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(Updated/bumped from 2006-04-14 19:45:00)
The Hilton says that after they kick Fran O'Brien's to the curb they hope the vets will still drop by:
"The Capitol Hilton elected to terminate the lease, but that had absolutely nothing to do with the Friday night dinners," Lisa Cole, regional director of communications for Hilton, told WND. "It was strictly a business decision."Just because they're evicting the people who made it happen doesn't mean they want to lose the good publicity, you see.The restaurant's lease, which was extended for six months last year, is set to expire as of May 1.
Cole says the hotel's general manager, Brian Kellaher, has "reached out" to Walter Reed, hoping to work out a way to host the dinner at another location in the hotel.
"We're in discussion with the Walter Reed group … to see if we can't make this work for the future," the spokeswoman said.
Cole would not say specifically why the lease was terminated or what the hotel will do with the space after April.
"We don't have anything that we're definitely going to do with the space," she said.
Bastards. Paris might be the smartest member of the family.
I hope they're ready for the 170+ hungry people who will wander over from the MilBlogs Conference just up the road too.
Previous entries here and here.
Interesting comments and emails rolling in:
And don’t forget that it’s not just “Hilton” hotels. The Hilton “family of hotels” includes: Conrad Hotels, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites and Scandic Hotels.And if the Hilton thinks the attention will fade over the holiday weekend, they're in for a rude surprise.Posted by Lisa at April 14, 2006 05:49 AM
Just thought I'd let you know that the Army Ball for the Washington metropolitan area this year will be held at one of the Hilton Hotels in DC.Methinks the Army might want to change its venue--I certainly won't be attending with my hubby this year.
Posted by Lornkanaga at April 14, 2006 01:41 PM
Soldier's Dad: "Hanoi Hilton". Heh.
Update: Looks like Lisa Cole, the regional director of communications for Hilton quoted above, is a busy gal:
About a month after an emergency room visit found Nina Kennedy had Stage 4 colon and liver cancer, her supervisors from Hilton Grand Vacations called her with more bad news."They told her she was fired," West Palm Beach attorney Charles Thomas said Thursday.
Kennedy had been the manager of the Plantation Beach Club on Hutchinson Island for 2 1/2 years when she was terminated in December after working 13 years with the company.
Regional directors told her she had been fired because she violated company policy, she said. But in a lawsuit filed in Martin Circuit Court Thursday, Kennedy and Thomas said the company hid its reasons behind a much stronger motive.
"They knew that she had a potentially terminal illness, she would have been out for a while and they didn't want to deal with it," Thomas said.
<...>
Hilton spokeswoman Lisa Cole said she had not seen the lawsuit Thursday and that, as a practice, the company cannot comment on open cases.
Even More: Andi says:
Brian Kelleher, General Manager of the Capital Hilton, called me this afternoon. He and I had a good conversation and he answered all of my questions. In fact, he's going to answer your questions too.My question would require a bit of a setup:
<...>
Leave your questions for Hilton in the comment section. On Monday, I'll submit them to Brian Kelleher, and once he's answered them (hopefully without a PR filter being applied), I will post the answers. I will not submit questions that are obnoxious or have profanity in them, so keep the questions polite and on point. Direct and hard-hitting are fine, obnoxious won't fly.
Here's the story that's flying across the internet regarding Fran O'Brien's:
For over 5 months they were told not to worry they would have the renewal lease in a few weeks. About a month ago the Hilton folks stopped responding to their emails and voice messages for a status report and last week Hal and Marty received a one page eviction notice. No explanation was given.Here's your response:
Kelleher says that negotiations between the two "didn't gel".Here's O'Brien's comment:
Fran O’Brien’s landlord is forcing out the steakhouse of the same name.Your response:“We're not feeling very good about leaving and especially the Friday night dinner,” O’Brien said.
According to Kelleher, the Hilton would like to continue to host the dinners.Sounds like a big win for you - kick out the Vietnam vet who was feeding the wounded and get the Hilton full credit for supporting the troops.
Hollywood couldn't ask for a better script for their next movie exposing corporate sleaze. Pretend you have just a few minutes to lay your cards on the table and prevent a PR catastrophe - what can you tell us that doesn't come off like more of that mealy-mouthed bullshit above?
My question probably won't meet the criteria established. Maybe later I'll be able to figure out a way to write it without using the word bullshit. (BTW, has anyone ever noticed how often I actually use the "rough language" I warn about in the masthead?)
Leave your questions in comments at Andi's. She's an awesome lady - don't follow my example.
Still more Via comments below, another part of the Hilton response:
Furthermore, the hotel is in discussions with one of the sponsors of the Friday night dinners to continue their support of the dinners.How nice, they are looking for someone else to pay for the food.
More developments - latest here. (Don't stop reading now...)
