Marriott evacuates its remaining guests from New Orleans (09/02/2005)

[brooklynite]

WASHINGTON -- Marriott International at press time had chartered motorcoaches and hired a cadre of security guards help secure the evacuation of 350 guests and employees still remaining in its Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott are the last two of 15 Marriott-branded hotels in New Orleans that remained occupied. Most of the guests and employees were in the Ritz-Carlton, a 575-room property on Canal Street.

Officials, speaking during a telephone press conference Sept. 1, said moving them over to the JW Marriott, a few blocks away, was proving to be cumbersome due to the fact that the Ritz-Carlson was surrounded by about four feet of water.

“It has been very difficult to get the people out,” said Jeff Wolf, Marriott’s regional vice president of marketing operations. “We have been able to move 600 people through and get them evacuated” to the JW Marriott, where motorcoaches were waiting to transport them to Baton Rouge, La.

At one point during the storm, the hotels provided shelter to as many as 2,500 people.

http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=480...
- - -
Recognizing that a company like this can't help everyone, I'd hate to think they turned away people in their hotels that weren't guests.

[ElectroPrincess]

1. Oh those poor inconvenienced rich people ...

having to slum it by riding in motorcades <shriek> to Baton Rouge. I doubt if any of those bloated bastards are dehydrated? But gee, a bunch of yorkies, e.g., lap dogs, probably missed their daily bath-time fun for a few horrific days.

[iamjoy]

2. Have Some Sympathy For The Employees

of the hotel. They have been working for nearly a week straight, trying to make their guests comfortable, probably getting yelled at because the a/c is not working and the food is lousy.

I think this was a good call by Marriott, not waiting for the government who is doing too little too late and have too many people with no other means to care for. I am glad Marriott is at least helping their own.

[ElectroPrincess]

3. If all their employees were included on this extraction, then yes,

for that I would salute them. However, I would not bet money on that assumption.

[caligirl]

9. but the military did not comandere their buses, like they did others

paying 25,000 of thier private $$ and then being stopped at gun point by the police.

[Extend a Hand]

4. I heard a phone call from someone in the Ritz...

There were a bunch of infectious disease doctors in there that had set up a field hospital until they ran out of supplies.

[lisby]

6. I think you're misunderstanding the situation

Those hotels were out of food and water just like anyone else. A woman at the Ritz said on NPR that the staff had given each person in the hotel 1 small cookie yesterday. A convention of infectious disease doctors was at the hotel holding a conference and they took over the lobby to treat the sick and injured. The staff/guests pooled $25,000 to bring in charter buses to get people out of the city, and someone--FEMA, military?--commandeered the buses they'd paid for. These people were just as hot, thirsty, hungry, terrified, and ill as everyone in the city. Instead of waiting for help, they tried to help themselves. Police on the street where telling people yesterday "Every man for themselves." What do you expect desperate people to do?

EVERY victim in NO deserves respect right now. They have been fighting for their lives.We know the poor are suffering disproportionately, but that does not mean the proportion of economically better off people still in the city should be denigrated as rich snobs who wouldn't accept a ride with the Great Unwashed. I doubt any of them gives a fuck *how* they get out of NO. As someone who has stayed at these hotels in the past, I know that after no food or water for days, I'd ride out on top of a truck just like anyone else of any economic strata and be damned glad of the lift.

Lisby

[brentspeak]

10. You've got a lot of hate, inside

[ElectroPrincess]

13. And you are oh so perfectly understanding ... and rich people don't

HOARD their wealth. When is Paris Hilton going to be named as humanitarian of the year? Oh, she just shit-canned her pet because little fi fi became "too big" for her to carry.

Yeah, the vast majority of the wealthy are such giving people. Guess that's why they are so damn GREEDY!

But cool, you continue to believe that economical class doesn't matter.

[mondo joe]

15. Believe me, Paris Hilton isn't staying at the Mariott. n/t

[LostinVA]

51. Most people at the Marriott aren't gonna be rich

But middle class, or people who saved up for a nice trip, or used Hotwire.

[JoFerret]

32. And you are full of love

...sweetness and light.
'tis a joy.

Peace.

