Whew, the Renaissance Mayflower is having a bang-up year. First former NY governor Eliot Spitzer was revealed to have paid for a pricey session with a call girl in room 871 under the guise of Client No. 9.
Now, the hotel has suffered from a minor fire. A generator on the roof burned out early this morning causing the hotel to evacuate all guests for 30 minutes (at 4:30am, mind you) including the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern.
No injuries were reported and guests were allowed back in their rooms. This looks like the same thing that happened at the Gansevoort South the other week. Is 2008 the year of Hotel Fires?
There's a silver lining in the Eliot Spitzer-HookerGate after all.
The hotel which was the scene of the tryst with call girl Ashley Dupree, The Mayflower Hotel, is doing amazing business with its gift shop wares. The Daily News reports:
Everything from teddy bears ($18.99) to terry-cloth bathrobes ($69.99) marked with the Mayflower's logo has been flying off the shelves of the luxury hotel's tiny gift shop, [hotel spokesman Mark] Andre said.
And people are a little zealous about getting some other mementos from the hotel. Someone even pried off the original Room 871 tag from the wall, forcing the hotel to put up a replacement tag. Yeah, that's a little crazy.
Another service at the hotel that will probably do big business? The weekend romantic getaway which the hotel spokesperson also plugged. It's not just for couples of the traditional sort. Call girls and johns welcome too!
Following revelations that high-priced call girl "Kristen," a.k.a. Ashley Alexandra Dupré, met Client No. 9, alias Eliot Spitzer, at Washington's Mayflower Hotel, The New York Times has written a story that paints the property as an upscale bordello.
The article details the various dalliances and scandals that have gone down at the Marriott-owned property, naming it as a favorite of President Kennedy for his numerous indiscretions; as the place former Washington Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr. smoked crack; and where House members interviewed Monica Lewinsky during the impeachment of Bill Clinton--specifically, in the hotel's 10th-floor Presidential Suite. Oh, the irony.
Of course the daily comings and goings of the hotel, just steps from the White House, aren't all so lascivious. J. Edgar Hoover lunched there every day for 20 years and Franklin Roosevelt penned his first inaugural speech in Room 776, The Times points out.
But who cares? The details on how the hotel staff looked the other way at such gossip-worthy comings and goings are far more interesting. "We are in the business of selling rooms," an anonymous former manager of the Mayflower told the paper, "[a]nd the escort services are in the business of keeping our guests happy."
All of this leaves us wondering: How will this tally sheet affect the Mayflower's reputation? Will the Mayflower clean house of its staff? Or will the hotel become a pit stop on the "Sex Lives of Politicians" tour?
The Examiner's Yeas and Nays political blog scored pictures of room 871 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC which has now become infamous as the tryst location for Gov. Eliot Spitzer and a high-priced prostitute.
And we know at least one of you were wondering yesterday if he checked in under a fake name and it turns out he was a fan of the moniker of George Fox which is actually the name of one of Spitzer's friends and donors. Classy guy.
Hotels and prostitutes go together like peanut butter and jelly so there's no surprise when you find out some ladies of the evening are hitting up lodging establishments to do business.
But when you find out a high-ranking political official like New York's governor Eliot Spitzer, was arranging to meet a hooker, er excuse us high-priced prostitute, in a hotel room, allegedly, that's when things start to get interesting.
It's not quite unusual--politicians and prostitutes also go together like peanut butter and jelly (esp. in DC)--but it is shocking. Not so much for the act, but hello, you're a married governor doing something illegal. Did you really think you would not get caught? Did we not learn anything from the McGreevey days of 2004?
Anyways after the jump are the detes on the wiretap on a prostitution ring that identified Client 9 as Spitzer himself and had him arranging a meeting at DC's Mayflower Hotel.
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven PBB imagines where he'd stay when visiting the nation's capital. Enjoy.
In honor of the cherry blossoms we missed a few weeks ago--and to toast a friend--I'm heading down Washington, DC this weekend. Sadly, a hotel paradise does not await me. But if I had my way, I'd be checking in to Kimpton's Hotel Madera.
And not just for the free WiFi, either. Smack in the middle of Dupont Circle, it's within striking distance of plenty of cool cafes and museums. The hotel's free happy hour can't hurt either, even if it is a play right out of Drury Inn's handbook. Plus, how can you not love a place that has animal-print pillows and robes in the rooms. True, the staff doesn't ballet, but you can't have it all, right?
We can always count on Kimpton Hotels to help us out with a patriotic package over the 4th of July in Washington, D.C.
Since the politicians will be back home, dispensing sound bites to the locals, the nation's capital will be devoid of lobbyists over the 4th of July. So it's a good time to wave a flag, watch some fireworks, and get a decent rate on a D.C. hotel. For some style, we like the trippy Hotel Topaz at Dupont Circle. Where else in the area can you get "attendants dressed in sunburst tunics"?
You can stay any night between July 1 and July 4 for only $125 a night, which includes free WiFi, bathrobes, and energy drinks to get you going in the morning. It's an easy stumble to and from the elevator to their hotspot nightclub, with "plush couches upholstered in sapphire velvet mohair."
They also offer plenty of packages to choose from, including "The Big Rub" with a his and hers in-room massage, and a "Transcend the Sights" package that includes 4 Metro passes and a night bike tour. Alas, you'll have to phone to book any of the packages since none of them show up on the booking site.
And if you're not interested in DC for the holiday, Kimpton is offering a fourth night free at participating hotels between Thursday June 29 and Tuesday July 4.
Ahh, Easter in Washington, D.C. Can't you just smell the status anxiety? That's what happens when everyone who's anyone tries to get their family invited to the White House Easter Egg Roll. For the rest of us, who have to hunt for parking, not eggs in the nation's capital, and want to enjoy the cherry blossoms and a taste of spring, Washington in April can be an ideal place to spend Easter weekend.
The Hilton Embassy Row, right off DuPont circle, is offering an Easter special this year, with free parking for the entirety of the weekend and a comped breakfast. Rooms start at $149 a night. The eggs will be especially fortifying if you are indeed invited to the Easter Egg Roll, but if you're not, you can always spend the weekend at the National Gallery. We prefer pancakes, anyway.
Whew, the Renaissance Mayflower is having a bang-up year. First former NY governor Eliot Spitzer was revealed to have paid for a pricey session with a call girl in room 871 under the guise of Client No. 9.
2 Comments - Add Yours
by juliana
There's a silver lining in the Eliot Spitzer-HookerGate after all.
We can always count on 
