Donald Trump‘s namesake Washington, D.C. hotel has just been hit with another devastating, potentially deadly blow to business.
The luxury travel agency Virtuoso just announced it will no longer list the hotel, or any of the Trump Organization’s properties for that matter, on its website.
A spokesperson for the agency confirmed that Trump Hotels is no longer a preferred partner with the company and so its properties have been scrubbed from its roster.
“As of March 8, 2021, Trump Hotels are no longer part of the Virtuoso network,” Misty Ewing Belles, head of Virtuoso’s public relations department, said in a statement.
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The statement didn’t mention why Trump’s properties were being removed from the coveted list, other than to say “many variables” were considered in the decision.
We’re sure it has absolutely nothing to do with those reports last month about the hotel becoming a lifeless ghost town since the January 6 insurrection.
Or that sad video from inside the lobby that went viral on Twitter, showing a cold, barren, and empty landscape.
?Trump Hotel, DC – Looks like they drained the swamp pic.twitter.com/dgDg3HxRbp
— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) January 27, 2021
Or that fact that, according to Trump’s final financial disclosure statement as President, sales at the hotel were down a whopping 63% in 2020.
Or that the Trump Organization has been shopping the lease on the building for over a year, but the frustrated real-estate broker quit after he wasn’t been able to find any interested buyers.
Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt tells The Washington Post that Virtuoso severing ties with Trump is a “big deal” because “Virtuoso is very well-respected in the industry.”
“It serves a very elite base of customers and its actions are often studied by others,” he explains.
“With Virtuoso doing this, some travel agencies that may have been debating whether or not to do it could decide well, if Virtuoso has done this, we too will end our professional relationship with the Trump hotels.”
This is just the latest blow to Trump’s business. He’s also been banned by all the major tech companies, dropped by Deutsche Bank, and lost his contract with the PGA.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Trump’s net worth has fallen an estimated $300 million and counting.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Max
what an unwelcoming-looking entrance in that photo of one of his hotels.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
The Amtrak Station in Philadelphia has a more welcoming atmosphere than that overpriced, heavily mortgage monstrosity.
rand503
That’s the Pennsylvania Ave entrance, which is not used. That’s why the doors are closed. The actual entrance is on the side, which is much better. Relatively speaking, that is.
It’s still a dump.
Cam
The former Post office is a beautiful building, I have a feeling other groups like Marriott or Hilton are just waiting to snap it up in the Trump bankruptcy sale.
WSnyder
Technically, Trump doesn’t ‘own’ the building, he has a 60 year lease and has to pay the GSA just over $ 3 million a year. The lease would be a transferrable asset, so it could be sold or used as part of a legal settlement or bankruptcy asset. If it’s not able to be sold, if it’s not making much money, it’s a pretty large financial liability on DJT, one that he legally can’t just walk away from.
Cam
@WSnyder
True, I mean the 90 year lease, not the building. Thanks for clarification. 🙂
LMG
In the words of the late Bette Davis: “What a dump!” Just likes its namesake.
graphicjack
To be fair, this is actually a decent enough looking place… clearly it was a renovated heritage building, which is probably why it doesn’t have Donald’s usual tacky nouveau-riche gaudy faux-glamour style. The only major eye-sore is his name in gold (of course) letters above the entrance.
JromeGervais09
That camera shot of the lobby looks no better than an old Greyhound Bus station lobby
Thad
You block entrances, you create a ghost building.
It’s a great location in a charming vintage building. But as in Atlanric City, Trump doesn’t seem to wear well.
Fahd
I, for one, would call on Jeff Bezos to do his part and take over the lease. He has the wealth to do so unfazed, and in removing Trump’s name, he would be doing a public service to the nation and the city where his newspaper is based. If needed, Bezos, with his megawealth, could even subsidize the property for a while during which time a Marriott or Hilton could work on making it viable. The building needs to be preserved, but the location isn’t what I would think of as a place for a large scale grand hotel. There’s work to be done on the property concept and the surrounding area.
Essie
The hotel is between the Capitol and the White House. You couldn’t get a better spot in D.C. And I don’t think Marriott or Hilton would need any help from Bezos if either of them decided to take on the hotel. I don’t think Bezos wants to be bothered with a hotel. He has plenty of real estate just with all the warehouses and office buildings he’s building all over the country.
Fahd
I’d rather stay in Georgetown along the Potomac or in Dupont Circle. Bezos should do it as a public service so as to remove Trump’s name from a building so close to our Capital and White House. A big tourist hotel might work in this spot, but you’d have to have more dinner and late night things to do. As I remember, the building is right near Union Station. Yawn.
Cam
Better that nobody buys the lease and waits for it to be sold to cover debts. The price Trump is asking is way more than it’s worth. So I’d rather not have him get the asking price for it.
tomch52
So tell me would all these companies that are now avoiding trump like the plague be doing business with him if he won the election? Businesses ebb & flow in their connections with politics. So dont give these businesses like Virtuoso any kudos for their actions. It all involves their bottom line & not being a leader in the defense of this country against the unscrupulous & dangerous politicians of today!
BoomerMyles
Ritz Carlton has multiple DC locations. Four Seasons only has one, Georgetown, and could use another.
I’d love to see this as a Four Seasons.
They are likely to take over the tRump Vancouver property.
ElPillo
My first thought was that it took Virtuoso the full term of the administration and then some to decide it wasn’t good any more? Could not they have done this soon after his first horrific year?
Rob
I’d sleep ass up in a bathhouse before I stayed at one of Trump’s dumps.
Cam
Both Hilton and Marriott warned the DC City Council that the bid Trump put in for the building was too high and would be impossible to turn a profit on.
Turns out they were right.
Den
The association of Trump with intelligent deal making has always been a fiction. I honestly do not understand how he maintained it for so long. A testament to most people’s lack of critical faculties.
I look forward to his descent into undeniable ignominy and humiliation.
GayEGO
Yay! Another Trump loss! Sorry Donnie, you keep on losing so you should just move on and accept your election loss!
woodroad34
“…dealt its final death blow” — I can’t wait to see those words in front of the actual person’s name soon.
nathan
I have no interest in what the lobby looks like – or any part of the building for that matter. I am only interested in the damage it does to the criminal Trump. It just means that Trump is losing more and more of the money that got him to the White House. His incompetence and corrupt dealings while president have yet to meet their reckoning, so he should never be allowed back into that position of power where he can hide from the real entanglements currently following him. His hotels can all fall down as far as I am concerned – a prison cell is more appropriate for that entire corrupt family.
rbernard
With this much bad Karma all over him, Donald Trump was overdue for a comeuppance and it is only beginning.
Pop the popcorn!