[guruoo]

48. 100% Justifiable, I believe

[philosophie_en_rose]

44. Come on!

The Marriot is taking care of its employees and its guest. It should and it has.

That doesn't mean that anyone deserves less. It's the government's job to help.

Any time that someone is helped is good.

[guruoo]

45. School busses diverted to evacuate Hyatt guests

Guardsmen Evacuate Refugees From Superdome

By MARY FOSTER
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - National Guardsmen helped evacuate the mass of storm refugees from the Superdome on Friday, where thousands were stuck in knee-deep trash and blacked-out, putrid bathrooms.

``This was the worst night of my life,'' one mother said.

At one point, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line - much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome since Sunday.

``How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out
ahead of us?'' exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their
line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage.
<snip>
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/stor...

[progressivebydesign]

5. God, what stupid-ass responses here.

I'm sorry, but if I'm staying in a city and there is a disaster, I'd probably be quite grateful that I would not be turned into the street. How in world could this be spun negatively??? If it were your Mom or sister staying in that hotel or working there, you'd all be singing an entirely different tune. And.. since when do you have to be "rich" to stay in a hotel?? Plenty of working folks travel for business, and plenty of non-rich folks save for vacations.

[lisby]

7. Count me as one of them.

I'm no fucking millionaire. My company pays for me. Otherwise I'd be in Motel 6.

Lisby

[progressivebydesign]

11. Me, too. Not rich but have stayed in better hotels that way. n/t

[ElectroPrincess]

16. Gosh, the liberal upper middle class don't know what an average

American (middle, not upper-middle CLASS) sees as a "good" hotel. Hint = Hotel 8 or any available under $50.

You are part of the investor class, therefore you ARE special to the power brokers.

[LostinVA]

52. What? I'm upper lower class, and I stay at "nice" hotels

I use Priceline, Hotwire, call and badger them for good rack rates, buy a package, etc. I'm definitely not part of the investor class. And, I've stayed in VERY nice hotels on conferences that my employer paid for. The Hyatt and Marriott's are used by alot of conventions.

[ElectroPrincess]

14. Well, I'd bet "YOUR company" would not think twice about giving

you or others a "pink slip" should there be a merger? Ever consider that fact?

[mondo joe]

17. I think you sort of missed the point, which is that staying at a hotel

doesn't mean you're wealthy. A lot of people have to travel for work and stay in hotels they couldn't afford personally.

[ElectroPrincess]

20. If you HAVE to stay in the Marriott or Hyatt, then you are NOT

working or middle class ... you are part of the investor class. You may be a democrat but you don't know the Average American Worker who scrapes by from paycheck to paycheck. Nope, just count yourself fortunate and thankfully enlightened to care for those who are poor and disenfranchised. But no, you are NOT hurting in any way if you *must stay* in such upscale hotels.

[mondo joe]

21. Bull. Shit. You don't know what you're talking about.

When work puts you up in a hotel you stay where they send you.

And you have ZERO fucking idea what other people's income is or why they're there.

What do you think the AVERAGE American earns anyway?

I'll count myself fortunate to be a lot more enlightened than some DU posters.

[sellitman]

25. You have NO IDEA how my family & I scrape by.

I stay in Hotels weekly for my job as an East Coast Regional Manager. My solo salary is barely enough to pay all the bills. You my young lady are way off base here. I suggest you practice your hatred on those better deserving than those who stay in Hotels. We are not all what you think.

[DemFromMem]

28. That's a load of crap

Sorry, but you are backpeddling as fast as a Bush on this one. Lots of middle class people go to conventions and conferences held at Marriotts. They may be paid $30 or $40K a year, but get to stay at the conference hotel when they get to go to their once a year meeting. A lot of people also go to trade shows for their jobs and the shows are usually held at these hotels. The company picks up the tab in most cases. These are just average folks.

Your message is so hateful that it makes me wonder which party you are in.

[Beausoir]

29. You are ill-informed.

C'mon and get real. The truly "rich" people were gone LONG ago from New Orleans. They are not hanging around in hotels, quaffing champagne and eating truffles. Please.

I am just glad that these folks were able to get out.

Every person that gets out is a miracle.

