high-security guests and then there are not-so-great hotels for "meeting" such needs. However, for most guests, I suggest avoiding the hotels when someone's stay demands such security since it could well infringe upon enjoyment of the property at the same time as such a visitor.
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Old Sep 3, 2006, 12:24 pm
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
In major cities I often find there is one hotel better for hosting high-security guests and then there are not-so-great hotels for "meeting" such needs.
One example is the Century Plaza in Los Angeles. With consultation by the Secret Service (remember that it was only a few years after the killing of JFK), the hotel was designed in the mid-1960s with special features, such as an easily-secured underground entrance, so that presidential limos could be loaded and unloaded out of public eye. I remember attending an anti-Vietnam rally there in 1974 when Gerald Ford was staying there - people were waiting for Ford's limo to emerge into the Avenue of the Stars, however, word soon spread that he had already gone out the private exit.
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Old Sep 3, 2006, 12:54 pm
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Originally Posted by TierFlyer
Why would they want land lines coming through a hotel PBX?

And why else would one want to have a presidential suite?
According to the newspaper article, the additional phone lines bypassed the PBX, and were "secured", whatever that really means.

By the way, the suite that the president stayed in has more square footage than my house.
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Old Sep 3, 2006, 12:55 pm
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
In major cities I often find there is one hotel better for hosting high-security guests and then there are not-so-great hotels for "meeting" such needs. However, for most guests, I suggest avoiding the hotels when someone's stay demands such security since it could well infringe upon enjoyment of the property at the same time as such a visitor.
According to the article, the regular guests were required to pass through metal detectors and were not allowed to park in the hotel's underground parking. Since nearly all of the Grand America's parking IS underground, that left me wondering where they did park.

... the president was not Grand America's only celebrated occupant last week. In addition to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and political strategist Karl Rove, the Grand America also hosted the Dave Matthews Band and headliners for a motivational seminar at the Delta Center, including retired basketball star John Stockton and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
A golf tournament at Thanksgiving Point brought sports celebrities to the hotel last week, too, leading to an impromptu meeting between "Condi" and Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam on Monday.
Hotel staffers told Fery that Rice was pleasant and chatty while being served in her executive suite, which was outfitted with an elliptical trainer for her visit. Rice's only last-minute request was for Diet Pepsi with Lemon.
According to public relations manager Shannon Short, the biggest challenge of Bush's visit was ensuring that other guests, whether famous or not, received elite service despite sharing a hotel with the president of the United States.
"Not everyone knows what Five-Diamond service is," said Short, referring to [the hotel's] coveted designation from travel group AAA, "but they know if they don't get it."
Although guests could not use underground parking, and had to go through security checks in the lobby, Fery said no one became irate.
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Old Sep 3, 2006, 2:39 pm
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I arrived for a stay at The Waldorf Towers in NYC the day after President Clinton had his 50th birthday bash at the hotel. Despite the Presidential Motorcade having departing, there still were blockades around the hotel, helicopters flying overhead and the place was swarming with police and agents of various kinds. To get to the hotel was hell, getting through the 50th Street entrance even harder. It seemed that I was being followed by Secret Service agents wherever I went. Metal detectors, those magnetic wands, etc.... quite a nuisance but also quite interesting.....
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Old Sep 3, 2006, 7:13 pm
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Security Was Less

I was in the Century Plaza (as a visitor) when Nixon was making a visit (1974?). A friend and I got into the elevator and rode up to the floor on which the presidential suite was located. There were secret service agents at the door of the elevator and they told us that we were not allowed onto that floor. I believe that today you would be stopped before your elevator arrived on his floor.
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Old Sep 3, 2006, 7:19 pm
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I once stayed at the Hyatt in downtown Houston while Dan Quayle's wife was giving a speech. The Secret Service commandered the elevators and turned them into a complete mess that lasted for days after Mrs. Quayle's departure. Stay away when the government VIPs are staying in a hotel.