[NorthernSpy]

34. you're catching shit for it, but you're absolutely right

Working class people push brooms or drive buses or stock shelves or stand over a lathe all day.

Working class people do not attend conferences, hold titles like 'manager', or hang out at the Ritz Carlton.

I'd find all these faux-proles (who can always be counted on for vehement defenses of Privilege, you'll notice) funny if they weren't so friggin annoying.

[LostinVA]

55. You have no idea what you're talking about

People who work lathes make more than most people called "Manager." They make more than me, as do construction workers, mechanics, and most factory workers. I have a white collar job, and make less money than I made as an Assistant Manager in retail, and I made well under 30k then. I am working class economically, and I come from working class. There is a difference between "working class" and "menial/minimum wage." Many working class make a great deal of money, esp. if they work in a union state.

Most of us on DU are not in the "investor class." Good grief.

[TygrBright]

40. Horse puckey, Toots...

I scrape by from paycheck to paycheck, too. And when I need to travel for work, I stay whereverthehell whoever is footing the bill tells me to stay and bless my lucky stars if it has a refrigerator in the room where I can keep the bottled water I buy for myself (because I can't afford pricey 'minibar' water) cold.

Yep, sometimes The Powers That Be send me to a Marriot, sometimes to a Motel 6, sometimes to a Comfort Inn. Occasionally I've gotten lucky and experienced a really schmency joint for a night or two.

It sure as hell doesn't make me "rich" or even part of the "investor class." I hope my 1993 car makes it one more year, 'cause I don't have enough saved to replace it, even with another used high-mileage car. I hope like hell that my client actually pays my 60-day-old invoice so I can pay off my credit card before I get a late charge or interest, and so I can buy decent work shoes for cold weather.

Get a grip. I'm all for class warfare, but let's not define our allies so narrowly that we're fielding a squad against a regiment, hmmm?

impatiently,
Bright

[LostinVA]

54. Investor Class??? WTF?

The only thing I've ever "invested" in is my 1,100 square foot tract house. There are ways for people to stay in "nice" hotels and pay as much as a Day's Inn cost.

And,rich people do not generally stay in Hyatt or Marriots....

[guruoo]

49. Like Reagan said, as long as it's the other guy getting screwed

"Recession is when a neighbor loses his job.
Depression is when you lose yours."

[LostinVA]

53. What's that have to do with it?

We're saying that when we are sent to a convention by our employer, our employer puts up up in a middle class hotel -- Marriott, Ramada, Hyatt, etc.

[guruoo]

47. I've seen the conditions at the Superdome....

I don't care how much they're worth on paper,
I think the Mariott guests could have
stood to wait until after the 'dome refugees
were evacuated, even if it took a day or two longer.

[1932]

8. Two Americas: rich get rescued, poor don't.

The problem isn't that these people got rescued. The problem is that only these people got rescued.

Two Americas.

[mondo joe]

12. Well really, if you're turned out on the street it doesn't much matter

whether you're just visiting or not. Those people at the convention center were not visitors (at least not mostly), but they had it as bad as anyone.

Just saying.

[Spazito]

18. Here's an interesting bit from WWL TV regarding the evacuation

of hotel guests:

3:34 P.M. - (AP) The evacuation of Superdome refugees was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt hotel. They were move to the head of the line to be evacuated -- much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome for days.


The 700 had been trapped in the Hyatt just like the others, but conditions were considerably cleaner, even without running water, than the unsanitary crush inside the dome.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html

I find it very disturbing to say the least.

[rodeodance]

19. the convern. center 'hosts these hotels-these are the 18 buses that

bypassed the other America waiting on the side walk.

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. WTF are OFF-DUTY Policemen doing protecting the Ritz Carlton ?

There shouldn't be any OFF-DUTY policemen in NO unless they are sleeping. Something stinks here.


Sept 1, 2005


BLITZER: Do you have enough food and water right now, Phyllis?

PETRICH: Well I don't believe we have very much food left at all. I know that we didn't have any lunch today. We had just a little biscuit or a cookie for breakfast and all we're each being given is a glass of water.

BLITZER: And it's impossible for you simply to leave the hotel and walk out. Not only are there floodwaters there, but it's dangerous, the violence, the looting, the snipers. It's a very dangerous situation.

PETRICH: It is a very dangerous situation. Fortunately, the Ritz has been wonderful. Apparently they have a lot of off-duty policemen that they have access to, that are guarding the hotel with shotguns. They themselves are afraid to go outside, because policemen are being shot at. And it is a very, very difficult situation here.

And I just don't know how we can impress upon people what is really going on here. I think people just don't have a concept, and it's being glossed over. It's being handled so poorly, it just amazes us to hear what's going on outside -- that people just don't understand just the seriousness of the situation.


http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/01/sitroom....

[Danmel]

23. Why the Stereotyping ??

We stay at nice hotels when we travel- we aren't rich at all- we just take one vacation a year (due to work/time constraints, kids school schedules and elderly parents to look after). When we are on vacation, we stay at nice hotels and eat at Nice restaurants-it's our one week a year. Does that make us selfish uncaring rich fucks? I think not.

[LostinVA]

56. THank you. I've been saying that several times in this thread

My partner and I save all year so we can have ONE WEEK a year where we can eat at decent places and stay in a hotel whose walls aren't made out of paper. We use Priceline, gotoday.com, and vacation at off times of year.

Any "rich" people staying at the Marriott left a week ago....

[Redstone]

24. Excuse me, but not only rich people stay in hotels.

A lot of business travelers do as well. There are a lot of trade shows in New Orleans that businesspeople go to, and a lot of business and industry, and that means business travelers.

And, what would you think if it was you? What if you didn't consider yourself to be rich, but saved up for a nice vacation in New Orleans?

Would you like it if people assumed you were rich because you were staying at the Marriott, and resented the fact that you were able to get out?

I don't think you would. And I think you're being unfair to those people. I've conceded that I was wrong on the racism angle, but this is just petty.

All this really shows is that a private company was competent to handle a situation that the entire US Government was NOT competent to handle.

Redstone

[Gormy Cuss]

43. Thanks. I've never stayed at a Marriott on my own dime

I've stayed in many for work. I'm betting even the Ritz had guests on business accounts. For those who have never worked in places that send you off for business, you may think the rack rate is what most people pay but there are so many negotiated rates for group bookings or large corporations that the effective rate can be less than at that modest motel out by the airport. In my old job I arranged group meetings. I know this from first hand experience. To assume that everyone stuck in a pricey hotel is rich is just ill-informed.

Having said that, I couldn't think of a reason to give this story air time right now but you pointed to the competence of a private initiative vs. the government ineptitude and that was an angle I hadn't considered.

Thanks, Redstone

[Miss Chybil]

26. The Hilton snuck their guests out under the dark of night.

Vehicle lights extinguished. Through the back streets.

[subutane]

27. money

I was wondering why none of the Hotel Chains stepped up to immediately turn their hotels into living quarters for the evacuees.

I guess they were all waiting for the money.

[longship]

30. Ritz-Carlton is *'s base.

They're the mega-rich folks.
Those poor, poor folks were reduced to eating cookies.

Well, let the fuckers eat cookies!

[lithiumbomb]

31. working class folks stay in hotels...

Much of the area in question is used for all sorts of conferences, every week. If I was paying my own way, I would not stay in most of the hotels in question. But if you're at a conference paid for by your employer (I work for the gubment), you stay where the conference is. The rates are lower than retail, and often more so for government prices. Anyway, just because someone is at the Ritz, or the marriott, does not mean they are a rich republican who despises the people stranded at the convention center with no food or water. By the sounds of it, lots of non NO residents have been stranded at these big hotels. I suspect the people cover a relatively wide spectrum of races and financial situations.

[NorthernSpy]

33. no, working class folks WORK in hotels

Anyone who has uttered the phrase, "I'm in town for the conference," probably isn't working class.

[LostinVA]

57. No, working class folks STAY in hotels, too

Poverty-level working folks work in hotels. "Working class" doesn't necessarily mean minimum wage level jobs. Working class are housekeepers, teachers, secretaries, busdrivers, nurses, hospital orderlies, cooks, busboys, food store baggers, police, mechanics, retail workers, waitresses, etc. People, like me and most of DU, that scrimp and try to make it. Some of us are poor, and are treated like crap. I've been a poverty-level person. I make enough now that I am no longer afraid, but I still basically live paycheck-to-paycheck.