Last edited by KansasMike; Sep 3, 2006 at 7:22 pm Reason: mispelling
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Old Sep 7, 2006, 7:31 am
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Originally Posted by KansasMike
I once stayed at the Hyatt in downtown Houston while Dan Quayle's wife was giving a speech. The Secret Service commandered the elevators and turned them into a complete mess that lasted for days after Mrs. Quayle's departure. Stay away when the government VIPs are staying in a hotel.

I was staying at the Hyatt in downtown Houston in 1998 when Clinton was staying in the hotel. Apart from a few burly men in dark suits with wires coming out of their ears hanging around the atrium, the only disruption to normal life was that there were barricades set up about a block around the hotel in each direction. My cab could not get near the hotel and I had to drag my luggage a block and a half to checkin.
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Old Sep 7, 2006, 9:26 am
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Living in washington DC i can definitely agree - unless you are ok with long unexpected and unexplained delays steer clear of any presidential situation.

Not hotel related, but personal experience - I live in an urban area of DC. Walked out of my front door one evening and our entire street was cordoned off by secret service and local police because President was at a function 1 block down. Walked the other direction, had dinner and came back and attempted to get back into our building which was about 30 feet past where the street was blocked off.

It is pouring rain by the way. Police officer says stop the street is closed. I point to my front door and say I live right there so I continue walking (obviously a mistake). He yells "SIR - STOP RIGHT THERE" and moves to draw his weapon. So I back up and stand under a store-front awning for 20 minutes while this poor guy stands out in the middle of the street in the absolute pouring rain. He actually drew his weapon on a car that inadvertently turned down the street and made the driver get out of the car in the middle of the street and stand there for 10 minutes with no umbrella or anything - they driver was in a sports coat and could not have gotten any wetter if he had jumped in a pool.


Eventually they just opened the street - no motorcade came through. Assuming this was a backup / emergency evacuation route or something.

Last edited by TMAYER; Sep 7, 2006 at 11:32 am
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Old Sep 7, 2006, 9:38 am
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Portions of the post that previously appeared in this space have been deleted. I would provide you with a reason why, but doing so would likely be against the TOS.

Last edited by uncertaintraveler; Dec 22, 2008 at 10:35 am
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Old Sep 7, 2006, 9:48 am
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I try and stay away from the same hotel as they are staying in. During the last elections I was 'lucky' enough to be with the Prez, VP, and Kerry/Edwards SEVERAL times during the month, I always made sure I was far enough away from where they were, but it did help that the Secret Service knew who I was, so I could bypass many of the things that the 'General Public' have to face.
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Old Sep 7, 2006, 10:24 am
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Originally Posted by uncertaintraveler
As a serious question (as in, I don't intend to make this a "political" issue), under what authority or law does the President or other "high-ranking" government official, or any member of their security detail, have the right to keep a U.S. citizen from enjoying and entering their own property during a presidential visit?
Fully agree with you and it drives me crazy, but I have a little more sympathy when it is presidential security. What really gets me steamed are the frequent small motorcades of one or two secret service / FBI / SUVs that drive like they are protecting the president, swerving, blocking streets, etc. when they are actually transporting some low-level person whose name i have never even heard.

Getting really off-topic now, there was an interesting issue recently in DC. Bush needed to go from DC to Virginia recently near rush hour. Secret Service made a request to Virginia Department of Transportation to shut down a major portion of a major highway (HOV lane on 395) during rush hour. VDOT said "no way" as they estimated it would inconvenience tens of thousands of drivers and cause a traffic jam that would last from rush hour until about 10pm. Secret Service tried to push it and thankfully VDOT stood firm. Bush eventually took a helicopter.

Of course, after the fact no one would take responsibility for the request. Lots of "we didn't realize it would inconvenience that many drivers. once we found that out, we rescinded the request". Yeah right.
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Old Sep 7, 2006, 10:37 am
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I stayed at the Hyatt on Capitol Square in Columbus, OH in late October 2004 with GWB literally a week and a few days before the election.

It was very cool to watch, Secret Service was EVERYWHERE (in dress and plain clothes) including going up and down all the elevators all of Friday and Saturday morning until he departed in addition to snipers on other building rooftops.
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