[monobrau]

41. exactly right

Not to menation folks like myself who used to drive to New Orleans for the weekend. I often stayed in the cheaper hotels in Slidell, but there were a couple of times when friends pooled money together and stayed in a downtown hotel. It was treat for us, but it doesn't make us rich.

[NorthernSpy]

35. aren't the sickest supposed to have priority?

There's a big difference between being uncomfortable and being close to losing ones life. There are people who are literally dying on 1their feet in New Orleans right now. Shouldn't THEY be at the front of the line?

[onager]

36. Tell me I'm not working class..

...when I'm doing 6 days a week pulling Ethernet cable under floors and using Big-Ass Power Tools on a foreign work location. Often in fairly primitive and uncomfortable conditions. Egypt, for instance.

After an 8 to 10 hour workday with no "lunch hour" (and for that matter, no lunch), and a 90-minute commute to/from the job site, I go home to a hotel.

That hotel is a Marriott for the reasons others have tried to point out. Our company is bound by the "GSA rate," just like the government. i.e., we're not allowed to stay in any hotel exceeding that rate.

The Marriott chain discounts its rooms for us and makes sure we come in under the GSA rate.

This seems like a funny thing to get pissed off about, but that's just me.

[NorthernSpy]

37. well, considering the Big Ass Power Tools...

... your application to The Working Class has been approved! You should be receiving your membership card shortly.

But any "conferencing" will still be grounds for expulsion.

As will "doing" lunch, or any other meal. It's just not right to "do" food.

[zoeybug]

38. A lot of stupid responses

Good for Marriott for getting people out of the city.

They should send the motorcoaches back and get more people out.

I'm as angry as can be about what is happening in New Orleans, but Marriott is not evil for evacuating the people at its hotel. It's not like they took out the guests and left the employees.

[NorthernSpy]

39. so you don't believe that the dying should be helped first?

Interesting...

[LostinVA]

58. Where did the poster say that?

He didn't. The government is to be vilified for not doing it's job, not the Marriott for handling ITS responsibilities.

man, this thread is nuts. Posters telling posters they are evil rich people, accusing other posters of wanting poor sick people to die.... yell at the government, not the hotel.

[NorthernSpy]

59. well, gee: this evacuation brought the hotel people out of the city...

... while the dying were still stuck there, and the poster was all for it.

Surely you could've put all that together yourself?

[Vinca]

42. Maybe the Mayor of NO should have called Marriott to

evacuate the city's residents. It sounds like they're more responsive than our so-called government.

[gauguin57]

46. Some of those people are New Orleanians who "evacuated vertically"

They couldn't get out, so they got a hotel room. They're probably not poor, but they aren't necessarily rich. And don't they deserve to get out of the city, too? The faster they get people out, the quicker they can start cleaning up!

[LostinVA]

50. Not all of these people were rich

One woman I read about was on an anniversary trip with her husband -- they had saved up for a year to have a great trip. We're saving up to go on a huge "splurge" trip in May, when my partner gets her Master's after also working full time. Not everyone is a nice hotel has money. Keith also showed people living in a rooftop apartment. Some of them had been at an evacuated hotel -- they couldn't stay, bit couldn't leave, either: no rental cars, trains, buses, or planes. They were screwed. AND, people leaving wouldn't take them out of town.

Buses shouldn't have been given to them before the Superdome/Convention people, like they were last night, but they have been without food or water, too. It's not the Superdome, but it's not great, either.

[boredofeducation]

60. I hate this class warfare crap!

I hate this crap! People are stuck in New Orleans, rich, poor, white, black, yellow. Everyone deserves to be rescued! I am glad that the hotels took responsibility and got all of there guests and employees out of there, sure beats draining federal resources. No electricity, no water, no food, no communications, no security, but they got a nice flooded hotel! Them "rich" people had it good! The posters on this thread who think only "rich" people stay at hotels, you make me sick! You know what we call people who make 80K a year in NYC? Janitors!